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