New Moon in Libra: Relationship Matters

Later this evening (in the US) the moon and sun will be conjunct (in the same place at the same time) both in the sign of Libra. Relationships and relating is highlighted. For most the summer I have been away from Makua o'o writing about moving elsewhere.  

So many possibilities, so many discoveries especially about how I relate one on one; how Pete and I together relate with the community we live with; how we present ourselves to a potential new community.

Later today Pete and I will begin moving our golden wagon inch-by-inch using a come along to position our home just yards away. After weeks of negotiating big and long distance moves, our goal today: to move out from under the trees (as safety for us) without cutting (the trees).

Elsa P. wrote about today's astrological community. She ends with this advice:

" I thought I’d pass this on because it’s so textbook as far as the astrology goes.
Jupiter is conjunct the Sun and Moon. Mars in Capricorn squares the triple conjunction.
Get out there and strive to generous and forgiving. It can’t hurt and it may help more than you might imagine."

She also posted a link on her ElsaElsa (the first astrology blog ever) site demonstrating that signature of generosity she's suggesting for her readers. It's a link to a resource of 10,000 blog posts she's written over the decade. I started reading Elsa when Pete and I were building our vardo, the golden wagon on wheels. She inspired me to expand my perceptions (thinking) using astrology and has consistently aided me; alerting me to the potential and the ramifications of acting or not acting.

If you're new to astrology, the link will be an incredible education, self-paced. If you're a student of astrology over time your depth of knowledge and application will be fleshed out in unexpected ways.

Oh, if you're wondering how the crab above relates to the New Moon in Libra I live with two crabs (Cancer sun signs). One of 'em will be hitching up my home to a chain. The other crab lives just across the orchard, and we pass her rent to live here. With the astrology of the day and weekend in mind the message  "Land crab on the defense" made a lot of sense to me. Good to know not to piss off crabs on the defense, even for a Scorpio with a stinger.

Are you studying astrology?

Regular readers here know ElsaElsa (Elsa Panizzon and Satori Harris) is my go-to place for astrology. If you're studying astrology 'the first astrology blog on the Internet' has gold to read. I'm a huge fan of these women's contribution and approach to the practice. Satori has a bright and poetic way with words. Elsa's a great storyteller and a gal with years of astrology-related articles to read: a treasure chest!

CLICK HERE to access 'Links to most popular astrology topics' from ElsaElsa

Last chances: Saturn returns (retrograde) to Scorpio March 14, 2015

My favorite astrologer Elsa P. wrote this morning,

"Saturn will turn retrograde in Sagittarius on March 14th, 2015.  He’ll return to Scorpio the second half of June through the first half of September. Scorpio and the other fixed signs (Taurus, Leo & Aquarius) read this and groan. However, I see this as an opportunity.

Saturn only transits a sign every 28.5 years. If you keep this in mind, you can see this is your last chance to get a grip on Scorpio-themed problems and set yourself up for close to three decades..."



I discovered Elsa P, blogger and astrologer when Pete and I were rebuilding our lives and building the tiny home we call VardoForTwo. Regular readers know the story of how and when I first discovered Elsa, but I'll recap, and use a scene and line from a movie we watched the other night. The movie is "Love is strange".

The movie is about two older men, Ben and George (71) who marry. Ben teaches music in a Catholic school and when news of the same-sex marriage gets to the higher ups Ben is fired. Without his income the newly married couple are forced to sell their apartment and separate as the only solution; Ben moves in with their former neighbors (two party-loving gay cops) and George goes to stay with his nephew's family and sleeps in the lower bunk with his grand-nephew.

These are deep (Scorpio) issues and both men, and their families and friends are challenged (Saturn) to deal with life in its murky reality. The line and scene from the movie happens very late in the film. George is sitting on the couch during one of the party-loving cops' party. He really wants to sleep, but, a young man comes to sit on the other end of the couch. They start talking. George wonders whether the young man is hitting on him. He isn't. But, when the young man discovers the couch is George's bed he asks, "Are you homeless?" George says, "Yes." The conversation grows and both men lead to the discovery that the young (anthropologist) is about to leave the city for another country and has the keys to a rent-control apartment. The apartment that is now empty.

Through the adversity late in life George and Ben make the most of their opportunities to deal with Scorpio issues (sex, power, legacy). A new home comes just in time ... but there is a bitter quirk to it (and I won't spoil it for those of you who might want to see the excellent portrayal of men on the screen).

Circling around to how this relates to meeting my astrologer, and the upcoming Saturn retrograde to Scorpio. When I first discovered Elsa Panizzon, Pete and I were sleeping on the floor of a basement apartment kitchen. We were to most peoples' eyes/thinking homeless. We were learning to live with an illness that many couldn't understand, and though we had money to rent, we had to live in a foil-wrapped kitchen floor because 'normal' housing was unsafe for me.

While Pete found the material and built an eight foot by twelve foot mobile bedroom on a lawn perched over industrial Seattle, I struggled and dealt with a body and soul that needed re-fitting. We had internet, and an old laptop. As I searched for materials and processes to build our new life I found the first astrology blog ever ... Elsa Elsa.

Since the resources and values that suited me pre-illness were not working (Scorpio-stuff) I would need to find a larger picture to reframe life to survive. Elsa Panizzon taught me to use astrology to understand myself in relationship to the whole. That was 2008. Elsa was my 'young anthropologist at the other end of the couch.'

When Saturn retrogrades into Scorpio again in June (through the first half of September) 2015, the planet gives me a second chance to look at the power struggles I have with my public image Sun (10th House of Career); Mercury (how I think); and the deep and primal wounds of Chiron. My dreams rehash my past roles and careers, I revisit homes I have long ago left. Are there any gems of good to bring with me at this stage of life? Or, can I move into this new spring and summer and fall of 2015 willingly and easily letting go of the struggle.

Can I go back to school and learn my lessons well as the old Crosby Still Nash and Young song goes? I am a Scorpio-sun woman, born in the year of the Golden Pig in the Chinese zodiac. Can I use this Saturn retrograde school time and become the good-natured essential Pig at 67. The I was born to be?

Any other Scorpios (or Fixed signs) relate?

  

Preparing to climb: notes from and for The Goat (Capricorn and Wood Goat)

"Saturn conjunction Jupiter: Weather forecast

Mid-February 2015 until mid-November 2015: This influence can represent different things to different people. It can be an opportunity for very careful sustained growth through patient endeavor. Or it can be a period of extreme restlessness and impatience.

During this time you may expect any of the following: a change of residence; a change in financial status, often for the worse; withdrawal from others in order to work; fondness for solitude; industry and perseverance..."

- Robert Hand

 

 

A good pal sent me an email the other day, she was checking on me because I've been absent from my blogs and not showing up at my on-line writers group. I told her I was recovering from exposures and was doing a lot of reading but not much writing. It's the truth. When I go through the recuperative process it can get messy. Maybe it's the Capricorn (Saturn ruled) Sea Goat traits or just the thing that can happen as my senses and my internal navigational devices (synapses and soul markers) are recalibrated after absorbing too many smells. Maybe, put more simply, my backpack's been dumped out and the recouping bit means I must get my bearings again; check to see if the stuff I have is what I really need/want; repack; and keep climbing. The thing is ... we Goats don't have a choice about having to climb. It's what goats do. It's genetic, soul-bounded commitment.

 

Timing-wise the Solar New Year has begun, our calendars tell us it's mid-January 2015. Parties and cookies, and Solstice have marked an old year completed. It's still the dark season, still dark and wet and cold but still there's that mountain to climb.  

 

Lunar New Year, February 19, 2015 ... Year of the Wood Goat

 

The astrological weather forecast from Robert Hand that I use to open this post gives me something to set my course, or understand my current threshing. Saturn is newly into Sagittarius. "Slow and steady" is the password for navigating this two and a half year journey. I consider the password, attune to the itchiness I feel and recognize the tug and pull of wanting new territory, new friends and a bigger landscape. But, the journey will have to be done by this real life goat with spindly legs. Ever notice? Goats' legs are spindly.

 

I'm not sure about how goats 'feel' about their destiny as climbers. But I'm not going to try assigning human values to a great four-legged beast, or a Sea Goat who is half-mammal half-fish for that matter. What I am trying to do is to express the slowly dawning awareness and feelings within this Capricorn (Moon). The New Lunar Year begins in just over a month's time. By reckoning of time according to my Chinese ancestors, the sun and moon have equal input as far as the new year goes. Winter Solstice (when we on Earth experience the shortest Sun light) is one marker. Two New Moons (when the moon is in the sky during the day, and 'invisible' at night) following Winter Solstice marks the Lunar New Year. Around this time of year I admit to fumbling or juggling way too many balls in my mind. My dreams are epic; I visit the past; I am visited by the dead; I close my eyes to go to sleep and am way, way, way too awake to sleep ... to let go. Here at the keys I am attempting to clarify: Solar New Year. Lunar New Year. I sift through the astrology and find one of my favorite posts from Elsa Panizzon about Sun and Moon, "Live you Sun, Satisfy your Moon."

 

" Your Sun, its sign, its house placement, and its aspects show what you have to do to feel vitally alive. Your Moon sign, its house and its aspects, show what you need to feel nurtured. Your emotional state. Together they are a natural pair...The Vedics (Indian astrologers) consider the aspects to the Moon to be more important than the sun. The Sun is an afterthought in compare. They judge the quality of a life by the Moon because they do not think a life is worth much if you have to live it feeling like crap even if you are rich, or hugely successful in some way..."

 

To satisfy my emotions I do need to feel secure on my feet, my spindly legs tingle with anticipation. Grateful to have my cozy den of a vardo I hunker down, pull an old favorite book under the covers with me and re-read the story of tall and spindly marmalade-haired Elfrida Phipps as she ventures to the North of Scotland. For fourteen years I have read this book, carrying my own version of the paperback from Kuliouou Valley back on O'ahu imagining the possibility that I could reinvent and create a secure and stable home from the termite eaten childhood home I found myself occupying at fifty. That book, and those years of trying to satisfy my Capricorn Moon allowed me to build a life that would change significantly over and over again. Funny how the Universe, the director of potential, lays out the odd connections. The book I have carried, or found again, at our local library is WINTER SOLSTICE by Rosamunde Pilcher. I allow for the seeping of osmosis to claim the pieces of myself that fit the characters and plot of favorite territory penned by a writer. There is comfort in all of it, all the art of story. I satisfy my moon's needs.

 

The ghosts and the choices I made since first I read WINTER SOLSTICE in the bedroom that was my girlhood bedroom, they come to be with me in dreams. In the dark nights they swirl and tamper with clarity. It is not yet time for the light. It will come, but, not quite yet. That is the thing isn't it. It is not about forcing the light to come, even as we who live with the conveniences of a light switch and hot water heaters believe we are entitled to immediate satisfaction.

 

The Capricorn Goat Moon (mine) is partnered with a Scorpio Sun sign. In many ways the two are complimentary. Deep and Serious describes them both. As I age, and am given one more day, another night, a week, a month, a Lunar New Year I come to appreciate the long time it takes to learn to love more. To love the sh*t out of every moment. One last bit of astrology demands attention as I clamber to the shaded hillside of this ramble. The Chiron placement. For me, Chiron (the bridge between the outer and inner planets) is in the 10th House in the sign of Scorpio. The 'wound that will not heal' that is one way to describe Chiron's signature, is conjunct the way I communicate, and the way I 'shine' as my sun is also in Scorpio. I glean more and more understanding about my Chiron placement. And for those who may find Chiron beckoning to you, I recommend reading Satori's posts here, and here for insight.

Back to Chiron and a final note from and for The Goat. The ancient wound that I carry has to do with my Career or Reputation (10th House). In 1997 when Pete my husband and I returned to my home of origin the house was badly in need of repairs. It was 'wounded' and eaten by many termites, and it was our choice to repair it and live in it. By this time my career as a corporate teacher/trainer/facilitator was ending. But, it would be a few years before I completely stopped working 'at it.' Full-time corporate though was slowly and steadily becoming a past life. That year 1997 was my Chiron Return. My path would become one of climbing the mountain of a more spiritually infused commitment.

My public reputation as the girl who used to live in this house would be challenged. My health would start to deteriorate, losses would mount, and by 2004 Pete and I had done as much as we could to rebuild the old place. I sold the home in the spring of 2004 and the wound of Chiron has challenged me with little conscious awareness on my part. It is now, more than ten years later, that I appreciate and consider the 'superpower' bit that Satori wrote about here:

"It was Superman’s alien physiology that made him “super” but what was his wound? It was being an alien among humans. He would have just been an average Joe on Krypton. Batman was frightened by an onslaught of bats and traumatized by the murder of his parents; he put these together and manifested his superhero greatness. Spiderman was just a nerd till he was bitten by a radioactive spider. If you want to know your superpower, look no further than your Chiron placement. Once you figure that out you can work with it and enhance your superpower rather than sitting around in your metaphorical wheelchair bemoaning your wound..."

I mourn the loss of my girlhood dreams not satisfied, but reflect appreciatively on the clambering Goat path that brought me back to that girl's dream. I brought help with me (a Cancer Sun with a Libra Moon) and my Ma's ghost checked him out as he finished remodeling her kitchen. He will never forget that meeting!The grief and the loss is real, the wound real too. I wished so hard to be able to live in that house for the rest of my life. I know I couldn't and didn't.  I bleed. I know I am vulnerable to the smells and chemicals that cannot be prevented wholesale. But as I wrap up this post, it feels like a new bandage anointed with the elixir produced from that Chiron wound prepares me to clamber on.

We have a heaven's worth of markers to guide our personal clambering. The myth, the story, the cookies and the bandages make for a unique passage from here to there. I appreciate my dear friend's concern, I've milked an expression from the breast of a she-goat and put it here. For what it's worth I love that it comes as the first New Moon after Winter Solstice approaches (January 20, 2015) leaving me another cycle of the moon to prepare for a Lunar New Year Celebration where my husband and I open the doors of The Safety Pin Café and welcome The Year of the Wood Goat. We have pinned together a life of wounds and blessings. And count them all as the real life being lived.

Thank you jt!

 

Many ways to be human

"Here’s a little known fact in astrology – Uranus sensitizes a person..." - ElsaElsa "Distaste & Intolerance for a person's humanness"

Elsa continues with that post, "We’ll try to not be so nosy. Right? Everybody stay out of Elsa’s business. She’ll tell us what’s going on when she feels like it.”

I looked over and nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to think...”

People rarely give the other allowance of this kind anymore. They won’t let people be human and individual. Instead they try to perfect them according to their own design and standard. I think this could be the new definition of “insane”."

 

The beginning of tiny home life, 2008

 

Most regular readers of Makua o'o know I live with a condition called MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Though I don't focus on this reality in the writing I do on this blog it is an underlying thread that tugs at the definition of me, and my humanness everyday. My husband Pete and I were featured in a recent article written in the Fall/Winter 2014 newsletter for volunteers who serve the South Whidbey Island community Good Cheer Food Bank. The piece entitled "Pete and Moki Helping Pin together a Community of Compassion." begins, "What is it like to have a story to tell but not be able to get close enough to tell it because it could harm you? That is the question Mokihana Calizar must answer every day. Moki has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity where she cannot be near fragrances and chemical odors. This is very limiting in the ways she can be of service to her community but she has spent the last 7 years figuring out how to do just that."

The short article was accompanied by a photograph taken on a sunny late fall afternoon in Langley. The words used to describe us surprised me, Pete did not read the article for several weeks. When he did read it he said, "That was good!" surprised as well that others did understand (to some degree) what it takes for us to contribute to our community regardless of the challenges and "life circumstances." Yes, in the last 7 years figuring out how to contribute to our South Whidbey Island community has challenged me to stretch my comfort zone without agitating the fine line or border of health that maintains an immune system strong, and resilient enough to cope with too much fragrance, or an overload of stimulation. As I write this post I have just come through a day and night of exposures that frazzled my mind and body: an exuberant Happy New Year hug from a friend who was loaded with strong fragrance began a downward spiral of illness. Unless you or someone dear to you has initiated you into the protocol necessary to be with someone living with heightened sensitivities the special care necessary to 'deal' with my sort of humanness is as foreign as Francais is to a non-Francophile.

One of our "Sensitive Friends" had a birthday party this summer. In an email sent to all her guests she included this request (which I've edited a bit to fit this post)."

"You are welcome to bring anyone with you that you'd like to--with the proviso that they be somewhere between largely and entirely unscented.  (No dryer sheets, strongly-scented detergents, lotions, deodorants, SUNSCREEN, etc.)  In other words, come smelling as much like a person as possible.  I WILL SUPPLY PLENTY OF UNSCENTED SUNSCREEN--please do not bring your own, as there will be at least three chemically sensitive people here (2 that live here, and one or two guests), and that stuff tends to shut all of us down at about 40 paces.  (Even outdoors.  Yes, really.  :-)

 

Yesterday's experience with the very fragranced bear hug was something that happened so quickly neither Pete nor I responded with the usually outstretched hands-off or hands in prayer position to fend the approaching 'bear.' Thing is, sometimes we will put down our guard when a friend who is usually unscented gets close. It's that one time when the usually unscented encounter is NOT that truly can, and did, shut us down. Pete manages exposures differently, able to weather the experience with less ill-effects. Both Pete and I shampooed and bathed the scent from our hair and bodies; our clothes (coats, scarves and jacket) are soaking in a washing tub. My night was filled with anxiety and the fall-through -the dark and black hole that is something I experience when exposed to fragrance and chemical exposures. "Take something for it" is not a cure or fix, though I do call on all my Ancestors and practices to aid me as I detoxify the emotions, sensations and adrenaline overload. I held my citrine crystal to ground me as I said my prayers and meditations to calm, and welcomed my helping spirits who took me into the dreams that would reclaim parts of my lost soul. The night passed. I am here. I breathe. I live. I write.  

 

Today, the symptoms and anxiety are easing. We are grateful for the tiny spaces where we can recuperate and rest. Seven years ago we did not have these spaces to do what is necessary to be the humans we are ... differently able to live with the "norm" of a very fragranced and chemically intense society. A few more people know what it takes for us to be the people we are, aware that their habits and preferences could harm us, the process is a slow and as Elsa wrote in her article "Distaste & Intolerance for a person's humanness" there is that sense of entitlement she describes. "They won’t let people be human and individual. Instead they try to perfect them according to their own design and standard. I think this could be the new definition of “insane”." On both ends of the tug-of-war rope we Sensitives could expect all others to amend themselves to our standards, our protocol for a fragrance and chemical free inter-change. While on the other end, the community of the collective could be insensitive to the reality of our humanness and our unique needs.

 

I'm writing this today to say this is what makes me human, and chemically sensitive. Uranus, the planet that sensitizes is in the sign of Aries (first-person focused) for all Earthlings. In my case, Aries is in my Third House (communication and siblings/neighbors). I am sensitized in my communications of all sorts, and while Pluto in Capricorn squares Aries, my Capricorn Moon in the Twelfth House feels deeply. It's my journey. My blog. And, I live in the collective community on a planet billions of years old. In the scheme of Earth's long-life mine is a mere mini-grain of sand on the shore. But, it's my own glorious lifetime this time through and if one or two words or thoughts cross the cyberbridge and ring a bell for you? Hurrah, we have a win and chock one up for tolerance and compassion.

 

 

Full House in Capricorn: New Moon and Winter Solstice, December 21, 2014

Elsa P. my favorite astrologer writes, "The new moon in Capricorn takes place Sunday evening in the US.  Even a novice astrology can look at that stellium and see it’s profound.

 

With the five bodies [Moon, Sun, Pluto, Venus, Mercury ] so tightly conjunct, chances are, the entire stellium will fall in one house in your chart." Read Elsa's entire post for suggestions for setting your intentions for the new moon cycle.

I left this comment on Elsa's post:

"The New Moon will be in my 12th [House] along with my Natal Moon. Dig deep to release and be ‘with the bones’, my essential nature; call on the Ancestors to hold the light; be willing to hold that light as they pass the torch to me; be a participating adult.

Esoteric, invisible energy powerfully packed on the back of the Goat. Wheww!"

 

"Yule Goat" by John Baer

Our relationship with Mahina the Moon has deepened over time. My husband is governed by the Moon as a Cancer-born man he is conscious of the heavenly body, the goddess. I am drawn to her because I am a Scorpio-born woman and seek Mahina's mysteries. Attending to, or counting on the moon has made our lives more meaningful. It all became very real seven winters ago when we began our life living from our Subaru. That was the start of knowing what it was like to truly Count on the Moon. The link will take you to the on-line workshop we conducted in 2011 focused on the study and practice with the Hawaiian Moon Calendar.

We have learned as my ancestors the Kanaka (Hawaiian) learned about Mahina by observing and noticing what happens when the moon rises and sets; what plants or creatures are doing at different phases; the weather and temperature on different moon times; and the tidal conditions generated as a result of the moon's position. Our home in the Tall Ones the wooded trees that stand a hundred and fifty feet from forest floor to tip are thick and often prevent us from seeing Herself. If we are lucky on a winter night there is a leak of her shape that catches our eyes. But. The truth of it is the moon, Herself, is present not only during the dark of night. The first fifteen moon phases she rises during the day and sets at night. The second fifteen moon phases she rises at night and sets during the day.

The New Moon on Sunday, December 21, 2014 according to our Whidbey Island tide, sun and moon charts tells me:

Sunrise and sunset is: 7:57 am - 4:19 pm
Moonrise and moonset is: 7:13am  - 4:36 pm

So ... on New Moon and Winter Solstice this year Mahina, Herself, prevails as Goddess of the Sky occupying the Heavens longer than the Sun. We have an auspicious opportunity to make use of our Earthly (grounded position) to count on the moon. New Moon is a time to set intention(s) for the next month. Winter Solstice is a time for celebrating the end of long and dark nights with a promise of more light to come. Pete and I have had many deeply moving and meaningful conversations this winter. Among the latest dialogues I remember telling him "We are in the community we wished for. We are where we wanted to be." With the long picture rewound and stories about our past shared during the gloaming my partner and I reflect on the journey. We have been together for twenty years. Come together at the peak of adulthood, not yet o'o (fully matured) but individually we were primed to challenge and hone the definitions of partnership and character. Honing ourselves and our preferences means we have juggled, dodged, dredged and meddled in the business and the mystery of being human. The dark sides and the lit ones have made the journey incredible.

Not at all separate our experiences have made us ever more connected to each other and the collective/whole. When we lived in our car the essentials bared themselves; we learned to discern what and who was/is important. I in particular watched others in their treatment of the 'disposed and homeless.' Vulnerability is not a bad word though it's not something most of us would choose as a personal description. In 2008 I wrote the tale of Sam and Sally (The first of my medicine stories, though I would not tag them 'medicine' they were part of the original remedies)

"... Things and people have been left behind time and again. Like land turtles Sally and Sam found that only what they could carry mattered. People –friends, family and society in the main have had to decide whether the things that matter to their multiple chemical sensitive friends mattered to them. For half a year our two elder dears slept in their car and parked their mobile bedroom in beach parking lots, driveways and lawns of friends and family. Living public lives with an illness unknown or misunderstood isolates, and that is what it was like. Public yet invisible, illness and homelessness are conditions that our society denies. Political mumble is just so much dank air. The sky is falling on thousands of us every day and every night. Life after dark is a time when the goblins of entitlement and gentrification screen out and isolate the fragile and the sick."

 

Each night during these times we parked between the lines marked in parking lots. It was the in between hours; it was possible to be part of the collective, invisible, yet part of it. Like a blur from a fast moving car on the freeway. When one of the invisibles spots another there is a silent acknowledgement. Silent because it is not safe to be vulnerable together; there is no pay-off, no power in vulnerability together. We had money to buy our hot meal or cold drink. Money was not the problem. We were homeless but Grace and Herself (Mahina) were making her strength known to us. Day and night. Night and day. We were not sure, but we were learning to count of the moon and trust. 

 

Time and adventures have marked us with lines very different than the yellow ones that made space for SUVs, trucks and hybrid vehicles on asphalt. What has happened shows itself in the lines and creases that etch landscapes across our faces. Our bones bend and creak like the limbs of the Tall Ones who have given us a place beneath their canopy. Our hair has thinned, turned a color somewhere between yellow and white. The texture of my once ink black hair is wild, the cowlicks have joined and become a setting for storm fronts to meet. The high and low pressure systems tattoo themselves to me and the only way through a storm is to weather it, say your prayers, prepare as best you can, and accept the reality: 'vulnerable' applies to us all. And, when I go to my Hawaiian Dictionary to see how 'vulnerable' translates in Hawaiian, there is no exact equivalent. Instead, I dig for the value that says I (as human) know my place is no more nor less than all and I remain ha'a ha'a humble. Interesting ...

 

As the Solstice and New Moon approach and new intentions and letting go of what is no longer working for me, "I pray to embrace life in my community, humbled and grateful to share from the rim of darkness the light we know is true. Your stories are medicine. Pass them on."

 

Blessed Solstice and New Moon to all our readers and our 'ohana,

 

Mokihana, Pete and Jots

 

 



 

Writing the deep

“There are certain children who are told they are too sensitive, and there are certain adults who believe sensitivity is a problem that can be fixed in the way that crooked teeth can be fixed and made straight. And when these two come together you get a fairytale, a kind of story with hopelessness in it. I believe there is something in these old stories that does what singing does to words. They have transformational capabilities, in the way melody can transform mood. They can't transform your actual situation, but they can transform your experience of it. We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay. I believe we have always done this, used images to stand and understand what otherwise would be intolerable.”  -  Lynda Barry (via Gail Arlene de Vos) Thanks to Terri Windling for posting this quote on her blog Myth and Moor

It might be the luck of Jupiter that sparks the headlamp of a miner like myself, one of those children who was told I am "too sensitive." Jupiter brings luck and opportunity. The planet was in the 11th House, house of big ideas, collaborations, friends and foreign lands, when I was pulled prematurely from the cozy womb of my mother's uterus. Looking back at that timing as a writer today, I would say it was one of my talisman a lucky rabbit's foot that has given me the creative rabbit's hind leg muscle to leap even in the dark.

If one is born with marks in the sky (astrology) fixing depth in much of life it is the grace of noticing the light that makes such a difference in playing out the cards that wear the dark suits. Elsa wrote a strong and evocative post the other day about friends who have depth, lots of Scorpio or a heavily tenanted 8th House character. I've been mulling over the post, and the more than 50 comments responding to her essay. If this topic is of interest to you I highly recommend reading Elsa's post here.

Elsa made a comment to her post which lit that miner's headlamp for me. She said, "Another thing worth mentioning, Scorpio does tend to keep a tight inner circle. It’s not the most trusting sign, at least when it comes to things that are near and dear to them. Scorpio / 8th house types are described at “self-protective”. I think this is true. But if you are in their inner circle, your value to them is sky-high. And I just don’t think they run around expelling people unless they absolutely have to."

Keeping a tight inner circle is putting it mildly. With my son now in France after weekly visits over the winter while he navigated the legalities and paperwork entitling him to a spouse's visa, my inner circle drops from three to two. My husband and my cat are my physical inner circle, and I count on one hand the friends who know me authentically. Life with MCS create a small circle. Lynda Barry's quote, "certain adults who believe sensitivity is a problem that can be fixed in the way that crooked teeth can be fixed and made straight" makes me laugh at the reality of being chemical and fragrance sensitive to much of today's society.  To an extreme one with sensitivities does become self-protective.

But this is not a pity party post. I put the words down, search for the light and make sure my battery is fully charged to get to this ... Over the years that I have made my life a writer's life there have been many battles and most of them are with myself. Giving ourselves permission is the key. Terri Windling wrote today, "Most importantly, we must give ourselves "permission" to be the person we truly are -- as opposed to who we thought we'd be, or were raised to be, or who others would very much like us to be -- and no one else can do this for us. Teachers, mentors, partners, friends can provide support in various ways, but permission has to come from within if we are to own our lives, and our art."

When I discovered the potential of blogs, I took the venue on with Leo gusto (that's where half of that Scorpio energy is fueled). I wanted to write. It made no never-mind that I didn't know my audience, and wasn't facile yet with the methods for creating a blog. I had things to say, and experiences to record. Self-protective by nature the Scorpio within found ways to write from the dark, deep caves of a sensitive. First, I wrote non-fiction ... the stuff that happened. When the stuff that happened threatened me as surely as diaspora, I wrote anyway. The years of re-rooting and isolation have challenged us. Writing what happens seemed to keep me only in the dark. Jupiter, and the rabbit's muscle sought the light. I found myth, fantasy, and larger stories wanted to be told. Again, Lynda Barry speaks for me. "We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay" 

Rather than spend a lot of time here at Makua o'o I created a place, and stories to be able to stay. Lucky me.

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?

Full Moon in Cancer, January 15, 2014

"...The Cancer Moon will be involved in the Cardinal Grand Cross on her way to becoming full. This creates an exceptional situation. Most notably she gets a big fat kiss from Jupiter (exalted) in Cancer just before she reaches the peak of her brightness...It may be that people who don’t like the full moon, prefer to operate in the dark. I enjoy the full moon, because I like to know things.  She’s also so beautiful, it’s hard to deny her..Overall, I expect good things from this full moon. To maximize her positive impact on your life, be open to all possibilities and ready to make real (Capricorn) the opportunities (Jupiter) that are personal (Moon) to you.."  ElsaElsa

Elsa continues to suggest the positive effects of tomorrow's Full Moon (in her free newsletter), " I think this energy is benevolent and most people will receive a gift of some type over the next few days. I am not talking about a lotto win. I am talking about "mom" coming 'round and making things better..."

My old friend jt sent me a very cool, and very funny bit of astrology from someone we have both followed over the decades. Back when I was living in Iao Valley, Rob Brezsny's column "Free Will Astrology" appeared in the Hawaii Island Journal (the fine free newspaper where I first wrote "Makua O'o"). We read his weekly horoscopes and always got a big kick out of his perspectives. I remember once when Pete thought to play a practical joke on a friend who didn't get Brezsny's weekly column. Pete made them up and sent them along via email, which in 1996 was very hi-tech. We thought she was really 'buying into his-version of Brezsny. Taking inspiration from my husband's already nimble but unusual juxtaposition of words, I can only guess at how that old friend reacted upon first read. Years later she said she always knew they were made up. But whose to know for sure!

I digress, but now back to the Brezsny horoscope that showed up in my email this morning. It was for Scorpio, and it reads:

"In his book Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition, Ben Schott dreams up new compound German words for use in English. Here's one that would serve you well in the coming week: Fingerspitzentanz, meaning "fingertips-dance." Schott says it refers to "tiny triumphs of nimble-fingered dexterity." His examples: fastening a bracelet, tightening a miniscule screw, unknotting, removing a recalcitrant sticker in one unbroken peel, rolling a joint, identifying an object by touch alone, slipping something off a high shelf. Both literally and metaphorically speaking, Scorpio, you now have an abundance of this capacity. Everything about you is more agile and deft and limber than usual. You'll be a master of Fingerspitzentanz."

I wrote back to my friend jt and told her the horoscope was making me laugh. I could clearly and whimsically identify with "fingerspitzentanz" ... it's one of my favorite pass-times and perhaps, one of the reasons I dreamed up my passion for Pete. Literal and metaphoric meaning is at the heart and core of life for me. Without angles and angels the box is too tight, the pot way to small for a growing view of what life is. The full moon in Cancer does feel expansive. Many episodes are "home" oriented, family-centered: the daily chats I have with my Ma when I see her picture right above the tiny stereo system playing Hawaiian music. "Hi, Ma," I say to her before taking a shower. "Take good care of the boy," I ask when I am feeling the challenges my son (her grandson) wrestles with. I leave the c.d. on even after I finish listening and tell her, "I know you love hearing it."  We package up parcels for my son and keep him in my hearts. The changes taking place on this island, and the island of my birth sadden us. But still, life comes one day at a time and we made this one as good as it can be. The old program from the 12 Step Rooms are the tired and true and I keep coming back in spite of my physical limitation of not being able to step into the rooms.  I started this day with this reading from my battered and worn copy of Courage to Change (and discover CTC is on Facebook)"Our spiritual growth is unlimited and our reward endless if we try to bring this program into every phase of our daily lives." :::there's a kiss:::
 

This full moon tomorrow will light up my 7th House of relationships: intimate, friends, business connections. The possibilities abound, the agility for making real the possibility? It's in the being aware and allowing for "a kiss from mom." Wherever the full moon is in your astrological world feel the kiss, make it real. And if you're a sister/brother Scorpio "Fingerspitzentanz"!

P.S. To listen to the pronunciation of some of those German juxtapositions (including " "Fingerspitzentanz") from Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition, link here. It's a hoot!!

And, since this is such a BIG FULL Moon, something from Satori is here.

Teachability

 “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”
― Dr. Seuss

My astrologer, Elsa P. posed a seemingly simple question on her blog today: "How can a person reach you?"  As I wrote in a comment to her query I couldn't answer the question and that really puzzled me. I've learned over time to leave something (a question, a puzzle) alone, relax (that's not always easy, but there it is!) do something good for myself, and most of all go to sleep/rest/dream. As I wrote yesterday, these are the 'Ole Moon times; today is 'Ole Pau the last of the four rest and reflective phases prior to the Full Moon coming up in the sign of Cancer (January 15, 2014). Something sweet and sour about 'Ole Pau phases is the potential to be "without" ('ole) for a long time (pau). On the one hand you might not want to get married on this day if there's any hesitation in your gut if marriage in your culture is a forever no nevermind sort of value. Then again if this is THE one and you both know it, this one will be long lasting one "without end." Everywhere you look there is the duality of answers, an axis of opposites and ultimately and every time, both are true depending upon your point of view.

So, on an 'Ole Moon the reflection with Elsa's query is on the value of being teachable. To teach well and truly, the teacher must remain ever teachable; that in a nutshell is the reason Makua o'o is a lifetime journey and practice. "There is so much to learn," as Pua Kanakaole Kanahele exclaims in this YouTube presentation.

Astrology and genealogy are long-term teaching experiences that serve me well and differently as I grow and age. Both tools have given me the long-sighted view of being human that I suppose would not require so much time, if I were an astronaut. The chance for that to happen in this lifetime is scant, but the lesson of being human and appreciating Earth as the Mother-she-is could not be better served than to see and feel what space-travelers see when they are on their way back home after being on the moon. What happens for me when I see the photo of Earth from space, and read the quotes from astronauts is inspiration-insight-infusion from the Gods. Astrologically, Neptune transforms any doubt in me that we are all connected. Genealogy. Long-view perspective integrates and I feel the heartbeat of my culture as woman with blood of the kanaka maoli. I am reached and know why "malama 'aina" means love the land and the land is Earth. I have a heavy signature of Capricorn and Saturn (long term work). If I'm not teachable the hard becomes brittle, and brittle break. Flexibility comes from Jupiter and Venus. Astrology teaches me how to appreciate those angles, not all at once, but with practice. So I practice.

Seated here in front of the computer screen in a tiny hut that just barely separates me from hundreds of tall and rooted trees I am awake and aware to the presents: those trees root me and us to the ground and to Earth; without them it would be a very different place/home; all that green the astronauts saw from space? Trees. A pot of chicken stew steams on the burner, I hear the water simmer making lunch for us. The simple and ordinary process of cutting up carrots, Kabocha, onions and collards involves in what we'll eat in an hour. Pete my husband is resting deeply, worn from the weather, the doing of a very action-oriented Cancerian man. His body senses the need for the rest and these 'Ole Moons take on a very sensual reality for him, for us. There are many steps, many processes involved in living this life from tiny rooms built in the woods. Work is involved. Someone needs to do things, even as the reflections are important the dishes, the stew, the composting toilet, the feeding of chickens and the feeding of the cat: things that must be done.

Gently now than perhaps at other times the role of doer and being flips and for now I do more, while also being grounded like the Tall Ones (the trees), or the wakame (the seaweed, the kelp) that is held fast to sea stones and moves with the push of wind or tides. The wind and water influence me, the trees remind me they cannot dance unless they are firmly rooted. I remain teachable and give thanks that I can be reached. You?

Solar Return Chart for Makua o'o (a blog born in the year of the ox!)

This is the solar return chart for this blog. Yesterday was Makua o'o's solar return, it's the start her 5th year. I see the Capricorn stellium in mutual reception to Saturn (in the 7th House) in Scorpio (in the 9th House) in a trine. Giving many opportunities to relate (7th House) to other forms of publication-philosophies (9th House) through consistent commitment in relationships. That same Capricorn stellium is in trine with the Pisces Moon giving the energy of transformation to what is valued (Venus), in forms of communication (Mercury) and how this blog can shine in the world (Sun). The Pisces Moon is sweet in aspect with Saturn in Scorpio, aiding the deep and murky with a comforting place for emotional retreat. There is the challenge of Mars in Libra in the 6th House to balance the exuberance of the Year of the Horse energy. Makua o'o was born in 2009, the Year of the Horse   Ox, so slow, steady effort is what characterizes this blog. (I caught myself and corrected my thinking ... good thinking:) Uranus in Aries squares the Capricorn stellium. Unexpected and sudden changes will be part of the Year of the Horse energy of this year. And finally, Jupiter in Cancer opposes that same Capricorn stellium. I think, it's all that cardinal t-square stuff that will be with us through July, 2014.

I ordered a Solar Return Chart Report for Elsa P. last week to consider the new year here at Makua o'o. I'm glad I did, and excited by the energy, opportunity and challenges here. What do you see in the chart?

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!)

Saturn conjuncts Sun (in Scorpio): consolidate and refine

Both astrologers Elsa and Satori, on my favorite blog ElsaElsa.com point to what I'm feeling this week. The theme and feel is to consolidate and refine what and where I use the energy (power) I have. It's a collective theme, and an opportunity to recognize how best to weather the powerful shift both of seasons (deepening winter) and cycles (Saturn in Scorpio). Satori writes,"Wednesday morning the Scorpio Sun conjuncts Saturn exact. Together they sextile Mars and apply into trine with Jupiter. This is a great time to assess where you are in your current goals and work on organizing and shoring up your course of action..." Elsa asks:  Are you consolidating (Saturn) and redirecting your life energy (Sun) at this time? I left this comment on Elsa's blog "Yes Elsa. I spent the last couple of days assessing and feeling the reality of how much energy I have to spread around. I’m an aging gypsy with no less imagination, but a lot less energy. What I can do is sort and hold on to the things/people/stories of value. I do have energy for that."

In years passed, and not too many years either, we would be packing up and boarding a plane headed west across the ocean for Hawaii. Like the kolea the Golden Plover, we wintered in warm weather. Back and forth, back and forth. The migratory instinct was (and still is) strong in me. I feel it as strongly now as I have always felt it. But the truth of things is we have neither financial nor physical energy to pack up and make that west-bound journey. Saturn (time) is telling me: not now, not that way! Rather than expend the energy to fuel that gypsy instinct I am attending to the sort and consolidate process of cleaning up the writings I have done over the last six years: thousands of words, dozens of stories and a cafe (virtual turned physical) newly opened. I turn 66 in ten days and value my energy to imagine more fully now than ever! That is a very good sign; the fire still burns in my belly and I know I'm still alive and capable of journeying.

How does a rooted gypsy continue to journey without traveling? If you are one of the rooted gypsies how do you do it?

Lunar Eclipse in Aries today

Here's the whole of my astrologer Elsa Panizzon's newsletter. I opened it up this morning. It's great news for a full moon, lunar eclipse and weekend coming up. I'm re-posting it here because it is great news, and Elsa is a source worth supporting. (If you like it, go here, look at the sidebar on the right and subscribe to it yourself.)

"There is a lunar eclipse in Aries today - I don't think it's fierce or scary!  Jupiter (exalted) in Cancer is involved.  This sounds like a fresh (Aries) storyline (Jupiter) to me!

In the new story, you should be a hero or a winner or some such thing. Wimps and losers not in vogue today - sorry! More info here.

The weekend is going to be quite pleasant. Saturday gives us a Grand Trine in Earth. This always has a calming effect on people.

It features the moon, Mars and Pluto. Think in terms of making an effort (Mars) to renovate (Pluto) the home (moon).

Er...tell your kids to clean their rooms! 

You may also want to get rid of some emotional (moon) garbage (Pluto). Either way, things should go well.

There is an enormous emphasis on the Earth and Water signs on both Saturday and Sunday. No joke! The moon, Mercury, Mars, Chiron, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto are all in either Earth or Water signs.

These elements get along. As above, so below!

Sunday, the Moon in Taurus will oppose Saturn.  You might have to come to terms with something at that time, but I still think that overall, it's looking very good.

If you want to see something scary - check out the Astrology of Halloween

If you like this letter, please pass it along. Thanks for your support!"

Practicing the art of living (be flexible)

"This is a week of weather: all sorts of weather. On Friday a handful of friends came out to the South Whidbey Tilth to practice. What a day it was. BLUSTERY! The wind made itself present, and made some decisions about where and how to set the tents for The Safety Pin Cafe. Fiber Artist Pam Winstanley has helped with designs and support for this project since I first dreamed up the possibility of 'an event.' Jo Stevens, South Whidbey Tilth's Land Steward and Farmers' Market Manager was with us to choose a location for the setup and hold the tent down when the wind became bombastic. Pete made sure the chicken stew was hot and slices of whole wheat bread and butter were ready when we were too wind-blown to keep practicing. I cooked up the stew, made a batch of cinnamon toast and chanted a prayer of permission to be in this place...

Click here to read more about setting the table for The Safety Pin Cafe.

Pete in the Orchard ... practicing

Astrologically, Elsa P. my favorite astrologer said this about this week:

Her newsletter described the week as: "Why It's Not A Good Idea To Get Whipped Into A Frenzy This Week"

"We've got a potent week on tap. I know a lot of people are afraid of the new moon on Friday. I don't think this makes a lot of sense so I want to come in with another perspective. The week is dominated by a cardinal T-square involving the Sun, Uranus and Pluto... Is is hard-core?  Yes. 

 

But we are going to be dealing with a cardinal t-square well into 2014.  See Year-long Cardinal T-Square)

 

Considering this, a person would be well-advised to learn all they can about this energy, embrace it and learn to work with it. This week provides an excellent opportunity to do this, because there are so few distractions.

 

As an example of what I mean, my husband speaks a lot of languages. He says they are easy to learn if you're immersed in the culture where the particular language is spoken.  So this is like that. We're all going to be wrapped up with energy. Why not make it pay?

Practicing the art of living is all about (for me) learning to be flexible. The weather? I cannot do much about it, but I can attend to it, have Plan B, and immerse myself in the culture of where we live now. That place is the Pacific Northwest and the season is the beginning of the wet time. One of the many things living with MCS teaches us is to see life as art and make the best art possible. Rain or shine.

And your art of living?

Common heroics: using the energy of a Grand Cardinal Cross

"[The Grand Cardinal Cross]... While this is a recipe for emotional upset and family (Moon, Cancer) strife (Mars), it’s also a good day to surprise (Uranus) the collective (Pluto) by pulling off a heroic feat." - ElsaElsa today

We're back home after a short outing to one of our favorite farmer's market. The weather is shifting a bit from the weeks of rain-free July the vardo steps were wet from an overnight rain. The wild huckleberries are showing up green and hard like pellets, but the promise of ripeness starts to shine through after a shower.

I was up very early this morning, tweaked by the emotional upset contributed by the astrology of the universe's sky. There are things I can do: I turn to the tools of the makua o'o and notice what's happening inside and out; listen with my whole body and; ask for clarity. Timing is really out of my hands as I attend to what I can do, and what I can think. With no one awake but me and my cat we spent the early hours comforting each other. The purr of a cat is direct medicine! Licking my hand also helps.Within a couple hours the emotional upset had flowed out and into the universe, into the earth, out into the air. I did some writing and freed up space for something new ... strife was averted internally.

After breakfast Pete and I worked together on a home improvement project that needs to be in place before the winter rains come and park here in the woods. We are replacing the golf umbrellas over the vardo porch. Sweet as they have been for three years, the sun and rain have worn them down and something else is needed. Pete has extended the copper-piped frame we use to protect us from the weather. Two years ago we found an unused roll of 10 year old outdoor canvas. I use it for projects in our tiny home spaces. This year I'm figuring out how to sew and tether the canvas into an awning.
With help from the fantastically helpful and knowledgeable lady-at-the-sewing store I think I have what I need to take the next steps.

In a way this is the Uranus (surprising) stuff that makes our life as tiny home folks exciting and satisfying. We use stuff we have and apply the magic that made The Safety Pin Cafe ... and pin solutions together. When we took a break and showed up at the South Whidbey Tilth Farmer's Market there were neighbors to chat with, new neighbors to meet; connections to be made and pins to link one person's need with another person's skill. The first year (four summers ago) on Whidbey Island this farmer's market was the place I could safely be: chemical and pesticide free with people who seemed to care, authentically! Now I can offer new people the support and hand-holding assurance that yes ... there's someone here who can help. The whole morning was one of common heroics.

Tomorrow the four days and nights of the 'Ole Moons give us time to reflect and review, weed and repair, maintain what's working and recoup from whatever, and whatnot.

And you?

New Moon in Leo, Tuesday, August 6, 2013 ... 'grounded creativty'

Pete and I were talking things over earlier this morning. Our cat was recouping from a boundary dispute with the neighboring feline and not at her morning best. I was still sleepy from the night, but I'd been across the orchard to let the chickens out and already having my first dose of astrology with Elsa P. Even before oatmeal, I check the sky with my internet astrology pair, Elsa Panizzon and 'Satori'.

"Every day, she's at it," Pete said in between spoonfuls of oatmeal. "For years!"
"Yup, for eleven years," I said remembering the first time I found ElsaElsa when we lived in the basement kitchenette in South Seattle. That was in 2008. What a time it was. I count that first discover of ElsaElsa as a safety pin of great importance. We were dazed and amazed by the changes brought on by illness and choices we made; and would need to sort out what we could (and can't) do about choices others made that affect us. That was five years ago, and a zillions decisions and experiences later. We have finished the process of building the vardo pictured below and still ... I am often amazed at 'what next' means.

I am in the midst of a creative project now that has been (it seems) a life-time in the making. The Safety Pin Cafe is a mythic memoir, mine. The story is written and the beat of the storytelling journey is out there keeping the rhythm going even while I am not quite sure how it will conclude. Slower than I'd like, I am teaching myself to format the story into a book. Learning new software and applying it is tedious stuff. I just keep at it. Some days less energy is available to me; I recoup like GJots our kitty. Astrology keeps me posted to the energy that is available, or angles that might assist or hinder. I pay attention. The New Moon in Leo coming soon is energy worth embracing. Elsa writes about the Leo New Moon,

"...Uranus will trine the Sun and Moon in Leo, blending independence with originality and creativity. Hard to complain about that!
Quirky will be in. Purple, red and gold in combination.

Here are some key phrases to keep in mind:

• Free your heart

• Daring creativity

• Shiny innovation

• Surprising talent"

  
  The New Moon in Leo will be in my 7th House of Relationships, and within a degree of my Pluto's position when I was born. The potential for deep and meaningful relationships will be highlighted. I'm excited in a positive way with that Leo New Moon coming up. The work of 'grounded creativity' is what I can feel today. I'm meeting with someone new on Monday, August 5th, the afternoon prior to that Leo New Moon. Annie Zeller Horton co-hosts an internet radio program on WhidbeyAIR  called "Isle of the Art." She's invited me to join her and talk about The Safety Pin Cafe from 1PM-2PM, on Monday, August 5, 2013.  Listen in, it ought to be a lot of fun!

•  "Free your heart" ... Leo is all about heart. I've been feeling for the freedom to my dear old Leo heart with tinctures of this and that.
• "Daring creativity" ... The Safety Pin Cafe journey has involved a daring to include people I have not met to join me in reading a quirky story about aging and changing face. The process is ...

• "Shiny innovation" ... not exactly understandable to all, but perhaps it is just right for those who do straddle the borderlands and wish for a cozy place to reckon their backbones to a new center.
• "Surprising talent" ... that might apply by some standard. I find it surprising myself to discover what does work today.
  Where will the Leo New Moon be in your chart? What independence and creativity will combine in your life?

Busy with YOUR business

 

Mouse Woman: Dean Hunt

We were in the Quonset this morning, Pete was on the phone and I was hungry for breakfast so I was dishing up oatmeal. I need a little protein to eat with every meal something new to my food plan and part of the things that make for a changing way of taking care of my old(er) woman body. The lid on the almond butter I was after was locked tight. Motioning to Pete I asked for his help, even while we was talking. The man is a master at multi-tasking and admitted that when he has little or nothing to keep his fingers and hands busy he is a maven and a mischief maker (for himself and others).

Pete and I often refer to the narnauk Mouse Woman who has become one of our favorite akua of this place. Artist Dean Hunt, Heiltsuk, (and the artist of the work posted above) names and describes Mouse Woman this way:

---

MOUSE WOMAN:
"Mouse woman helps people, especially youth who are in trouble. She appears to those who require her help and gives them advice to remedy the situation they are in. In exchange for her help the person should gift mouse woman a piece of wool through the fire. Mouse woman will quickly retrieve the piece of wool from the flames before it is burnt and immediately start unraveling it with her busy little fingers. This pleases her and thus her gift has been repaid and everything is balanced. Mouse has appeared to me through out my journey usually in times where I have been in trouble and was unaware of the danger I was in. Through the spirit of this tiny creature the bind I was in, was revealed before the situation became unavoidable. Mouse Woman has helped me many times and for this I am forever grateful. This painting is a dedication to her, and her infinite spirit of compassion."

I discovered the stories of Mouse Woman this winter in a small volume written by Christie Harris called The Mouse Woman Trilogy. The stories and the lessons, and the introduction to the tiny creature spirit, Mouse Woman have seeped into my bones now. My own tiny fingers feel her when it is not my business I am busy with ... and perhaps it is not the right or proper use of my time, or energy? Well ... on with the story of being busy with what is your (or my) business. Astrologically, the planets this summer and for the next 2 yrs. are busy with Saturn lesson giving with regular boosts of "mutual reception" from the planet Pluto (or in some circles, the energy of Pele, goddess of fire and maker of new land). I thought it was worth some time to pin together some thoughts and stories to make the best use of the precious present (time and energy).

"Have you noticed this? If you sit and do nothing, wait to be rescued, you’re in deeper trouble by the day." - Elsa Panizzon

" For those of you who don’t know much about mutual reception, it’s a connection that forms between two planets when they’re each traveling through the zodiac sign that the other planet rules. In this instance, Saturn is in Scorpio, the sign ruled by Pluto, while at the same time, Pluto is in Capricorn, the sign Saturn rules.

" The Saturn in Scorpio/Pluto in Capricorn MR (mutual reception) will last for the entire 2 ½ years that Saturn is in Scorpio. Given that the time between Pluto’s stays in Capricorn is 248 years and Saturn’s tour of the zodiac lasts 29.5 years, the odds that Saturn would be in Scorpio at the same time that Pluto is in Capricorn are very slim. This is an extremely rare and potent combination, but every single child born on the planet in that 2 ½-year interval will have it. - Donna Cunningham

Personally,  the work I need to update is my older woman role/work/career along with the feelings of oppression that comes from ancient memories. (Saturn is in my 10th House-Public Reputation) / Capricorn is in my 12th House) to transform (Pluto 12th House /Scorp 10th House). How do I do this? For me, it means grounding (Capricorn) myself with help that is trustworthy and reliable. I seek out a trusted collaboration to address my health issues of high blood pressure in ways that fit my cosmology, my epistemology. Deep and unseen support come from my dreams, and from the memory that comes from the elements. My options are very different from many, but not unlike some who view life with a long view. It's not easy, but it's working slowly (like Saturn) and if I use the next two years wisely I make come away with more practical magic to add to my sewing basket.

How do I work with this transforming life? I write. I write the mythic memoirs that weave things together into story and put it out there, under the awning, and in The Safety Pin Cafe.

  “Whether you’re changing with the world or not can determine whether your practice lives or dies,” Kekuhi says. “We choose to live, and we choose to evolve, based on the principles and philosophies of our grandparents and their grandparents.” But even when the kumu are being at their most innovative, she says, “the style and the discipline and the ritual that goes into the preparation is the same. We don’t compromise those things, ever. The chants from long ago, Kekuhi says, are the “treasure chest of information” that the current generation of kumu refer back to. “But my grandmother forced us to make sure that we also make some contribution to that treasure chest,” she adds, “so it doesn’t remain only a pile of old chants, but is a continuing practice.” - Kekuhi Kanahele-Frias

The telling and retell my my story (from the 12th House with Pluto in Capricorn) heals the old, deep wounds slowly. Fairy tales with a trans-Pacific under-tone is what I'm after. There's nothing quick about Saturn and Pluto is deep. While I write, I research and read:

Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele writes

(from the chapter "Huaka'i Hele" Migration) "This section offers a significant description and explanation of migration. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the chants desribe the migration not of people or animals but of elemental forms--namely, the outpour of Pele. This literature was composed by people who understood the movement of magma and its spatial impact. In today's language, the composers understood their geological habitat and the weather system it affected in the space above, below, and laterally. the composers provided nomenclature to weather systems and earth changes; the contributory was Pele, or eruptive phases. These mele huaka'i inform the reader of the movement of lava from one homeland to the next."

Gleaning and absorbing the instructive lessons from this research, I take a stand to learn as much as I can about myself, my roots, and the "elemental forms ... of Pele" and eat the lessons to make my business palpable. Can I feel it deeply? Can I make the changes and write with the elemental influences? It's possible, and what was it Elsa said?

Two years (more of Saturn in Scorpio)... a drop in the bucket. Or, time well spent satisfying your bucket list.