Clean Up on Aisle 6

kleangrips

"What does want not get?"

(you might have to say this out loud and drag out the 'get' part)

I overheard this last night while shopping in Target for a new bathroom rug.

The words were said so crisply and emphatically that even though I was lost in my thoughts (does a bathroom rug have to be a bathroom rug?) and minding my own business, it made itself my business and stopped me in my tracks. My sneakers actually squeaked to a stop on the cold tile floor and I never did get that new bathroom rug (or the six other things I would have probably thrown into my cart while I was there).

A mom (very tidy and put together looking) was wheeling her toddler through a space filled with "wants" - colorful things thoughtfully designed (most likely by others and then copied), hastily made and carefully arranged to make us want them.

The kid wasn't screaming or throwing a tantrum. I guess she had used a sentence with the words "I want ..." a few seconds earlier, but I only heard the mother. Her tone was firm, a bit sharp, a little tired. She caught my ear and then my eye. The child did not kick up a fuss. No drama ensued. She had heard it before.

For the rest of my shopping trip her words rolled around in my head. 

I saw the mother as a child hearing the same words with the same tone from her mother. I saw a woman who was disappointed by life and probably attempting to prevent her daughter from being hopeful and disappointed. I saw a child being methodically disabled from her ability to go after what she wants and maybe even know what she wants.

And you're probably thinking, "Cat, get a grip." But I'm telling you it was depressing.

It brought me back to all the times I had been told or had been shown I couldn't have what I wanted.

And all I wanted was that damn rug .....

Even though we've been told by law of attraction snake oil salesmen (apologies to Oprah) that wanting something is exactly how we get it (or step 1 at least) - I have never really believed this. 

I've always found it's when I stop wanting something, when I release my grip on the thought of having it, is when I attract it ... or when the allure of it floats out of my life, usually rather quickly.

The mom's words felt true to me (and excruciatingly hurtful) and so did the girl's shrinking heart. 

Who wants to live in a world where everything you see is something you can't have?

I think people and situations come to us to play out in front of us the energy we are carrying. We can literally look at everything in our lives as manifesting the energies we carry.

We carry this energy through our beliefs. Changing our beliefs is at the root of changing how things are working in our life. This is how good stuff takes us to more good stuff and bad stuff can lead us quickly to everything falling apart. Most of us are pretty freaking ready to fall apart. We've done it before. Sometimes it's more comfortable than getting what we want.

Sometimes we are so used to not getting what we want, or sending out such mixed messages, we don't even know what we want anymore.

We have Mars in Virgo now so we will not miss the tiniest detail. We've got Mercury (Virgo's ruler) in Libra (retrograde) so he is less inclined toward focused attention and more inclined to noticing the point where things overlap, the place where we connect. Jupiter (expansion, luck ie positive beliefs) is enabling us to tap into our best possible self and write a new story. Jupiter has the very best of magnificent intentions and we've got taskmaster Saturn answering to him now! What's to stop us? This is the time to clean the slate and start over.

Maybe all those old stories about why things happened, about how we messed it up (too quick, too slow, too loud, too quiet, too smart, too dumb) were really just a disconnect between our best intentions and life just not quite caught up with what we wanted to create. What if us not believing it was possible really was the only thing making it im-possible? We are that little girl in the shopping cart and we are her mother.

Today I'm chewing on:

1. wanting and hoping are good and wonderful and necessary things and can absolutely be untethered of outcome  2. we're all a bit of a mess even when we look tidy and 3. an old bathroom rug can be flipped over and look exactly like a new bathroom rug (maybe we can, too). xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 28th - rolling with changes as the fog rolls in

"So much has changed. And still, you are fortunate: the ideal burns in you like a fever. Or not like a fever, like a second heart." ... Louise Glück, October (Averno)

scarlet fall trees by joy st claire

Sunday night we have an Aries Full Moon lunar eclipse (or Monday, depending on where you live - see times here). This eclipse is the finale of a series of eclipses starting in April 2014. By mid-October everything will be alot clearer for all of us. See my eclipse post here.

This eclipse is in harmony with Saturn (in Sagittarius) so will ground us and provide stability and security - remember with Saturn we are playing the long game. He is father time after all and Rome wasn't built in a day. If changes do not feel good, we will roll with what is happening knowing it is needed to get us back on track and will pay dividends later especially in terms of our self respect. Expect eclipse energy to bring a bottleneck and then a release. 

Hold off making any big decisions until after Wednesday (at the least, mid October at the best).

The Full Moon will still be having its influence (the eclipse will be influential for five months) and we have Neptune inconjuncting the Sun and Mercury this week making things even more foggy.

There will be information coming at us this week, but it might turn out to be very different from its original version. 

We might hear what we want to hear, see what we want to see, you get the idea. 

Mercury retrograde will have us looking at something again and again - those second looks will be worthwhile. 

So ask the same question again, double check the details, double think what we are about to say, etc.

Much moves forward next week. If you have a chance to take a moment now and catch your breath - grab it.

Wednesday is the mid point Mercury retrograde date so whatever this retrograde has been bringing up for us will start to move toward its natural conclusion. If this stuff is hitting our personal chart we may receive some news or information or have one of Oprah's aha moments. 

Gossip may figure prominently for some - but remember we don't know what we don't know now.

This can be a week when everyone thinks they are right (including us). People will tell us what they think whether we want to hear it or not. Remember we are all burning Libra fuel now so honoring other people's views and balancing them with our own moves us all forward.

Last week John Boehner announced he is stepping down as Speaker of the House (an almost, but not quite, unprecedented move) - he quit the day after the Pope spoke to Congress.

People leaving and resigning from leadership positions will probably be in the news over the next two weeks and, really, thru mid November as our North Node (which has been in Libra and has had me talking about finding our flocks for the last two years) transitions into Virgo (yes, my flock talk is about to evolve).

For some reason I've always kind of liked Boehner (the crying pictures probably). He's a Catholic who grew up in blue collar Ohio with seven brothers and sisters in a two bedroom house and started working at age eight in his grandfather's bar. He still lives in the same area, although I assume much cushier surroundings. I hope he does something better with the rest of his life than just cash in as a lobbyist ....

Anyhoo, the Mars square Saturn energy that blocked us last week is over. Mars is in Virgo until November 8th and handing us our to-do lists now. Mercury is still retrograde for another two weeks, so stay flexible.

We have Vesta hanging out with the Sun which is very good energy for cleaning out the house, too. This cleaning can involve dust bunnies or grown up children or wayward boyfriends.

I'm finishing my Amazon Handmade set -up. What are you up to?

xo all

Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse This Weekend | the blindspot or yes, what you don't know can hurt you

We have a total Lunar Eclipse Full Moon this weekend.

It's also a Blood Moon.

(yeah, that end of the world stuff - don't worry though, the world's not ending, maybe something about the world as you know it, but that could be a good thing, too - see my example below)

The Moon will be at 4 degrees Aries so see where this one falls in your natal chart (where is your Aries house and what does that house rule). Also look for any other 4 degree planets' houses to see where/how this action could show up.

This is a Full Moon so endings and wrap ups are likely.

I'd like to say the finished stuff stays finished but Mercury is retrograde, so maybe not. Most likely it will though.

This Moon will last for a little over 5 hours so its energy will be felt for a little over 5 months.

(and you may have already experienced it, yes, this stuff can hit one month early sometimes almost to the exact day)

I'll tell you how this has played out for me. 

Our side yard is the back yard of a gas station. Ugh, I know.

New mechanics rented the garage part last spring and the place, which has been quiet and almost empty for years, is suddenly crazy busy.

Now, on the one hand I like having prosperous neighbors and our side yard is wide and we do own a truck repair shop on the other end of town so understand the business, on the other hand the noise was getting worse every week and, of course, I'm home all day long. 

My breaking point (and actually Full Moons and eclipse season in particular are great harbingers of breaking points) came when they moved a noisy air compressor into a tiny wood shed behind their garage.

The air compressor was broken and ran all day, never shutting off the way it is supposed to. The shed got hot so they opened the shed door. The noise got even louder. From our backyard it sounded like they were cutting their grass along our fence line, all day long. I talked to them. Hubs talked to them. They'd nod their heads in agreement with us with cigarettes dangling precariously from their lips while pulling up the waistbands of their hanging trousers with tattooed fingers.

(you can't make this stuff up folks)

Nothing changed.

We talked to the town again and again. I was blasting Irish battle ballads and starting to crack.

Finally I called the Board of Health and they sent out a wonderful little pitbull woman, who sounded exactly like Penny Marshall. I really wanted her to help me and take this seriously. Kella was over my house with Sully and Sully (two years old now) really hates loud noises.

When Penny pulled up I grabbed Sully and pulled a bunch of my hair out of its ponytail, although I probably didn't need to look any more bedraggled than I always do.

We met Penny on the side porch. Sully immediately put his hands over his ears and said "LOUD."

(note to self- buy that kid a Porsche Power Wheels)

"This noise is interfering with our quality of life. Look at my baby!, " I wailed to Penny (actually I used the exact language I read online for fighting a noise disturbance).

Penny pulled a decibel meter out of her side holster like a cowboy at a gunfight and clocked the noise at 65 decibels at my property line. Unbelievably this was the legal limit - you will have to trust me about how loud 65 decibels is, especially day in and out when you work at home. She said she couldn't do anything legally but she would go over there and scare them. The garage is called Good Fellas Garage. I didn't think these guys would scare easily. They didn't.

Hubs told them he would fix the compressor and insulate the shed himself. Then he basically begged.

Finally, I happened to look at the September Lunar Eclipse and my chart. I realized this eclipse was at 4 degrees Aries and I have 4 degrees Cancer in my 4th house (home, family) and 4 degrees Uranus in my 10th house (career, business, social status) and this Eclipse was playing out natally in my 3rd house (neighbors!).

I told hubs this would be all wrapped up at the end of September. I went to sleep that night without thinking about these guys for the first time in weeks.

The next day, August 27th, exactly one month to the day of the eclipse, they fixed the compressor, insulated the shed and fixed the shed door.

Hubs would have been more impressed with the astrology if the situation had resolved this weekend along with the eclipse, and yes, there is still the possibility of a meteor landing on my home business and taking out the neighbors, too, but I'm just happy to have this resolved and I have seen eclipse cycles happen a month early before.

Anyhoo ...

Think about what is happening at a total lunar eclipse - something is hidden. 

This is not a good time to make a big decision because something is hidden. 

This is not a good time to make a big move because something is hidden. 

This could be a good time to bury the body (don't look at me) ... but I can't really recommend that (legal reasons and all). 

Unless the body is some 'body of work' you are finishing up - this is an excellent time for a wrap up. Just remember you won't be able to see everything that is going on with whatever is happening.

(in our situation the garage guys didn't own the compressor and were trying to get their landlord to fix it and our town had finally actually given them a deadline - we didn't know about any of the backdoor maneuvering and couldn't see what was actually going on and because of the energies at play it was bringing up, for me, other spaces and times when I felt injustice and the inability to get what I wanted from others making the whole situation larger than it had to be)

This is an especially powerful time to wrap up a fight (Aries south mode energy!) - yes, it's probably been worth fighting for, but it's time to move on now.

(maybe I'll bake those guys some cookies .... um, maybe not)

This can also play out (since we are talking about the Aries/Libra polarity here) as some kind of self interest vs cooperation or other person or group. This could be a commitment issue, fidelity, justice, loyalty, freedom - emotions are high during full moons. Stay grounded and cool headed.

This Full Moon wraps up that Aries New Moon from last April. Pray for clear skies so we can watch this one - here's the schedule.

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 21st - Focus, Fire, Endings, Compassion, Uncertainty

hello fall by inspire your art

This is another wild ride kind of week with big emotions.

We are in eclipse season so things end, new chapters are started (usually in the dark) and things (good things, too!) are brought to light.

With Jupiter in Virgo until next Summer we have all this big picture thinking and planning ... and we still have to do the laundry and check the kids' homework.

Details aren't a distraction from our goals and dreams and it hurts us when we look at them that way - they are really clarifying what we want and how we want to spend our precious time. Anyone can have a dream, not everyone can do the laundry so the red towel doesn't turn everything else red.  

We get ahead by honoring the details this year.

It will show up for everyone in different ways but we are all dealing with weighty, ambitious stuff this week. 

Monday through Wednesday afternoon we have a serious Capricorn Moon. This is goal oriented energy and we can get a lot done now. Monday is the best day to reach out to an 'authority'. On Tuesday and Wednesday the energy is less smooth flowing - there are some kinks. If some tension comes up on Tuesday or Wednesday with our goals or an authority figure it will likely come back around at the end of the week.

We need to keep our commitments. We need to keep our insecurities in check.

On Wednesday the Sun moves into Libra! Libra season (and the fall equinox) is here. We all begin to burn Libra fuel. Grace, balance, beauty, partnership, cooperation - will make our world run much smoother. Big week for meeting new people (remember no one wants to listen to our bossiness now). New season energy will have all of us feeling like we want to do something! As we move from earth to air it's an easy time to catch a cold or something else so protect your throat and chest, wash your hands, switch from salads to soups, etc.

Mercury is retrograde so stuff happening now will be a little different than what we expected and will change when Mercury goes direct in October. Stay flexible.

Venus trines Uranus and inconjuncts Chiron (this is exact on Tuesday but can be felt building and waning) - if you have planets in fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) or planets in Pisces from 17-22 degrees you will feel this transit and most likely felt it at the end of June and mid to late August. This energy is screaming at you to take a creative risk. Well, maybe screaming isn't the right word it could just be gnawing at you in your quiet moments like a toothache, but you'll know what I mean.

Yes, you can fall flat on your ass here. You can also deeply regret not even trying. If you shake yourself loose enough from needing to control the results (you can't) you might just manage some real healing here regardless of outcome.

At the end of the week Mars runs into Virgo and immediately bumps into a square with Saturn. This kind of feels like I want this, but I can't get it. Or we have to work harder or we hit delays. This is also a whole lot of fire (again my fire warning - be careful with actual flames now). People (including us) could be critical. Give other people their space. Take some deep breaths (I would recommend my soul scentered aromatherapy lockets for this).

(note to Virgos you haven't had a Mars boost in almost two years so use this seven week shot of initiating energy for all its worth - everyone gets extra energy for Virgo ruled things - work, pets, employees, co-workers, paperwork, HEALTH)

Thursday and Friday our new Libra Sun crosses over the North Node of Destiny -

The North Node is a space of collective discomfort. It's a place we are growing into, but we might rather go to the dentist or have a long talk with our mother-in-law over her homemade fruit cake about her son's amazingness and how lucky we are to have him.

The North Node pulls us out of our comfort zone and into a new version of ourselves.

this is like all of us being in the right place at the right time (note what show up and note what exits!). It can also release something (since we are now opposite our south node been there/done that energy) that is leaving our life. We need to trust the cycle.

On Friday we have a rehashing of that mid-week career/authority stuff. Stuff could get tense. Pluto has been retrograde since last March and with Pluto in Capricorn he is answering to Saturn (Capricorn's ruler) - he turns direct on Friday and since he was last looking ahead Saturn has changed signs (Scorpio to Sagittarius) so this changes things with Pluto energy, too.

Taken together there are a whole lot of transits that will be hitting a whole lot of charts with a whole lot of change. A whole lot of people's options just got limited. The good news - the path ahead gets clearer.

We have a huge lunar eclipse full moon next weekend which will be a separate blog post.  Zero cardinal (initiating energy) planets at this eclipse = one giant fresh start.

Last week big daddy Saturn moved from Scorpio into Sagittarius. I talked about this awhile ago, too. 

Part I is here.

Yes, that post is from December :) If you are going to read this new stuff, please read the old one first because it covers a lot of what I'm going to skip in this one.

(Saturn moved into Sagittarius in December then retrograded back into Scorpio and now, since last Thursday/Friday is fully housed in Sagittarius until December 2017 - Scorpios and Aquarius you can exhale now!)

Since I wrote that post nine months ago, my thinking about this transit has changed quite a bit. It's my new 'glass half full' outlook people! Let's unpack this transit a little differently. Instead of thinking about our beliefs hitting a brick wall - let's talk about dismantling our "limiting" beliefs, (ie the beliefs that are limiting us). Let's talk about stepping into and living up to new responsibilities in Sagittarius ruled areas and let's talk about how this transit illuminates our collective vision and moves along our collective story.

Sagittarius is a mutable sign (along with Gemini, Virgo and Pisces and this transit will affect mutable signs strongest so planets in these signs get tightened up). Mutable energy is rather boundless and stretchy. This can be a good thing. But it can also have its drawbacks. Too much space sounds like a good thing until we get it and don't know what the hell to do with it. Less options always equals more focus. More focus with less options is exactly what we get with Saturn in Sagittarius.

So we need boundaries, right? Sometimes we need to know this is as far as we can go. Or this is where we must concentrate our energy in order to succeed. People who do not see things this way at all may feel their goals and dreams are stifled during this transit or get kicked in the ass at some point. For dreamers that can embrace this way of thinking, Saturn will help us build the kind of stability that supports BIG THINGS. More on this later.

Remember this year our fall season is about planning (our harvest next year depends on it).

xo all

Maker's Fest Tomorrow | Manahawkin, NJ

I will be at Maker's Fest at Beach View Farms this weekend. The festival will have amazing music, yoga, almost 100 artists and crafters, great food, a biergarten, farm activities and yard games. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and if you are in NJ - stop by and visit me in the turquoise blue camper! xo

between eclipses ....

owl and pussycat by the little fox

We are now in the two week period between the September eclipses. With so many important transits this week, I wanted to add a little more info to the weekly post (the same post that, yes, I am thinking of ending and, yes, I see the irony in this).

Let's unpack this a little more. First we have expansive, big picture Jupiter (in earthy, detail oriented Virgo where he is not super comfortable - imagine you just ate a Thanksgiving dinner in your skinny jeans) opposing Neptune (in watery Pisces, where he is uber comfortable - now imagine you just ate a Thanksgiving dinner in your jammies).

(Hmm, I am not sure what all this Thanksgiving talk is about - we do suddenly have 6 wild turkeys wandering around the reservoir where I walk most mornings. I have to resist the urge to toss them into my back seat and protect them until Black Friday - and now that I think about it, they can earn their keep by clearing the garden of the tiny worms that have ended our kale season ... )

Before Jupiter was discovered in the mid 1800's, Jupiter was considered the ruler of Pisces (now he rules Sagittarius). This opposition lasts for the entire month of September and is exact (strongest) on Thursday. Then it starts to unwind itself. If your stomach (digestion) or skin (think bacterial overgrowth) is in some kind of distress right now - this is probably why.

Now normally Jupiter vs Neptune would have us lost at sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. And we might be. But with Jupiter grounded in Virgo and Saturn moving into Sagittarius (answering to Jupiter, but also adding a little more lead to his boots) we should be able to tell the fantasy from reality. If something appears too good to be true now. It is.

We also have Mercury turning retrograde in Libra (ruled by Venus barely back in action since her own lengthy and challenging retrograde in firey Leo this summer - when our relationships were tested over liony - how is this not a word? come on spellcheck!) issues of pride "who's in charge here?" and fidelity "where's your loyalty?". Then we have Saturn (in watery Scorpio) moving into firey Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter). And I almost forgot asteroid Juno (marriage, commitment) moves into Libra (where power is often given away) so we've got power imbalances coming up again ... and loyalty issues, sound familiar?

So what does this mean for you? Well, that will depend where all of this hits your natal chart. For Libra the Jupiter/Neptune opposition is a 12th house event (hidden potential, secrets) so Libras could have the urge to go public with something or something that was recently rather inconsequential could become a major focus or some kind of secret fantasy or hope could peak (although this might only happen in her head). For Virgo, the Mercury Retrograde is a 2nd house event - so she will be rethinking her earned money, does she have what she needs, if a Virgo has been making emotional or financial 'sacrifices' they will come up for re-evaluation now. For Leo, Saturn's move into Sagittarius (thru December 2017) is a 5th house event - her house of self expression, creativity, children, love, fun - so extra effort and focus in these areas will be needed for her to get what she wants.

You can see how all of this is different for everyone and these scenarios (and all general astrological predictions by sun sign you see anywhere) do not take into account the time of your birth, they assume you were born at dawn and they use a whole house system with one sign per house and do not take into consideration your actual houses. This is why having your own natal chart handy is important if you are interested in this stuff.

In general we are facing a time of being "lost at sea" (we see the literal examples of this in the news everyday) although there is solid ground  in sight if we take the time to look for it and think things through, compassion works miracles now - a time of  needing to slow down our communications and certain actions, we are relooking at relationships (again) and beginning (again) the longer term changes of Saturn into Sagittarius.

While task master Saturn has been in Scorpio, he has been reinforced by Pluto in Capricorn (since Saturn rules Capricorn and Pluto rules Scorpio) making the last two years very challenging with the energy favoring the powerful and those "in control".

In Sagittarius (ruled by expansive, benevolent Jupiter, the only planet larger than Saturn) Saturn's structure will be different. I'll write about this later.

This is almost certainly the most powerful month of the year - we all will need patience and the willingness to support each other through the ups and downs. Any space in our life we are feeling over-zealous will be a space there are more possibilities available if we can just get out of our own way. Let's try to relax into what life is offering up and - yes, I know this is easy for me to say since I am not in your exact situation, that's why I'm saying it - instead of obsessing over how we think things need to play out.

See what is changing in your life. Beginnings and endings during eclipse season are designed to get us 'back on track' with our original purpose for being here. If they have you on the mat, hold on, October is coming! xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 13th - the Changing of the Guards ....

"Creation comes from an overflow, so you have to learn to intake, to imbibe, to nourish yourself and not be afraid of fullness." .... Anais Nin

We are now working with the New Moon in Virgo solar eclipse energy (we have a much bigger lunar eclipse in two weeks!).

The beginning of this week is an excellent time to set intentions (if you haven't already) for Virgo ruled themes.

We are pushing forward now with our work situation, our health, paperwork, stuff with co-workers or employees, what's happening with our pets and we are getting organized. It's fall clean out time - closets, inboxes. We have big trash pick up in our town next weekend and it couldn't have better timing. I am ready for it!

("ready" in my world means I have made a mental list of what I am ready to hasta la vista - next comes the paper list - no point rushing into anything people - and then comes the part where I get hubs drunk so he doesn't notice the pile of crap I dragged to the curb and he actually leaves the stuff there until the trash man comes also I forgot to mention the part where I ice my neck after dragging the crap to the curb)

MONDAY to WEDNESDAY the best results come from focusing on other people. Partners, clients, agents, competitors - if we need to reach out to someone do it now. If someone wants to partner with us this week it could be a good thing.

There may be something that we don't get now or something that doesn't happen - that's OK. Even though it feels like something we wanted we will see later that something better is moving toward us.

There may be something karmic working itself out with another person around Tuesday - take a breath.

We can't see the whole picture yet. If we have some kind of important meeting with someone on Wednesday there is some "out of the blue" energy at play this day so expect the unexpected. Bringing the unexpected ourselves to this meeting or conversation could be a good thing, but maybe not, it's our call. If what is happening involves love, or women, or money or beauty it would be a good thing. 

(also you need to back up your computer RIGHT AFTER YOU READ THIS!)

On THURSDAY we have multiple changing of the guards!

First, Mercury stations retrograde at 15 degrees Libra so the Libra house of our chart will require us to consider both sides of something. There will be delays and revisions over the next few weeks. This is Libra, so politeness and civility matter and pay dividends. All the usual re's apply - re-do, reconnect, rethink, repeat, revise, redesign, recuperate, repair. We know the drill by now.

Then the Jupiter in Virgo opposition to Neptune retrograde in Pisces becomes exact - this is our dream for our work crashing into the reality of actually doing the work. This is also the energy of an unlimited expansion that could be positive or negative depending on what is expanding! This is still Virgo season so doing what is right in front of us, doing our best and taking care of those tiny details will get us the best results with whatever this energy churns up. This opposition is exhausting many people. This is the when we get so overwhelmed with everything we have to do (much of which is all in our head) that we just look at cute cat videos on youtube all afternoon.

But the big news, especially for those weary late degree Scorpios is that Saturn enters Sagittarius where he hangs his shingle until December 2017 (you might remember his brief  appearance here from December 2014 - June 2015).

So what is happening this week? We've got a mixed bag of - our dreams vs. our day to day reality - a time to pause and reconsider - and a BIG shift in our responsibility and focus.

This is the time to take stock of our next steps.

With Saturn moving into Sagittarius we will be stepping into new responsibilities and pointing our arrow in a new direction (please don't point that thing at me and please don't shoot your eye out)!

I'm going to do a post about what this will mean for your creative business later on this week, if I don't toss my neck out dragging the old dishwasher to the curb ..... xo all

New Moon Solar Eclipse in VIRGO | September 12th-13th - minding and mining the details

"Put light against light - you have nothing. Put dark against dark - you have nothing. It’s the contrast of light and dark that each give the other one meaning." ... Bob Ross

Eclipses are super charged New Moons. They often mark major turning points (when aspecting our natal chart) and they almost always have a sense of finality connected to them.

Whatever ends during eclipse season is surely gone for good.

Some people, maybe 20%, experience an eclipse 30 days before or after the actual event often almost to the exact day. But, most events occur within the new moon's 2 week window.

This one is a partial eclipse so not as bright, but it lasts for almost 4 1/2 hours which translates to events that play out over the next 4 1/2 years - it's energy will be with us for a while.

If you have any natal planets 18-22 degrees of the mutable signs - Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces or Gemini - you will feel this eclipse most strongly.

We are are like computers being turned off and on when the skies go dark and the program that uploads at restart is a little bit (or quite a lot) different than the one we ran on before. Eclipses change us and we (vibrating differently) change our circumstances by attracting or repelling what our new self lines us with.

Although solar eclipses are new moons and have themes of newness we can't have a beginning without an ending! Sometimes the ending is all we feel with this stuff. So, even when we are soaked in mourning for what has ended and we aren't consciously starting something new, the very fact that something/someone is no longer in our life means we are in a new beginning.

Opposing Chiron (the wounded healer) in Pisces - something about this new moon maybe exposes a weakness - maybe something that cannot be fixed. It's inconjunct Uranus so we need to stay sharp and ready to pivot and think on our feet - changes can come out of nowhere with this one. If some opportunity comes up that we are not quite ready for can we allow ourselves to just jump in, knowing everything might not be exactly perfect but trusting there is perfection in the imperfection. Can we trust that we really are ready? Can we trust that what we have to offer is what is needed?

Let's try not to make things big and important in our head and over analyze things (and yes, I realize you may be going through some big and important things) - let what it going to happen happen. Our dial is turned up. Our only job is to be real and authentic. We only have to be ourselves.

This is one of a series of eclipses on the Pisces/Virgo axis. We can also look at the past to see when we had similar degree events and see how they connect with what is happening now. We had a solar eclipse at 19 degrees Virgo in September 2007 and Saturn went retrograde at 22 degrees Virgo in December 2008. Jupiter stationed retrograde at 19 Virgo in January 2004 - think about these dates if stuff is hitting you now.

This weekend's eclipse is at 20 degrees Virgo (the Sun and Moon are both at 20 degrees Virgo) - my brother has Jupiter at 20 degrees Virgo in his 10th house of career in his natal chart. We can't wait (well, maybe he can!) to see how this plays out for him over the next few months as 20 degrees Virgo is triggered by transitting planets (my natal Virgo is 22 degrees in my 10th house, so we'll see how this shows up for me, too). You can check your chart here or email me and I will check!

(Interesting update - Serena Williams with a 20 degree Jupiter in Virgo just lost the U.S. Open in a stunning upset!)

Given a Solar Eclipse is a New Moon, then like all lunations that work their influence over time, it triggers events related to previous celestial events and is triggered by subsequent transits to those points.

So whatever activates with this Solar Eclipse will re-activate when Mars and then Venus transit 20 degrees Virgo in late October then will expand in some way when Jupiter hits 20 degrees Virgo in late November, again in February 2016, and for the final time in July 2016. This is all part of the journey called life on planet Earth. We signed up for it. We will get through it.

It's no coincidence the refugee crisis has finally reached a breaking point and is all over the news. It will not be ignored now. The Virgo/Pisces axis teaches compassion and the lessons of "the other who is our brother". What we learn and how we allow the lessons to change us is up to us. We can grow harder and more brittle, breaking off pieces of our humanity until eventually we look in the mirror and do not even recognize the person we have become or we can grow softer and more resilient.

Seeing Germans welcome "the other" from trains with such compassion, not knowing how they are going to make this work or what the future holds for anyone, but just working with love and releasing decades of fear, is truly pushing our entire collective toward the best use of this energy. There is a new frequency of "effortless plenty" rising now - we need to focus on what is growing and not on the walls that contain it - the walls are an illusion.

Individually we can use the positive qualities of this axis to move forward with whatever we are facing now - (Virgo) work, precision. accuracy, maintenance, taking care of our health, service to others, doing the work without expecting credit, accepting there is not always a relationship between effort and outcome and making the effort anyway and (Pisces) showing compassion, knowing there is only one of us here, dreaming, using our creativity and intuition.

We can avoid the negative energies of this axis (Virgo) perfectionism, nitpicking, nagging, setting ourselves apart, being overly critical and losing the big picture (Pisces) escapism, gloom, laziness, getting enmeshed in the big picture and losing track of the details

One final note - if you have any planets around 29 degrees Scorpio, Taurus, Leo or Aquarius - that's where taskmaster Saturn has been taking his stay-cation, I would imagine some area of your life is feeling mighty squeezed right now. He moves on in 6 days, you can count on it.

Also remember our flock - people often ask me how to make more money with their Etsy store and what they really need is more people - in their lives, businesess and SHOPPING with them. I am going to do a post about this next week. The people come first. Where's your flock? What do they need? It's our job to connect to others who value us.

Remember this is still a New Moon in Virgo so set your intentions and make your affirmations for Virgo themes for the best outcomes - health, quality over quantity, service to others, attention to details, work, co-workers, employees, day to day activities, cleaning, organizing, pets.

INTENTION TIPS: let the earth guide you this month, plant your feet firmly on the ground, clear your head, write what your physical self, grounded by the earth, wants not what you think you should write, write your intentions down by hand in script on a blank piece of paper, speak the words out loud, burn the paper, give the ashes back to the earth - release your attention from these things knowing your intention is known. Life has heard you. Do what is in front of you.

Next week is huge for everyone and we are about to be eclipsed ... today's a Balsamic Moon, get some rest. xo all

Astrology Forecast for Creatives | Week of September 7th - touched by magic ....

"When you’re touched by magic, nothing’s ever quite the same again. What really makes me sad is all those people who never have the chance to know that touch. They’re too busy, or they just don’t hold with make-believe so they shut the door without really knowing it was there to be opened in the first place."   ... Charles de Lint, "What the Mouse Found and Other Stories”

We've got multiple focuses this week.

Venus moved direct on Sunday, September 9th after her 40 day(?) retrograde in Leo. She will move forward slowly so it may take a few days for things to ramp back up for everyone and we may be a little slow to get our bearings, but we are definitely moving on and we will be ready to make new choices and welcome the new ideas and opportunities we will be moving toward!

This retrograde has asked us to go within and explore what motivates us and compels us to share and be seen - what do we really value? what do we want to give? what do we want to receive?

Now that Venus has her groove back decisions we made regarding Venus themes of - love, money, beauty and women - during the last few weeks are up for review, yes again.

What we do with what we have learned and what has played out for us is mostly up to us (as always).

When she FINALLY leaves Leo and moves on to zero degrees Virgo on October 9th we will be decided with this stuff. We don't want to push too hard to make things happen just yet. Let's continue to let this stuff (especially the old stuff that has reincarnated itself) unroll itself. This is also almost the exact date the upcoming Mercury retrograde will end (October 10th) so mark your calendar for full steam ahead then.

MONDAY and TUESDAY (Tuesday is another trigger date for the upcoming solar eclipse so you may have some ending or something big happening then) are get-it-done days.

With the Moon in Cancer on Monday a focus on home and family (and self-nurturing, yes, that hammock and glass of wine are effective uses of your time now) are supported.

Mid week we have something that came to our attention from two weeks ago that now needs action.

A trine from Mars in Leo to Uranus in Aries on TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY's Leo Moon are great creative energy - sparks of genius will be flying that could take a project in a new direction or turn it from average to amazing.

It could also be a great hookie day with the kids or our love or some kind of recreation. With Uranus there will be an element of the unexpected to whatever we do and all this fire could have our passions sparked  - watch out for actual fire though!

Something could also return our attention to Scorpio themes - we only have a few more days with Saturn in Scorpio (YAY!) - this means sex, divorce, financials, a partner's money, child support, inheritance, mortality, reproduction, or third party situations - if this is you, this is not a good hookie day.  

Let's finish this stuff.

On WEDNESDAY/ THURSDAY Mercury in Libra squares Pluto in Capricorn so we may hear some news that is hard to hear or our own words may be challenged - this aspect also gives us the ability to penetrate to the very core of a matter or problem. Long lasting solutions could follow. We could also discover information that wasn't meant to be uncovered. Will we speak up or avoid conflict? Watch for power struggles mid-week..

September and October are, like August, big visioning energy. What's our dream? In November and December Saturn will help us (maybe with his boot to our back) - to begin - progress will be visible. January and February will be a little hibernation period, I suggest we stay warm and snuggled up by the fire with a hot chocolate and Agatha Christie paperback (so soothing to me somehow, I'm not sure why) and then March to July we build the damn thing.

This will involve our Virgo, Pisces and Sagittarius houses. We should know our Virgo house by now - if not email me or find it on astro.com - our Pisces (that's where dreamy Neptune is hanging out) and our Sagittarius (expansive Jupiter) houses are all the spaces we will be growing this thing!

September will be hectic and next spring will be HECTIC (isn't it odd how writing in all caps makes the spelling look wrong, visual memory I guess) so with all this Virgo energy right now it is an excellent time to focus on ourselves and our health - make the time for ourselves, make it sacred and unalterable now. We can't just pencil ourselves in anymore or use that disappearing ink - it's permanent marker time now people, etch it in stone or we will burn ourselves out before we even get this thing started.

Stilling our minds, moving our bodies and eating clean will create steady and long term results for us now. It's Virgo season. We can use this practiced, efficient, precise energy or be used by it. There is always something to be done ... or undone.

I'll do an eclipse post before this weekend, this month is BIG - and yes, obviously, I'm still here. xo