Amelia’s Blog

“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Martin Luther King Jr 

One of the interesting aspects of astrology is looking at the chart of a person who has passed on to see what transits are activating the natal chart in the present. For instance there were significant aspects to Michelangelo’s natal chart at the time that the Sistine chapel was being renovated – transits that would indicate a rebirth of some kind.

With all the push back, strong feelings and polarization being experienced in the US now some people have invoked the memory of Martin Luther King Jr and his practice of nonviolent resistance. It is no wonder astrologically as the time we are living in is another “turn of the wheel” of the turbulent Sixties and 70s – with the same powerful forces in play.

In his birth chart Dr. King’s Moon is in Pisces – this is being activated now by the transit of Chiron – The Asteroid of the Wounded Healer. People with the Moon in Pisces are often idealistic and can feel intuitively the underlying unity and interconnectedness of life. They can be most fulfilled by living a life of service guided by higher principles – if not derailed by addiction to which they are also highly prone. Dr. King’s  “I have a Dream Speech” which motivated many others to join him, was a good expression of the idealism that Pisces or Neptune – ruled people can have. He worked through collaboration and cooperation and worked for unity in a highly charged, highly polarized environment. He was also a man of great faith and courage.

Pythagoras, best known in our time for the Pythagorean Theorum, was also educated in Mystery Schools and about the mystical meaning of numbers. He taught “Remember the One” by which he meant remember the unity which underlies all duality.

“Life is the only way
to get covered in leaves,
catch your breath on sand,
rise on wings

To be a dog,
or stroke its warm fur;

to tell pain
from everything it’s not;

to squeeze inside events,
dawdle in views,
to seek the least of all possible mistakes;

An extraordinary chance
to remember for a moment
a conversation held with the lamp switched off;

and if only once
to stumble on a stone,
end up soaked in one downpour or another,

mislay your keys in the grass;
and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes;

and to keep on not knowing
something important.  Wislawa Szymborksa

Chiron the asteroid of the Wounded Healer stations direct today at 20 degrees of Pisces.  It is a reminder of the journey towards wholeness and the underlying unity of all life – in an individual as well as a cosmic sense.

Chiron is also about chaos and fragmentation and the periodic need for things to be reborn or reassembled through a process which can seem chaotic.

The last time Chiron was in Pisces was during the culmination of the life work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

One of the Sabian symbols for this placement is,”A little white lamb, a child and a Chinese mentor. ”

Sabian symbol quote from Lynda Hill

We have this way of talking, and we have another.
Apart from what we wish and what we fear may happen,
We are alive with other life, as clear stones
Take form in the mountain. Rumi

“No pressure, no diamonds.” Thomas Carlyle

Tuesday’s New Moon is at 7 degrees of Sagittarius at 7:16 am EST. The asteroid of the Wounded Healer, Chiron is a strong influence in the sky at this time as are Uranus and Mercury. Everyone has Chiron somewhere in their astrology chart and its placement indicates where a lifelong journey towards wholeness takes place – a journey of wounding and healing.

New Moons offer a very good time for intention setting and for reaffirming intentions. There has been talk for years about a paradigm shift occurring – both individually and collectively and the timing is associated with this New Moon in particular. The paradigm shift has to do with a growth in individual consciousness which is connected to a global shift in consciousness through a process which develops over time. For sure there have been and will be critical points in this process and  significant challenges to be met.

On an individual level it is a good time to access what stories you carry about wounding in your own life and the effect they have had on you up to this point and to consider whether this threshold is an appropriate time to apply a new and innovative model to the way you think about them in order to move to a more evolved sense of integration and wholeness.

The Sabian symbol for this New Moon is,”Deep within the depths of the earth, new elements are being formed.”

sabian symbol quote from Lynda Hill

“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” Buckminister Fuller

The Sun moves into the sign of Sagittarius today. Sagittarius is the sign of organized religion, philosophy, adventure and expansion. This is a very different influence than the sign of Scorpio which the Sun has transited for the last month- Scorpio which plumbs the depths and can be associated with payback and revenge scenarios on the less evolved side.

The influence of the planet Pluto – in mythology the god of the underworld and ruler of Scorpio – is still a strong influence this week as it aligns with the planet Venus. This combination can trigger cellular or past life memories of loss, lack and power-over struggles of a patriarchal nature. It is a time when there be concerns about personal safety and vulnerability. It is also a good time to think about what you can do to help protect the vulnerable.

In theosophical circles they hold the belief that the being of Christ was not a god appearing at one time only,  but a person who incarnates through various periods of time as a Master or a teacher of spiritual truth to help humanity in its evolutionary process. This is akin to many spiritual traditions  that await the appearance of a messiah at this time. Phillip Lindsay, the author and esoteric astrologer has noted that many theosophists believe that the next Christ figure or Master is on the planet now and travels between Syria and Egypt. This is an interesting idea to entertain in light of traditional Christianity’s Christ as having humble origins and casting the money changers out the temple. A person who put fear aside and worked to protect the vulnerable although facing powerful adversaries and being very vulnerable himself. A person who quite clearly prioritized spiritual values.

With Pluto in Capricorn the appropriate use of resources – natural and otherwise will be very much on the table for the foreseeable future.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A person studying a mandala in front of him with the help of a very ancient book.”

Sabian symbol quote from Lynda Hill

When I have astrology appointment to prepare for I often go to a local cafe and do research there. People wander in and out and sometimes, looking at my  books and charts spread out on the long table inquire,”Are you an astrologer?” I can have interesting encounters.

Yesterday was such a day. As I was working away a woman in  friendly,  intrigued tone said, “You must be an astrologer.” and we struck up a conversation. She is from a seaside town long known as an affluent, star studded summer resort area.

I grew up near there, I told her, and as a child had a friend whose mother had owned a house in that town. Once when I was visiting in the winter- when the town had an austere, abandoned and haunted feeling – we set off exploring the environs and the massive, foreboding Victorian mansions set up high on the windswept dunes overlooking the sea.

My friend’s family knew people who lived in one of those mansions and she wanted to show it to me. While exploring we found an open door and being lovers of ghost stories and haunted houses, decided to go in. It was dank and silent in the house and the thick, heavy velvet curtains blocked most of the light coming in from the massive windows. In the dim, dusty air you could make out the shapes of furniture- all covered with white sheets. It reminded us of  horror movies we had seen and we went running out.

I told the woman in the cafe about it and said,” I suppose all those houses have alarms now and she said,”Yes. They are all armed.”

The woman in the cafe was involved with managing properties like that and told me that one of the old mansions near the country club has a door that looks like it leads into the basement. Surprisingly though the unobtrusive door leads into a totally intact and well stocked speakeasy- built during Prohibition.

This Neptunian idea of hidden doors and secret places reminded me of a dream I once had. It was about a massive, rambling Victorian sea captain’s house where I had been the caretaker for years. People often saw ghosts there – men in black tie and women in long flowing gowns. The house had been built as a summer house where people from NY and Boston would come to attend large and formal parties. The house was set up high on a ridge and lightning would often strike it or very close by. When my friends were trying to sell it, on a couple of occasions prospective buyers would flee during those thunderstorms when the house grew very dark and lightning strikes would made the phones ring. I often dreamed of that place after we moved out – it was a place of mystery for me.

In one dream of this house I had gone back and my friends no longer lived there. I was wandering through the halls and discovered a secret door that I had never seen before. The door opened to a beautiful room – a lady’s dressing room with a Victorian dressing table on which stood antique glass perfume bottles. Sparkling jewels lay there also and light filtered in through a small stained glass window. It was very warm and fragrant there. I have always thought of the house in that dream as representing my life and the secret door a reminder of ways I might not be considering or exploring because I was navigating from a place of the known rather than being open to mystery.

The woman in the cafe told me about her chart and I talked a little bit about it. When she left she said,”Wow! I didn’t expect the have a mini astrology reading today.”

I smiled – I liked them very much – and said, “The field of astrology is governed by the planet Uranus – the planet of the unexpected.”

Neptune is the planet of dreams, visions and hidden things. When Neptune is strong in the sky it bodes well to pay attention to your dreams. It is a very good time for the imagination – for creativity and  musing as well as prayer and meditation.

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Astrologically there are strong similarities to the Sixties now – another time when the personal became political. And then as now we are seeing  stresses and strains placed on many friendships and relationships in a very heated climate.

One of the great gifts of Martin Luther King Jr during the upheaval of his tumultuous era was his constant reminder to keep the focus on spiritual values and Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance.

As we approach Thanksgiving in the US many families will gather together in the midst of testy times and testy astrological aspects. Venus will be conjunct Pluto – indicating a time of very deep feelings with the potential for revenge to enter the picture. It is also a time when powerful transformations can occur when coming from a deeper, wiser perspective.

In general if you have been striving to lead a more spiritual life now is the time to implement those values and – as Dr, King encouraged – to stay in touch with what is really important despite the risks, threats and obstructions. As Dr King so wisely said,“I have decided to stick to love… Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

With Mercury in close alignment to Saturn it bodes well to keep restraint in mind as well as right speech and action.

One of the Sabian symbols associated with aspects at Thanksgiving this year is,” A fire worshiper meditates on the ultimate realities of existence.”

Sabian Synbol quote from Lynda Hill

“People are like stained glass windows.They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but often when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.” Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Venus enters the sign of Capricorn today and Mercury enters Sagittarius. Venus in this earthy, pragmatic placement can bring restraint and caution to the emotional climate and Mercury in Sagittarius can open the door to a more expansive perspective.

The energy is building towards the Monday’s Supermoon – a time when the Moon will be closer to the earth than it has been in decades. Emotional tides can be strong and building at this time. This Supermoon provides a good time for looking at what true security and stability means at this time and place. With the advent of the Age of Aquarius it is wise to keep in mind that we live on a small interconnected planet and that collaboration, cooperation, respect, restraint and coalition building with like minded groups help build a more enlightened path to the future.

One of the Sabian symbol associated with this time is,”Three stained glass windows in a Gothic church, one damaged by war.”

Quotes from Lynda Hill’s 360 Degrees of Wisdom

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anais Nin

There are several planets changing signs this week. This influence reminds me of being at a busy intersection with a lot going on.
Mars the planet of drive and aggression moves into Aquarius on the 9th, Venus enters Capricorn on the 11th and Mercury enters Sagittarius on the 12th.
Mars in Aquarius has an erratic, electrical current and bodes well for innovation, collaboration and cooperation. Venus in Capricorn bodes well for working on finances and financial planning and for connecting with people who can be of assistance in working towards your goals. It bodes well for putting plans into form. Mercury in Sagittarius ushers in a time that is good for learning, exploration and expanding your horizons.
In general the building Jupiter/Pluto/Uranus T-square indicates a time when strong, dogmatic views are present and conflict can arise easily. It can be a heady, cerebral time of strong opinions and it bodes well to stay in touch with your intuition and to keep in mind the underlying inter-connectedness of all life on our small planet.
One of the Sabian symbols for the T- square is,”The gate opens to the garden of all fulfilled desires.”

Sabian symbol reference from Lynda Hill’s 360 Degrees of WIsdom

“Neptune is conjoined with the South Node…and is trying to teach the practice of forgiving the past and living in just this moment with great trust and without fear and worry.” Patricia Liles

Today’s  New Moon in Scorpio ushers in a time when the powers of rejuvenation are strong. It bodes well to seek information from the deeper side of life and to get below the surface of the way you normally frame things in order to have a new energized start.

One of the things to consider is the Jupiter/Pluto square which has been a strong influence. This aspect can be associated with being right at all costs. The Sun and Moon in Scorpio are about the powers of transformation and it bodes well to examine the underpinnings of strong beliefs that may have been beneficial up to this point but may have outlived their purpose. Both Pluto and Jupiter have a connection to dogma and this does not just apply to religious beliefs but beliefs in general.

The Sun and Moon are trine the planet of dreams and inspiration – Neptune- boding well for creative solutions and approaches especially to business and financial endeavors. With Venus conjunct Saturn now do reaffirm commitments to your financial goals and stay out of the tendency to worry about scarcity. In general it is a spiritual time and tying your aspirations to the well being of all is a good idea.

It is also a good time to transform the present by honoring the gifts of the ancestors and reviewing the past through the lens of compassion and forgiveness.
One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”The silvery moon shining across the beautiful gem of a lake.”

Sabian symbol quote from Lynda Hill