Lynn Hayes: February 2008 Archives

To me, the jury is still out on the void moon (the moon is said to be void after it makes the last aspect to another planet before entering the next sign), but today I received an email from a reader quoting a newsgroup post that said

"Please help me with the astrology of Obama's campaign. He announced his run on Feb 10, 2007, 10:13am CST, Springfield IL. Asc 8TAU42. Source - BBC covered the event live with a local time ticker which froze at the moment of the announcement. I was watching.

At first glance there are serious problems. A voided waning Moon in Scorpio - void in the classical and modern sense. In fact, it is very seriously void, with the next ptolemaic being a square to radix Mercury 14 degrees later.

The V/C tables that I consulted indicate that the moon was not void of course until the following day, but looking at the chart of the event it certainly does appear that the moon had made its last aspect before passing out of Scorpio.

Astrological lore instructs us not to enter into any ventures when the moon is void of course. Astroprofile, a great resource for all kinds of data, says "It is a time of the minutes or hours of chaos, disruption, nothing works right...times when we make bad decisions."

It's interesting then that Obama, with an announcement chart that includes a void of course moon, has shot from last place into a strong lead in the presidential campaign. Perhaps what the void of course moon has done, rather than doom him to a bad decision, is to offer up results that have broken all of the rules of political campaigns.

There are a surprising number of exact (1 degree orb or less) aspects between the Obama announcement chart and the US Sibley chart:

• Neptune in the US chart exactly trines the Midheaven in the announcement chart, perhaps explaining the "mania" in "Obamania."
  
• The Moon in the announcement chart exactly trines the US Mercury, suggesting that the emotional motivations of Obama's candidacy (Moon) are in harmony with what the people of the US are thinking (Mercury).
• The Sun in the announcement chart makes an exact trine to the US Mars, suggesting that the essence of Obama's candidacy (Sun) has the capability to energize (Mars) the American people.
  
• Pluto in the announcement chart makes a sextile to the Moon in the US chart that suggests that Obama will transform (Pluto) the way Americans feel about their country (Moon).
• Jupiter in the announcement chart make an exact sextile to Saturn in the US chart, indicating that Obama's candidacy expands the optimism (Jupiter) of the established power structures in the country (Saturn).
• Mercury in the announcement chart exactly squares Uranus in the US, explaining the way Obama's oratory (Mercury) creates a radical urge for change (Uranus).
• Neptune in the announcement chart forms an exact sextile to Chiron in the US chart, identifying the mystical fervor (Neptune) that Obama's candidacy has inspired, and the hope that the nation can be healed (Chiron).

Perhaps Obama will lose, but there is no question that his candidacy has had a profound effect although not in the way that anyone could have predicted. And perhaps that is the lesson of the void of course moon!

Update 3/1: Sally McDonald, one of the web's experts in mundane astrology (I am merely a dabbler; my specialty is people rather than events), writes that the Moon in the announcement chart makes it easier for Obama's natal Saturn and Uranus to work together effectively and harmonize the structure that Saturn creates with the urge to overturn the status quo of Uranus. She adds that the the Moon and Mercury in Obama's chart, which form a sextile in the chart, both are inconjunct (30 degrees) his Venus at 1 degree Cancer which is being opposed right now by Pluto, forming a perfect Yod in his chart. The Yod is the "finger of fate" aspect that indicates an important destiny of some sort. The transit of Pluto is clarifying that destiny and bringing it into fruition.

Beth Owl's Daughter has tagged me with a meme, which is always an interesting diversion, so here goes:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The nearest book to me is Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements by Stephen Arroyo, which I recently purchased through Amazon because I couldn't find my ancient copy. This is one of the early books I read that sent me down the path to a more transformational metholody in astrology readings, and I recommend it to everyone at every level. An understanding of the elements and the way that channel energy through the personality is invaluable!

At the top of page 123 is a section titled "Over-Emphasis on Air and Fire, Lack of Water and Earth":

This type at best represents an idealistic, aspiring, positive-thinking person whose intentions and motives are above reproach. Their approach to life is not particularly realistic, however, and they often find that they must learn about the darker side of life through hard experience and disillusionment. They often neglect the very needs and feelings which can give them more stability and inner strength.

Coincidentally, this book is available in the bookstore to in the left sidebar!! Now, it's your turn: Neith, Jill, DR, JM, and Melody.

Looking ahead, March is going to be a month packed with astrological adventure, including the Vernal Equinox occurring at the Full Moon which forms a Grand Cross to the Mars/Pluto opposition. Fasten your seat belts!! Here's a tidbit...

As March begins, four planets are still in Aquarius: Venus, Mercury, Chiron & Neptune. This is still a strong Aquarian signature, with the voice of reason prevailing over emotion for the most part. Only one planet (Saturn) is in retrograde motion, and until April 2, when Pluto changes direction, there is a decidedly forward emphasis in most areas of our worldly experience. In May both Jupiter and Neptune will retrograde and we will begin to retrace our steps again.

There are a lot of planetary interactions in March, signaling a period of activity and change even though these are largely interactions between the faster moving planets that are of shorter duration and less significant in scope. For the first week or so of March Venus, Mercury and Chiron are in conjunction, fusing their energies to promote healing (Chiron) of our relationship to ourselves and to others (Venus) and our ability to communicate and relay information (Mercury). The Chironic process of healing is not always an easy one; it requires our attention and willingness to walk into the fire of potentially painful emotions. During Chironic periods we are extremely sensitive to the buttons of our old wounds being pushed, and there is potential during this first week for emotional reactions in the extreme. Chiron is in play throughout the month with an inconjunct (30 degree aspect) to Uranus that will come to fruition at the end of the month. Combinations of Chiron and Uranus can make it difficult to integrate our internal wisdom (Chiron) with the pressures of a restless desire for change (Uranus). This can result in an energy imbalance that may require additional steps to improve, such as with yoga, long walks or hot baths.

Ideally, we will take this opportunity to feel a little more deeply and invite these emotions to enter into the conscious realm where they can be recognized and then released. This process will be particularly powerful for those of us with planets in the middle degrees of the fixed signs (Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio, Taurus).

While all of this is going on, Mars is moving into position for its final opposition to Pluto, a cycle that began last fall and has followed the planets as both have changed signs: from Mars in Gemini opposing Pluto in Sagittarius to Mars in Cancer opposing Pluto in Capricorn. Mars is our drive, our aggressive instinct, and you can see how things can get a little riled up when Mars is interacting with Pluto, Lord of Death and Transformation. Pluto tends to put its Supreme Foot down when Mars gets uppity, but in the final cycle we often see the resolution of that battle. Mars and Pluto together are a formidable combination that results in irrevocable change when the lessons from the earlier phases of the cycle are integrated. Mars re-enters the sign of Cancer on March 4 and the final opposition is March 6, but we will be feeling its effects for several days prior to that which is likely to add a combative influence to the touchiness of the Chiron conjunctions mentioned above. Fortunately, a conjunction of sweet Venus and romantic Neptune will soften the edges of any conflicts that come up, providing creative ways to move through difficulties and release old patterns as Neptune's urge to dissolve and transcend does its magic.

read more here...

Yesterday I had the privilege of doing a reading for a woman who recently turned 80 and was going through the closing square of her third Saturn cycle. I began doing readings shortly after my first Saturn return at around age 32, and it took me a long time to realize that as we grow older we often learn to manage the issues in our chart so that they are no longer as difficult. In fact, the challenges that formerly caused us pain and suffering often become our greatest teachers.

The beauty of reading for older clients is that they often have experienced this evolution to a degree the rest of us can only dream about. If they haven't become stuck in a cycle of dysfunction, they have learned to move through all kinds of cycles and find their center. I spoke with the client yesterday about the Saturn Return cycles, and we talked about her upcoming third Saturn Return which will arrive around age 87.

The first Saturn Return at age 28-30, as we know, deals with experiences where we leave our youth behind and enter adulthood, either willingly or kicking and screaming. The second Saturn Return is more difficult to predict since the result depends quite a bit on how well we have learned Saturn's lessons since the first one. Regardless, during the second Saturn Return at age 56-58 we must leave our ripeness behind; we often discover that we are being replaced by the younger generation. We have lost our youth and are entering the third stage of life. We are middle-aged.

To answer my client's question: "What can I expect at the third Saturn Return?" I pondered the meaning of Saturn at the age of 87, and it seems that one of the major experiences of life at that age is the gradual detaching from the physical world and turning to face the abyss. Saturn is, after all, the god of Time (especially in its role as Kronos) and its lesson is that time is short and life is fleeting. Saturn has been called the Lord of Karma, and by the age of 87 we have been through quite a bit.

The possibility of a third Saturn Return is a rather new phenomenon, since until the last century the second Saturn Return would have come close to the end of one's life. It's probably just the fact that Saturn sits right on my Sun, I have grown to see him as a friend rather than a foe, and also as life's greatest teacher. I am grateful to this client for giving me a beautiful picture of what life can be like as we enter that fourth cycle!!

One of the things I believe we'll be facing over the next few years as Pluto travels through Capricorn is the erosion of the structures that support our human lives on the planet. Bridges, tunnels, buildings - all are ruled by Capricorn and subject to transformation while in Pluto's domain.

Governors meeting the other day with President Bush pushed for him to include funding for various infrastructure repair projects for their states, which were turned down by the President. Bush said that he would rather wait to see the results of his stimulus package, which consists mostly of tax cuts, rather than fund infrastructure projects which would put Americans back to work.

The American Society for Civil Engineers estimates that $1.6 trillion dollars is needed to restore the aging and unsafe infrastructure in the United States. The areas that need rebuilding include toxic waste sites, sewage treatment systems, dams, water treatment facilities as well as roadways.

Janet Kavinoky, director of transportation at the US Chamber of Commerce, stated last year:

America’s infrastructure is not only showing its age, but showing that it lacks capacity to handle the volume of people and goods moving today. From exploding steam pipes under New York streets, to record level flight delays in the skies across the country, it is evident that now is the time to move on a robust, thoughtful, and comprehensive plan to build, maintain, and fund a world-class 21st century infrastructure. There can be no more delay.

Washington's Governor Grigoire said, ""In order for us to be able to avoid a Minnesota situation across America, we need a dramatic infusion of federal dollars throughout this country to rebuild our basic infrastructure." The Canadian government added $2 billion a year into that country's budget to repair their infrastructure, and the Indian government has funded infrastructure projects as well.

The billions of dollars we are pouring into the war in Iraq in a vain attempt to rebuild the infrastructure there before it is torn down again is robbing us from the opportunity to rebuild our own country. There's nothing like a good swipe of Pluto through Capricorn to collapse a few dams and power grids to demonstrate where our priorities should lie.

Dharmaruci evidently hasn't been swept away by Obamania as I have, so his post on Obama as "The Medicine Man" is a clearer-headed one than any you will find in this column: The man creates a very strong impression on...

With transiting Mars bearing down on my own Mars which is already being pressured by Pluto, I found this a wonderful bit of wisdom:One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.He said,...

Here is a questionnaire from a sincere questioner who would like to determine whether astrology has any validity, but their only knowledge of astrology is from the "astrology" columns on the comics page. The only problem is - sun sign...

The other day I was talking to a few black gentlemen in their 60s about the possibility of a black president, and one of them said, "Yeah, but how long will he live?" For many years I heard from my...

quote is from Margaret MeadThere's no doubt that we are seeing a shift on the world stage along with the shift of Pluto into Capricorn last month. It seems that people all over the world are thirsting for change -...

Last night's eclipse was spectacular! We had a thick blanket of clouds here, but the clouds parted long enough to expose the eclipsed Moon through a smoky light. I wish I had decent nighttime photography equipment. Of course it kept...

We've been talking in these pages about the generational impacts of this year's presidential election, including the early boomers (Pluto in Leo), late boomers and generation X (Pluto in Virgo) and generation Y (Pluto in Libra). Each group as a...

Two weeks ago we looked at how the solar eclipse on February 6th would affect the remaining presidential candidates; today let's take a look at what effect tomorrow's lunar eclipse could have.Tomorrow's eclipse shows the Sun and Moon opposed at...

Mark your calendars! Mercury turns direct tonight and will begin to pick up speed next week to help things move forward a bit. At that point only Saturn will be in retrograde motion and it's a rarity for there to...

The eclipse on Wednesday night is a total Lunar eclipse at 1 degree Virgo.See the NASA site for visibility maps and tables and other useful information.Lunar eclipses occur at the Full Moon when the Moon and the Sun are in...

Art by the marvelous Willow ArleneaRobert Wilkinson has a great article today on planetary events for the end of February: A quick look at the patterns occurring now in late February shows a distinct quickening, with more and more of...

Many people have commented ever since the eclipse about the heightened rage, anger and arguments in the air. Jill wrote asking "Is Aries in Mars or something"? Evidently the political blogosphere had heated up with diatribes and blogroll deletions, and...

Mars is preparing for its third and final opposition to Pluto where it tends to foment rage and inspire explosions, and one might think the opposition has already happened. School shootings, mall shootings, shootings in the city council - people...

When you're wondering what your Valentine is looking for, don't bother looking at his or her Sun sign. When it comes to relationships it's Mars, Venus and the Moon that rule. Look up your beloved's chart on astro.com and see...

For you Hillary fans out there (and judging from the comments there are a lot of you!), Leslie Zemenek gives a great look into the palmistry of candidate Hillary Clinton entitled "Will the real Hillary Clinton run for president?" Leslie...

Just in time for Valentine's Day, astrosistah April Elliott Kent has come out with her new book! Check it out: Do you want a "rock star" Leo marriage or an enduring Taurus union? Wedding planning mixes with astrology in Star...

Let's take a break from the festival of hope I've been championing in these pages, and talk about something much more insidious: The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of...

There are a lot of things you can learn in the astrological world, but keeping track of basic Western astrology is about as much as I can manage. Still, synchronicity is at work everywhere, and Chinese astrology probably is just...

Quite a few of you have written asking me to give an update on Britney Spears, which you can find at the National Ledger. Britney is going through some difficult planetary cycles, but they are no more intense than the...

A new day is dawning... We have been engulfed by the politics of fear for too long, where 9/11 was used as a way to scare up votes instead of a way to bring us together around a common purpose...

I realized I hadn't posted anything from the advice column for quite some time. I'm very interested in the way health issues manifest in the birthchart, and this was a good example.Q: My mother has been really nervous, lately --...

Capricorn is known for its dour nature and embrace of the difficult, the challenging, and the just plain sad. After all, it is ruled by Saturn whose domain encompasses all of this and worse. So with Pluto having just entered...

There are two articles in the latest Newsweek magazine that have inspired posts, so you'll get one tomorrow about the end of the happiness craze. Today, though, I am excited about Jonathan Alter's article about the battle between the Early...

My own blurb about the eclipse is buried in my article about Super Tuesday, but here's some wisdom from Molly who coordinates the Astrology pages on About.com: This new Moon (Exact on the 6th at 10:44 pm EST) has the...

I can't even believe this is happening: A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don't be offended.He says he never even expected his plan to become law."I was trying to shed...

Tomorrow voters in 24 states plus American Samoa will go to the polls to express their opinion about the presidential election. Most of us know by now that we don't really get to vote for our president (maybe this is...

If you're on my mailing list you already know about this, but for you others I'm preparing to begin online classes in March. I'm trying to finalize the times of classes and before I do this I'd like to know...

This will not be a post to predict who will win the Superbowl, because frankly I know nearly nothing about who is playing or what factors are involved here.But an article in last week's Fashion section of the New York...

Last week the #2 bank in France, Societe Generale, was brought to its symbolic knees after 31 year old trader Jerome Kievel caused a $7 billion dollar loss to the bank by setting up false accounts and transferring over $73...

Here's the intro, you can sign up to receive these monthly updates on my website: As February begins, Mercury has just turned retrograde and Mars has just turned direct, so there is a bit of a feel of moving forwards...