February glimpses and guidance

Horoscope for February, 2014

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Something is shifting for you on a deep inward level, which may feel like the healing of a kind of isolation or loneliness that has followed you around for a while. This has taken you a step closer to your soul, just when you were wondering if such a thing was even possible....
 
 Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
It’s essential for your well-being to sort out what influences in your life are nourishing and which are depleting...The most common reason I’ve seen people abandon their power is because it seems to offer liberation from the consequences of their own mistakes. That’s one form of liberation that will never serve you. - Eric Frances

My attention is focused on family and the showing of my new medicine story The Joy Weed Journal. Pete and JOTS and I are looking forward to some time with my son. He is in Washington sorting and addressing the paperwork and bureaucracy of American/France laws. His wife is French, and in France. He is not French, and is here. To be in the same place at the same time is the goal. We malama their process, and I thaw out oxtails for soup tomorrow.

Showing my new story to an intimate audience, as well as an anonymous group of readers is a different approach for this storyteller. I am enjoying the feedback from the audience and we both learn to exchange feelings and impressions using the internet as a stage: it's refreshing and a welcome next step in the art.

Astrology as a tool for navigating and creating offers me clues to process and progress. The snips of February horoscopes above, from Eric Frances, give me at least two angles to be with February. The Aquarius view feeds my Progressed Sun, now in Aquarius for just a year. I'm just getting used to the fit of Aquarius. Born a Scorpio, the horoscope from Frances makes sense because it touches the familiar journey of my life.

Family and story, good for the first week of the Year of the Horse. And for you?

Mercury square Saturn, January 25, 2014

 “This relates to this aspect. You want to ask the right person, the right things, but I also have to stay out of situations I’ve not been asked to get involved in, which is exactly what I will do.” There’s the gold! - ElsaElsa

There's an interesting exchange of question and comments going on over at my astrology's place. Mercury, the planet of communication/messages and 'how one thinks' is retrograde in Scorpio. One thing that happens when Mercury (appears to us from Earth) to be traveling backward (retro) is issues get a re-do and a second shot. In Scorpio, the exercise will be deep and probably serious. An astrological 'square' means the energy of two planets (in this case Mercury and Saturn) One of my favorite descriptions for a 'square' in astrology is from Elizabeth Rose Campbell. From her book Intuitive Astrology Campbell wrote, "Sometimes we must develop very sophisticated methods of combining talents to maximize our creative gifts to the world. To do this, we need to be like the carpenter building a table--aware of variables, present with our tools, our full attention, and a substantial fund of patience."

"putting legs on a table"

Sometimes, a square will bring out the all-too-serious sides of an angle. Especially with Saturn involved the pressure of 'the task master' (one of Saturn's descriptors) a transit with this energy can be harsh. The thing is, I have benefited from studying astrology influenced by people like Elizabeth Rose Campbell who viewed astrology with this mantra: "When you follow your best instincts, you follow the stars." Saturn square Mercury is in my natal chart; I was born with it. The long-term practice of learning how to express myself with authority (and not tyranny!) is my kuleana. Kuleana in Hawaiian means, living your life responsibly and in harmony with all; in all my relationships.

The Mercury-Saturn square is a short term transit, and for most people, not a life-time lesson or opportunity. What it does offer any and all of us, especially free-thinkers, is practice with when to speak and when to be silent; or, you might just want to put your legs on a table and not try to be a carpenter. Who said Saturn or Scorpios have no sense of humor?

New Moon in Sagittarius, December 2, 2013

"The new moon in Sagittarius takes place on December 2nd at 11 degrees. It comes just in time to give people hope. If you already have hope, your hope will be reinforced. This is a very positive new moon... -read the whole post at ElsaElsa for thoughts about the new moon in the Houses

This new moon in Sagittarius will be in my 11th house. "New Moon in the 11th house – Give to friends and make some new ones," suggests my astrologer. I've been given the start of a new year, that in many peoples' eyes, especially those who have rebuilding, relearning, and restoring themselves after experiencing loss or as I've come to call it a personal typhoon. Relating to that sort of water-born devastation, the wounds are fresh. Typhoon Haiyan is no accident. What I can do about that typhoon does start with recognizing how one wound affects all. My astrologer Elsa P. is offering me an opportunity to recognize the hope that comes after wounding(s). The hope I feel during my freshly begun new year I put down in the Route 66 posts that have begun here. The energy of the Sagittarius New Moon coming up helps to transform the episodes of wounding when I try to step into spaces that are unsafe for me: try as I might to push on the borders of "safe" some things, some situations are still 'no goes.' Pete and I had one of those situations yesterday. It threw us for a toxic loop. We fell back into the anger-loss-wounded place.

Where's the hope?

Gratefully it comes with time and an informed knowing. Today I see how to apply the energy of the feminine, the moon energy of Sagittarius. There are friends (old and new) that could be made by generously giving what I authentically have. My long-time readers and family know that my blogging life began with the blog VARDO FOR TWO. I closed that blog to the public in 2011. I've reopened it with a new attitude based on my awareness that some good can come by sharing the story of building a two-wheeled Gypsy-style home. We built it with hope. Today we live in it and thrive because I've found a recipe for weaving magic and myth into stories that transcend obstacles. I need these stories, and they come. I write them down, and hope grows. These are mythic times believe it or not.Vardo For Two my first blog is reopened continuing with "Stories Five Years Later ... life on the borders where myth-making and magic are the remedy". Link to VardoForTwo. 
(the link works now, thanks jt!)