Lunar-Cy! Or how this Cypriot will be using the Pisces new moon energies...

After a really rather long time, I thought I'd check in. We've entered the waxing part of the lunar cycle again with the new moon in Pisces today and I'm feeling feisty.

Not surprising really, Mars is in the sign of the fishes, on its way to conjoining my birth sun, and I have Pisces Seventh and Eighth houses. With the new moon in the zodiac's last sign, and falling in my Seventh, you can bet relationships will be highlighted and, hopefully, the public.

I've been operating under the radar for awhile now. Last year, for those patient readers who followed the intermittent ramblings of this blog, I put myself through some of the most intense self education I've experienced yet. Mostly on marketing and personal finance - I do have natal Mars and Mercury in the Aquarian Sixth after all - and transiting Saturn was conjoining natal Pluto in my Libra Second. To say I was feeling the pinch financially would have been somewhat of an understatement.

I am now, happy to report, gainfully and fully employed as a sub-editor at one of the local English language papers, and, while my most productive time of the day - the nights (I work the night shift) has been temporarily been consumed by my new duties - I am beginning to feel the stirrings of a new commitment to put all I learned last year (not least resilience and commitment to the goal of eventually being self-employed as an online entrepreneur) into practice.

All of which will eventually take the form of a brand new blog. I will still continue to post on this blog of course - and hopefully with a bit more frequency, too - but I am slowly gathering the research material for something rather different, in which I hope I can offer some insight into what I've learned so far.

Meanwhile, Jupiter is happily (?) moving through my Eighth and I fully expect some new entrepreneurial opportunities to come my way professionally. Especially when Uranus finally leaves Pisces for Aries in the spring.

Perhaps, this being the Eighth, it might mean some new insight into matters of the heart, too. But that's entirely another story and, since it's Eighth House matters, I'm not entirely at liberty to share.

Nevertheless, I invite you all to stay tuned. A quiet revolution is on its way ;)




The image above was originally posted here.

Transiting Saturn conjunct natal Pluto, or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the rack

I think the image above is an appropriate one for the experience of transiting Saturn conjunct natal Pluto in the Second House.

It is the rigour arising when past foundations (Saturn, the body) meet with unrelenting, transforming force (Pluto). 

In this case, my means of earning money, but also my self-worth - both Second House issues - are being warped-unto-breaking when combined with the Pluto principle - death and rebirth, (and perhaps hidden resources) - which lurks there natally.

The previous modes of income and their (admittedly scant) corollary - my self value - are being slowly put to death, and if I am wise, I will welcome and embrace this process, because what is dying is outmoded and toxic views of what it means to be valuable. 

Not to mention, what counts - and what is possible - as a viable means of income.

Those of you who have followed the (intermittent) ramblings of this blog, will know that such issues are nothing new for me, but they have been brought (I hope) to their peak by the unrelenting intensity of this transit.

Throw in transiting Saturn opposing natal Venus (in the Eighth), squaring natal Saturn (in the Eleventh) and the near-exact Pluto square (Fifth to Second) and you have a failure-is-not-an-option scenario that requires a fair bit of stamina to withstand.

But it also adds a tremendous impetus to commit to a new course when it comes to money-making and a fresh perspective from which to view myself. 

Which is to say, I'm being forced to consider: where does one draw their worth, if not from their accomplishments, their status, their revenue...?

While there are days when I long to simply find the off button, I know that I'm going to emerge far, far stronger and healthier from this process, and I am grateful for many things I had taken for granted at other, less-taxing times.

All is well, no matter what.

 

The images above were taken from this site and this site.

Exponentially yours, or notes on the Jupiter return

The return of Jupiter to its natal position in a person's birth chart, every 12 years, is a year in which the Jovian theme of expansion tends to play a key role in proceedings.

Not surprising, given that Jupiter is known as the Greater Benefic and associated with all manner of happy turnarounds, fortuitous events and desirable outcomes, traditional astrology will encourage a fairly positive expectation of such times.

Generally speaking, that is.

But mostly, Jupiter's sojourn through any house is a good indicator of amplifying or magnifying whatever state of affairs reigns in that point in the chart, (especially if the house is tenanted by other planets), whether for good or ill.

If, for example - and sorry to rain on Jupe's PR parade - the king of the gods is transiting your seventh house of partnerships, and your marriage or relationship is in trouble, his passage is not necessarily going to coincide with reconciliation or a second honeymoon.

Of course, it could - but far more likely an eventuality is that the issues at the heart of the difficulties in the relationship are made keener, larger than life, magnified. In short, they become expanded.

But should this result in an eventual break-up or parting of the ways, Jupiter through the seventh will at least point to a less-bitter, or more-amicable split than it otherwise might have been (if, say Saturn or Pluto were touring the seventh).

Similarly, if you have Mars in Aries lurking in your second natally, and Jupiter comes to call, a year of increased (over-)expenditure is just as likely as a new and lucrative source of income.

A lot will depend also, of course, on the rest of the chart, in supporting or challenging whatever amplification Jupiter's transits are pointing to.

Now when Jupiter conjuncts his natal position in your chart, oh boy...

...your outlook or beliefs about the world - your inner set of personal laws - get super, super-sized, in a resounding crescendo of the energetic themes present at your birth.

Usually, the year allows for an expanded or broader vision of what our lives could be, and a new awareness of all the possibilities we haven't yet tapped.

And when you have Jupiter conjunct Sun, as I do, I do mean all the possibilities - all of them. At once. Simultaneously. Without mercy.

What the classical texts don't talk about as much is the exhaustion, or burn-out that often coincides with such years. Or indeed - even the latent depression at seeing where you could be... and how far from it you actually are.

Yes, there is usually some kind of excitement in realising that new adventures beckon on the horizon, and often a new sense of meaning to one's personal journey...

...but the Jupiter return can also be a time when it seems like you're being torn to pieces by possibilities, with no real ability to seize on or harness any of them.

Of course, the beginning of a new Jovian 12-year cycle is actually meant to sow seeds, or point us toward a new superhighway of life we may never have known, till then, existed.

But when you have Jupiter-Sun - in Pisces - the possibilities emerging during the J return are so huge... so otherworldly (especially with natal Neptune square Sun)... that it can be really miserable surveying all the terrain with seems physically impossible to cover in one lifetime. Or even 10.






The image above is taken from this site.

Affirmations for the new Moon in Leo, in the natal 12th House. Or how to move past total burn-out.

New Moon in Leo today, which falls in my Leonine 12th House. How do I feel? Absolutely exhausted.

Normally, when the Sun is basking in the flamboyant sign it loves best, self-expression and creativity are favoured, as we press on into the fiery heart of the last month of summer.

And I'd have loved to have taken up creative pursuits again - in another life (so it seems), I played music, sang, wrote poetry, short stories, scripts, acted, danced, directed...

But having spent the past five months using every waking minute focusing on learning how to make money through the internet, my brain and personal stamina are flagging. I'm burned out.

It would make sense to take a break from all the finance-oriented stuff, the technical tutorials on 'how to set up this' or 'how to configure that' or 'where to download the other' and the endless ebooks that detail the myriad business plans to a viable money-making endeavour online.

It would make sense simply to surrender (12H) and renew my loyalty (Leo) to my longterm goal of being a working writer-director - a mover and shaker in the performing arts (Leo).

It would make sense to revisit my half-finished feature scripts, rewrite my short screenplays, review the plan for the kids' book I'd intended to write... or even just play my guitar and read for pleasure. Especially with Mercury about to retrograde on August 20.

But I can't.

As transiting Saturn grimly ploughs on through my Second House, inching towards conjoining my natal Pluto in October...

...thereafter to oppose my natal Venus and square my birth Saturn (while transiting Pluto moves closer to squaring its position at my birth)...

...the relentlessness (Pluto-Saturn) of the need to turn around my income and moneymaking ability (Second House) - and with it, transform (Pluto) my self-worth (Second House) by building a solid foundation (Saturn) for my finances - is endless.

And I have to honour that drive, no matter how much unease and anxiety it creates in me to put aside working on my true 'craft'.

So, on this new Moon in Leo:

I give thanks for the pride I will take in the creativity that waits to be tapped into, at the right time.

I give thanks for the professional accomplishments and kudos that hopefully are to come.

And I give thanks for the source of the storytelling that comes from beyond me, and which will flow through me once again... just as soon as I've dealt with these Second House issues of generating income.

(And self-worth).




The image above was taken from this site.