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.

A pattern worthy of attention

As seen from the N. Hemisphere, the 5 planets arc across the southern sky, shortly before dawn.The last time we saw all five visible planets together was from about December 15, 2004, to January 15, 2005, over a decade ago.

The 5 planets can be seen from around the world. Their orientation to the horizon is different from one part of Earth to another. Denis Crute in Australia caught the 5 planets and the moon from the Southern Hemisphere on February 2, 2016.  Earthsky.org

Spring in the Pacific Northwest has brought a jumbo serving of pollen, Everyone is talking about the high pollen count, and I shift my daily travel plan to accommodate the yearly Scotch Broom in all their ramparts. They do become a wall of bright yellow that is a pollen sufferer's thang to deal with.

We also have the first week of warm to hot weather here, and we put in my tiny time garden yesterday.

Lettuce, chard and cabbage starts. A ring of oyster shells sprinkled around my Pele-influenced garden shape. The caldera of shells is meant to make it difficult for the Slug Nation should they sniff the scent of juicy greens. My two wooden kitties are there to play, and give me a smile when I need one.

 In the orchard, the English Daisies and Dandelions are flourishing. Each morning I ask permission for a few of the bright green Dandelion leaves, and munch them after washing them of all the golden pollen. We put some of the leaves into our blended green drinks yesterday, for a bit of bitters. Then, I collect a few of the sunshine Dandelions, asking first, and left at least half. After a good wash-off, the flowers are going into a canning jar filled with organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Left to mellow and age the rich brew can be sipped by the tablespoon in a glass of water, or drizzled over vegetables. I remembered the apple cider vinegar 'diet' being the first one I ever tried when I was chubbette-size, and a pre-teen. My Ma found the idea in an old book. I helped me at the time ... the thought hadn't come to me in a very very long time.

From my vantage point as a time being the sky chart allows me to see the bright lights, the planets, if I am awake once the sun has set and the sky is clear. Through the incredible Tall Ones Nation, the nation of White Pine, Doug Fir, Hemlock and Cedar I have seen the planets. But, since there is no place from our wooded place to see a horizon's worth of sky at one time, I see at most two or three planets at once. Some things must be left to the Akuas, to faith, to Mystery. Simply believing, because it just might be.

I am re-reading Ruth Ozeki's novel A Tale for the Time Being. I thought to reread the book because she included footnotes. Footnotes aren't usual for a novel, but, the practice came up when a friend and I were emailing about our latest writing projects. We're both in the process of hybriding; evolving the kind of writing we do. I'm not quite sure how my writing will evolve, yet, but re-reading A Tale for the Time Being was one of those messages that clearly was meant for me. Somehow, the many entries and post here on Makua o'o and the dozen medicine stories is part of a search party, a magnetizing pattern that is aching for a 'next'. I'm enjoying the unfolding, less anxious about what, and more interested that it does.

Ozeki's mythical ride of a story came in hardback form. I reserved it a week ago. I love libraries! It was already hot when I got into town yesterday and climbed the stairs to the library door. 'Thrilled' fits as a word, when I saw the paper reserve slip with my name on it. Ozeki's is the only new book in my stack. This time through I began by starting at the back, in old-style Japanese protocol. Let me backup just a tad. I did open the front of the book just to confirm the footnotes. Part I, page one. Three footnotes. Ruth Ozeki, writer, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist Priest begins the novel this way:

An ancient buddha once said;

For the time being, standing on the tallest mountain top,
For the time being, moving on the deepest ocean floor,
For the time being, a demon with three heads and eight arms,
For the time being, the golden sisteen-foot body of a buddha,
For the time being, a monk's staff or a master's fly-swatter, 1
For the time being, a pillar oor a Lantern,
For the time being, any Dick or Jane, 2
For the time being, the entire earth and the boundless sky.

--Dogen Zenji, "For the Time Being"3

Three footnotes! The bonus though did come from my inclination to read from the back. There I discovered (or forgot after two years) the Appendices. There the writer, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist Priest includes signals and sightings to appease the quantum physicist in a humble reader, or potential hybrid-writer looking for a layered platform from which to leap. I, the reader/writer was tickled silly with what Ozeki left.

Thanks to the technology of the computer, I find out about the 5 Planet Alignment that has been happening since January -- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter. Then, I discover that this alignment hasn't happened since Pete and I left Kuliou'ou Valley on O'ahu to move to Hilo (2004-2005). How fitting to be celebrating our sixth year here on this Salish Sea Island, where an orchard of Dandelions flourishes without fear of being sprayed with Roundup. Instead, the lion-heart power-packed plant is honored, asked, and included in our food choices. Now that is a theme and a pattern worthy tracing.

Add to these two celestial kilo (observations) the 5-planet retrograde about to happen later this month and I see a growing pattern worthy of attention. Just what have I been doing with the trillions of moments in my life, as a time being? How have I lived my gifts, my kuleana my Hawaiian ancestors would say. How have I been responsible with these gifts, or these curses?

When we left Kuli'ou'ou in 2004, the influence of chemicals, those same ones that people use to kill dandelions, had created the final shove to my decision to sell the homeplace. Hard decision. Harsh decision. One of those curse, or gift things Elsa wrote about.

If I'm reading the sky properly, this retrograde period where Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto appear in the sky as going backwards may be a great time to use the slowing down to re-read my life. Maybe it's a time to pay attention to the footnotes, the small and potent explanations, the details left unnoticed or forgotten. Or, maybe the simple Japanese protocol of reading from the back to the front will be a practice in editing my style, and uncovering grace and hope (Jupiter) in unexpected places.

The retrograde period is not forever, it ends in late May when Jupiter goes direct. In the mean time I have a garden going, and a fence line that will serve as trellises for Long Beans and Straight Eight Cucumbers. I have the whole of the novel A Tale for the Time Being to savor, re-reading with a different eye and an open-heart influenced by the Dandelions, and will let those footnotes have their way with me.

Are we a species who seek patterns in our life? Do you?

Uranus: The other way around

Uranus sextile Uranus: The other way aroundBeginning of July 2016 until beginning of March 2018: Now, at the age of around seventy, you experience a time when you can gain great insights into your relationship with the larger world, but the emphasis is different. Instead of learning about the outside world and your place in it, you are likely to focus on what you have got from your life. You will reflect on your encounter with the outside world and what your personal values mean in it. Throughout much of your life you may have been so concerned with making your business, professional and social life work out as you wanted that you haven't paid enough attention to your inner life and needs. Insights gained at this time will cause you to reevaluate your goals and give your personal needs a higher priority. You are no longer bound by the obligations that prevented you from doing this before. Now you are free to explore your own inner world and come to a better understanding of who you are and how your life has fitted your needs. - Robert Hand 'Short Report' Astrodienst

More Freddie Aquilar to regroove, tattoo Anak ...

anak • tagalog

n.

• child, son/daughter, offspring ipanganak (ipang-)

Home-made Makahiki Ceremony; a Humpy for Loretta

A pal sent me the following weekly horoscope. She knows me pretty well. My favorite astrologer wrote about Kudzu yesterday, and ended her post with a couple questions. Is there “kudzu” in your life?  Something that seems appealing but will choke you out if you don’t stay on top it? Me and one other ElsaElsa regular agreed it was "obsessive thoughts" that are our personal "kudzu." 

Scorpio Horoscope for week of August 20, 2015

Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiians celebrated an annual holiday called Makahiki. It began in early November and lasted four months. No one worked very much for the duration. There were nonstop feasts and games and religious ceremonies. Community-building was a featured theme, and one taboo was strictly enforced: no war or bloodshed. I encourage you Scorpios to enjoy a similar break from your daily fuss. Now is an especially propitious time to ban conflict, contempt, revenge, and sabotage as you cultivate solidarity in the groups that are important for your future. You may not be able to make your own personal Makahiki last for four months, but could you at least manage three weeks? 

The pictures below track the making of a very special fish for a very special friend. Pete began creating this 'float-size' Humpy Salmon with a vision of having several friends swim this magic salmon to our dear friend Loretta. Her full and generous life of service, teaching, baking of miraculous pies, cookies, potato salad and awesome shortbread have endeared this woman to many people of all ages here on Whidbey Island. I put a few finishing designs to the bones and skin of this labor of love, and our friend Gary (visiting from California, but also a Whidbey Favorite) and Pete hoisted Loretta's Humpy out of the orchard, through the fence and gate and out to Gary's trailer. 

The plan is to assemble a bunch of friends on Saturday and gather in the spirit of 'solidarity' and aloha, remembering and practicing no war or bloodshed with community-building as the featured theme. An afternoon exercise in 'personal kudzu' clearing time inspired by the spirit of Brother Salmon, cutting and sticking designs onto a magic fish for someone else, someone who has done so much for me and many others. 

Dorsal fin will be attached at the last minute 

SALMON inspires and blesses the design and regalia for Loretta's Humpy

Trimmings 

Muddling through and reaching for the magic

It has been a rough several weeks. Collective depression, call it what you want to. Many people, including me, have been struggling with life as we find it. I've been scarce with posts here, containing my energy as I deal with difficulty breathing because of pollens and then an unexpected wrist sprain.

The long season of blooming Scotch Broom is drawing closer to an end. Thank the gods and goddesses. Homepathic remedies have aided the process, and Pete has weathered yet another bout of doubt and muddle-me befuddlement from this old woman with digging sticks. Gratefully, the precession moves in spite of my befuddlement, and the magic of gifts and story help navigate the slow but regular change that does happen -- eventually.

I planted beans on the Mahealani Full Moon. 

Harvested laukahi (plantain) from our orchard floor to make poultices for my sprained wrist.

Pete and I traveled by water on a ferry and journeyed to Tulalip to deliver gifts of thanks to people who have shared her language, and her culture with me. 

With the gift giving done, and a circle of reconnection made, I remembered that I was once the young mother above. The gift was my son. That gift keeps on giving. Lucky me.

Muddling and befuddlement is not the most sought after experiences; we, the kakou thing (us inclusively) all go through it. Reaching for the medicine in stories that fold and weave this bit with that, I re-opened a story thought complete until the muddle showed up. Here's where I went with the medicine of story to help a Border Witch re-discover her groove, and the precession.

Try this if you can relate to ever being befuddled.

This is some kinda moon!

See the Crescent just out from the longest finger of the Great Fir? (click on the image for a larger view)

 Spring has come, and with it many clear and beautifully lit skies have allowed us access to the many shapes of Mahina, the Moon. The other evening, at twilight, I was out with my camera.
"There's Moki clicking at any empty sky!" my neighbor said as she walked toward me through the orchard.
"No," I promised. "She's up there. Near twelve o'clock, just up from the tip of that tree." I was navigating her to the barely visible crescent in a not quite dark enough sky.
"Oh," she was surprised to see it. "Now which direction is the moon moving?"
"West," I said, "she's setting into the trees."

Two hours later, in a dark sky ... Hina nearly set in our horizon of Tall Ones.

A miraculous thing is happening here in the woods. Time and grit are wearing at us, and our roots are settling into the glacial silt (not much natural top soil on this island) with a lot of help from the First Beings. All around us and with us day and night we are learning so much from Tree Beings who grow to a hundred and fifty feet with roots that depend not so much on deep soil, but on reaching out to each other creating a network of confidence as their root systems flow like blood. In the limbs of those Tree Beings, Feathered Beings make their nests, lay their eggs, hunker down against the blow of winds of all variety. Songs from those Feathered Beings make such music, the tones and the signatures comforting, messaging, filling space with just the right amount of emptiness for potential.

We happy up when the Sun sends those rays alaula into our eyeballs, even as we squint against its power. During the weeks when the Moon is in the sky during the sunlight hours there is a very different point of balance. A subtle weighing is happening though most of us wouldn't notice.

Satori writes, "Thursday morning the Moon in Cancer, its own sign, sextiles the Sun in Taurus. Both quincnunx retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius. The lights line up in water and earth creating a protective exchange with each other in order to get the most from that long term, far-reaching fire. Burn off your obligations, you’re protected.[...]

After these many decades of living, this spring seems to be wearing me with new appreciation. We are reciprocal in our dance this year. I know for sure that it matters what I think, and Nature in all her manifestations responds to my thinking. The Woods, the Birds, the Wind they are getting to know us. Raven in particular loves that big turquoise truck. When we inched our way into this spot five seasons ago we were being led by forces greater than ourselves. We had begun to count on the moon for help with navigation, but my astrologer said something about that controversial planet/dwarf plant/not planet Pluto ... 'you can feel Pluto's effect long before it aspects your natal chart. But you never know how deep you'll go.'

So up in the sky the planets, stars, and moon set up a network for honing and homing in on our potential, if you believe in the wonder of all that is. It is some kinda moon, planet and symphony of energy being exchanged now, and all the time. What a life. What potential. What a moon. Notice it today.

Reflections on the moon

Cafe Astrology 

"There is a crisis theme surrounding any quarter Moon phase, as we feel compelled to take action. Shortly after, we are made aware of how our actions affect those close to us, perhaps through trial and error. Whatever project or initiative we began around the New Moon is now off the ground, and it may face its first obstacles." 

- CafeAstrology

Heavy rain last night emptied the healing waters of Kane all over us. The sun is bright, and strong through the rippling wall of clear plastic that is our Quonset's North East facing side. By Kaulana Mahina's tracking, these are the 'Ole Moons the quarter Moon phases. During these moon phases I have learned through practice and experience not to begin new projects and to attend to what has already begun. The commentary from Cafe Astrology was a bit of calling for help on my part. We are in the middle of another 'crisis theme' as described and I am sorting through the 'how our actions affect those close to us' bit. A new awareness lit for me as I read the commentary (as depicted in the glyphs). In a First Quarter Moon the Sun squares the Moon. 'Squares create tension like legs on a table square the table top to hold it up.

Astrology is one of my primary sources for deconstructing and reconstructing my world. I have come to see it as a de- and re-construction process thanks to my connections with Hawaiian practitioners like Kalei Nu'uhiwa and Dr. Pualani Kanahele. Through their scholarship and the accessibility of the Internet's cyberlibrary I source the legacy of my ancient Hawaiian creation myth and learn (through these practitioners' translations). Nu'uhiwa aptly describes these translations in her presentation "Papaku Makawalu."  Astrology is my regular observational practice of the natural re-occurrences in the sky, or in Hawaiian, Papa Huli Lani

If you look closely three thin and snaking Bracken ferns are unfurling, makawalu-ing.
 I took this photo the other day, during the 'ole moons. 

In this close-up shot the imagery speaks loudly to the action of each fern leaflet being a universe of its own ... potential to become more over this season (and the long season over the backbone of time)

In the process of unfurling, or living the life that is mine here in the woods I see that our tiny homes arrangement was the unfolding dream bred from survivors of seafarers and land-based farmers. Pete and I have the DNA of very different beginnings. When we experience the seasonal shifts, as we are now with the Equinox unfurling spring, we adapt to our environment with an inherent difference. To survive our ancestors did different things; they in turn have passed those behaviors down the string of heredity.

This post will ramble and buckle as I attempt to make sense of it even as I am going through it. If I will maintain my focus on the original quote about the quality of a Quarter Moon phase, I find this clue: "Whatever project or initiative we began around the New Moon is now off the ground, and it may face its first obstacles." 

The clue offers me this insight ... the raging pollens' early unset during the New Moon on March 20th and the need for me to have unexpected dental surgery delayed a planned event. I made a choice to cancel a storytelling and teaching gathering. I slowed things down. Pete does not slow down. Spring is literally his choice of action. He can't wait to be more active, and be active with as many people as possible. The challenge is to be aware of how our very different native survival techniques are addressed.

The clash happens. Pete's Libra Moon needs company and many people to be satisfied. My Capricorn Moon is conservative and finds satisfaction from digging, alone. I need to remember this, these Quarter Moon/'Ole Phases give me a chance to understand how to keep my soul close without turning black when Pete's very different needs overshadow.

How to make sense of it: Lawe i ka ma'alea a ku'ono'ono Take wisdom and make it deep. Between us we love to explore the deep and far-reaching potential found in the practices like Papaku Makawalu. Somewhere between the differences of styles we have there is room for understanding. I find ways to breathe the deep breaths to clear my mind, and feed it oxygen. Flushing the pollens with snorts of salt water the memories of my sea-faring ancestors make room for adaptation today. Out and about as he is today the many contacts (makawalu) Pete makes will feed him as needed.

Reflecting on the moon, I remember that she dances and moves regularly around Earth giving light and darkness equal time. Her body affects mine. I observe and notice. I employ the potential to forgive myself when I explode in anger; and be compassionate as I slip on those banana peels of judgment and impatience.

Today and tonight the Moon is in her own sign, Cancer. Settle in. 

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!

 

New Moon in Pisces, in the wee morning hours of Saturday, March 1st

My favorite astrologer Elsa Panizzon writes: "We start new things under new moons.  The new moon in Pisces asks a person to sacrifice. I think it’s interesting we’re headed into the Lenten season which is all about sacrifice and alms giving..."

I have been hiking through the woods near our tiny homes. The sun and the light through the trees helped lift my mood of churning and sadness. G. Jots needed the walk too, it's been a long winter of being cooped up in the Quonset for days and nights on end.

The New Moon in Pisces is in my 2nd House. "Give money[or something of value] to those in need," suggests my astrologer. Tomorrow I give away more medicine stories from The Safety Pin Cafe. Mythic remedy. It's what I have to give ... The walk in the woods gave me an inspiration for setting up the storytelling cafe as the season changes from winter to spring.

What intentions do you set for this new moon?

Preparing for the New Moon and New Year of the Horse

 

Link for innovation and rap

Astrologically today is one of these sorts of days "... There’s likely to be tension and a feeling of restriction. Some will pop off like an over-wound spring. Others will grizzle. I’ve found that the best remedy is to work at something. It doesn’t matter a whole lot what it is, but it should be something necessary, not frivolous..." Satori continues with her view of today with this "Innovative thinking paired with traditional action is favored, and it also helps if you enlist an accomplice. For instance, ask for an edit"

The new moon, and new year is a good time to set your intentions for the coming month, and the coming year. It's a Moon in Aquarius for both and a few ideas for intentions that harmonize with the stars and planets come from Elsa P.  The Aquarius Moon will be in my First House. Aquarius in the First House writes Elizabeth Rose Campbell asks 'How can I embody authenticity, up-front and in person?'

Taken together all three bits of astrology help me focus the tension and feeling of restriction (in my belly) by first boiling and drinking fresh ginger tea. The tea's in there calming things down. I'm preparing for the first showing with an intimate audience of friends and readers of my second medicine story The Joy Weed Journal. These medicine stories are a thread or branch of telling that is different than posts of mostly astrology (the sort many readers most enjoy here); yet they include astrology in the myth-making. What I'm up to as I prepare for the New Moon and New Year is the ongoing journey of harmonizing with the whole whirl. Caught up in the process too intensely I can easily pop off like that over-wound spring. Pausing and napping to feel where I'm at "Ginger tea" sings to me.

The Lunar New Year always begins with the (western) astrological sign of Aquarius, the innovator. Sweet that is, for me the Scorpio Sun because if I look at my Progressed Chart, my sun sign is now in Aquarius the innovator. So many details and alternatives to navigation. Mostly though, I sort through the many and focus on today, one day at a time, with the long view gentle on my mind. Progress not perfection is a principle that works when I remember to live this day as fully as possible. Imperfect is okay, it's the progress -- the journey. So here's where I plug in my awareness of the progressed sun sign. My birth chart at birth (natal chart) is empty of planets in the First House. "The first-house identity is generally what a person offers in response to, "And who are you?" says Elizabeth Rose Campbell.  With the New Moon in Aquarius at the start of the Lunar New Year I view this as an opportunity to be innovative in the way I answer that question. At 66, I have been many things but mostly I am a teacher with whazy and whimsical approaches to healing and occupations. Uranus is natally in my 6th House Gemini. I communicate innovation.

What I do and feel with the energy of today's Capricorn Moon (a flavor of moon familiar to me) is to notice and make room for innovation that comes riding in on a horse later this week. Uranus as innovator knows I don't do horse very well, but there is more than one way to ride and so I find a way to make it work for me. My writing is focused and mostly behind-the-scenes as I prepare to be with a small audience where I ask for authentic feedback on my newest work. It's an innovation for me, an old horse trotting down her personal Route 66.

And you? What intentions have you for the New Moon?

Astrology by hand

Thanks to CJ Wright of Auntie Moon for this free Vintage chart.  Click here for the download.

I was flipping back and forth between websites and astrology charts yesterday reading a new solar return report for my blog Makua o'o (it will celebrate 5 years on January 5, 2014). My husband walked in and stood behind me, "Wow imagine doing all that by-hand!" Yeah, I thought about that. Astrologers (some) can and still do that. But not so much any longer with all the tools available on-line. I depend on astrologer to navigate my life with Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Capricorn, Mars and Saturn conjunct with Pluto all in Leo, with Uranus in Gemini for quick turns and Jupiter conjunct Venus for luck and expansion. Many of my readers on this blog come for the astrology posts, I am surprised by that, but glad to see how the charts, angles and insights of astrology pros must have something that continues to feed you. I am far from being a astro pro. What I love is the depth of study possible with a committed interest to the art; there's always more to discover and new insight on an old issue.

An elder in training is a lifetime journey, some believe it is lifetime after lifetime of labor, and not work.  I love what Lew Hyde writes when he distinguishes between "work" and "labor" in his book fittingly titled The Gift. This excerpt comes from the chapter The Labor of Gratitude.

..."Work is what we do by the hour. It begins and ends at a specific time and, if possible, we do it for money...Labor, on the other hand, sets its own pace. We may get paid for it, but it's harder to quantify." Hyde goes on to make the connection between labor and being in A.A. " "Getting the program" in AA is a labor...Writing a poem, raising a child, developing new calculus, resolving a neurosis, invention all forms--these are labors. When I speak of a labor I intend to refer to something dictated by the course of life rather than by society, something that is often urgent but that nevertheless has its own interior rhythm, something more bound up with feeling, more interior, than work...A gift that has the power to change us awakens a part of the soul. But we cannot receive the gift until we can meet it as an equal." Hyde's discussion includes his analysis of the fairy tale-fable of The Shoemaker and the Elves, an analysis that both recalls a story from a long ago familiar setting (as a girl reading the tale) and now at 66, an artist and elder in training who appreciates the labor of life, and art. I highly recommend reading the book and reading Hyde's artful way of using tale/fable to highlight his point of view. Hyde says, "We therefore submit ourselves to the labor of becoming like the gift. Giving a return gift is the final act in the labor of gratitude, and it is also, therefore, the true acceptance of the original gift."

"We can't predict the fruits of our labor; we can't even know if we'll really go through with it." Like astrology, the gift juggling and considering potential in your genetics or your natal chart point to the labor involved in our decision to become a human, on Earth. The gift, the labor persists in the daily and cyclical navigations and crossings of a life; seeing how the challenge of a secretive Scorpio might soften without dissolution; or, affirming the best use of a Capricorn moon is to feed it in solitude. A blank chart is beautiful to look at, but it is in the living that turns something beautiful into a gift.  

E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa. Try it and rid yourself of illusions. - 'Olelo No'eau

An astrology question

What do you see/read in the chart below?

Moon opposes Venus

"... All day the Moon approaches exact opposition to Venus and holds it through the end of the sign late in the night. The themes are parental and hinge on balancing satiating inner needs with working toward acquiring the objects of desire. Structure and comfort must balance with inner needs for connectedness and nurturing. Do your personal life goals and commitments support this?"- Satori

Pluto transits the 12th House: digging deep, hiding when appropriate, surviving to thrive again

 "With Pluto direct and headed deeper into my 12th house, I’m acutely aware of hidden or ethereal power, for good and ill. I feel it’s necessary to tread carefully as the 12th is the house of self-undoing and asylums, something I understand better all the time. Just imagine being stuck in a dark well for a number of years. You best keep your wits about you unless you want to be driven insane...
 Elsa P. 12/14/2012
" Hide or perish... I relate it to Pluto in the 12th House.
I’m pretty sure I’ll survive[Pluto's transit through the 12th House], so what I want to do now is milk the transit for all it’s worth.
It’s very powerful…and very hidden.
Just think about that a minute.  You’ve been counted out, but you’re more vitally alive then you’ve ever been before in your life."Elsa P. 12/09/13

Children hiding in caves


"As the propeller drone of an Antonov becomes audible, children scurry into a cave mouth and wedge themselves under boulders.
‘We’ve lived like this for four months,’ Hanadi tells me, a mother living in caves to escape air raids.
‘We boil up leaves and wild fruits to eat.’
In the fields below Hanadi’s caves, rather than standing crops I see graves of Antonov victims.
In Nuba, tens of thousands of civilians now hide in mountain caves."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2125043/George-Clooney-arrested-Washington-war-crimes-Sudan-got-you.html#ixzz2n002tJIc

 He 'elele ka moe na ke kanaka. Lawe i ka ma'alea a kU'ono'ono.

A dream is a bearer of messages to man. Take wisdom and make it deep. - 'Olelo No'eau

I woke from sleep shivering. Yes, it's cold outside but the cold was coming from inside. Coming from the deep sadness. So often, these captive feelings find their way into the fiction I write, the myth converts the unthinkable into truth. The story transforms. And, it will probably go there into the mythic page, but for now the dream wants me to put it down as chronicle. Like my astrologer, Elsa P. I have the planet Pluto transiting my 12th House. The transit began just about now, 5 years ago. December, 2008. Pete and I were living in the basement "Kitchenette". The years of digging deep, hiding when appropriate and surviving [and believing] we could thrive again had begun.  We have made progress with the deep work -- the labor, the kuleana, the responsibility --- of making sense of life affected by toxic chemicals and the culture that has created convenience at all costs. In the early years of hiding we hid to survive. Like the children pictured above, and the situation which forces them into caves the collective fear weighs deep. Unconscious. When woken to the reality of the fear and the sadness, it shakes me. I feel it deeply. I Shiver.

What happens to me, all of humanity, when Pluto transits the 12th House of secrets and insanity is unique to the individual but collective in the culture in which she lives; and the collective is all of us. I did not know the children of the Sudan would show up as I began to write this morning, but that's the way of the internet and the process of searching. I googled, "hiding in caves + photos" and the photo above is what I found. I put it here and connect to it and ride the potential of astrological advice to "milk this Pluto in the 12th House transit for all it's worth." Yesterday I wrote about Aloha. It's the taproot of grounding for me. As I write I breathe it in, and take it into the hiding places within in. When I breathe out the words come and my fingers fly.

Pluto transits the 12th House of my Capricorn Moon. The lessons for me are about deep emotions relating to the 'Moon'/home/nurturing/mother. From the woods where we have parked our Vardo For Two the season of winter challenges us. It challenges me not to be asleep to the depth of feelings that are within; not to be so afraid that I act from arrogance; affirming the ancient wisdom of the mother/earth/my kupuna (the elders of my blood). When I woke with shivers, I dressed in the flannel night gown passed down to me just-in-time and pulled on my wool felt booties. The small stainless steel pot needed to be washed, I walked the short distance to the wash house where there is hot water. Not frozen from the cold temperatures the hot water came. I squirt some unscented dish soap into the pot and scrubbed it clean. Out of the corner of my eye as I rinsed the pot I saw my mother. Her portrait occupies a spot where she can keep her eyes on me. "Good morning, Ma," I wave and smile at her and think ... what a sweetie pie. Through the wash house door it's still dark outside, and cold. Glad for the booties and flannel night gown I return to the Quonset, pull the extra sheet from the door way and set the clean pot onto the burner. Hot water from our coffee pot allows me the convenience of measuring two cups of water to make the morning oatmeal. A handful of raisins added to the oats make a great breakfast. While the oatmeal cooks, I come to these keys and ask for the words that get to the deep shiver of the sad dreams. I hunt. I find. I put the words down.

My people, the Po'e Kanaka, have a history of digging, digging deep, hiding when appropriate, and surviving to thrive again. That kuleana, that responsibility persists. For me, as I write from the woods of the Pacific Northwest, the examples of doing and living the work often comes from the generation we have birthed -- our children. The link to a Tedx Talk in Manoa on O'ahu, filmed in October of this year (2013) is one of the fine examples of longevity, collective wisdom and ancestral abundance. Kamuela Enos was raised and lives in Waianae, O'ahu where the largest population of indigenous Hawaiian population on the Earth lives. This young man is the hiapo (oldest son) of Eric Enos founder of Ka'ala Farms.  Eric Enos is my age, Kamuela Enos is my son's age. During this transit of Pluto (deep and power) in Capricorn (grounded and meaningful) through the 12th House, a significant transformation continues and passes from generation to generation.

Enos opens with this thought to describe his kuleana responsibility, his work, his hana, "It's this notion of "Indigenization" ... taking the tools and the structure of the colonizer and repurposing them to be vehicles for our anestral practices and perogatives to be relevant in the 21st century. Link to the Tedx Talk to listen to Kamuela Enos' presentation.

I have warmed from the shiver of a bad, sad dream. Waken to the clarity of what I can do and do believe. I do my work. I write. I research. I tell the stories and weave the magic that is common. Common in the sense that I know there is a source of lasting wisdom and I head toward it. Make use of the deep transit going on in Pluto? Yes. Lawe i ka ma'alea a kU'ono'ono. E kuhikuhi pono i na au iki ame na au nui o ka 'ike. Take wisdom and make it deep. Instruct well in the little and the large currents of knowledge.

Activate your kuleana.

Ka'ala Farms, Waianae, O'ahu

The week ahead:JACKPOT! next stop of my personal Route 66

"Wednesday and Thursday, we have a grand trine in the water signs. The Moon and Jupiter in Cancer are part of this - it's quite upbeat. Many will feel (Moon) hopeful (Jupiter). Optimism can go a long way! This is great for Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. The earth signs will benefit too, but there's also great news for Virgo, Gemini and other thinkers out there. Next Monday, Mercury will conjunct Saturn in Scorpio.  It's possible you get some scary news, but I doubt it. The conjunction is incredibly well aspected, receiving support from the Moon, Venus, Mars, Chiron Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto.

I don't see how a person can complain about a situation like this. People willing to think deeply about the hard stuff are likely to hit the jackpot.

I mention this early so you can set your eye on the horizon and snag the prize that I know is out there. Why waste an opportunity" - from ElsaElsa's Newsletter (click on the link to sign up for it)

Astrology seems to be the hot button for my regular readers here, and my favorite source for sky navigation is Elsa Panizzon author and creator of ElsaElsa.com. I consult her regularly and have ever since Pete and I began our lives as Sam and Sally. Elsa's taking a break from her near-constant blogging until the end of the year but she is sending out her newsletter once a week so I opened up my email and found the scoop I've quoted above.

Together Pete and I are Cancer and Scorpio (sun signs). "Many will feel (Moon) hopeful (Jupiter). Optimism can go a long way! This is great for Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces." This is particularly good news for us. We can use the optimism as much as a dose of Vitamin D at just the right time. With less sun (a frequent occasion in the woods of the Pacific Northwest) optimism in all forms is the sort of infusion we welcome. Pete is off for his morning of volunteering at The Food Bank. On his way out the door he looked over my shoulder as I read my Elsa newsletter, "Alright, we're gonna hit the jackpot," he cheered. He has to speak a lot louder this week. Ear wax! I am learning to appreciate what hard-of-hearing means. It's not a new experience, but it feels like a deeper learning is happening with this episode. From head to toe life as Sam and Sally is a life of healing from the wounds that are inflicted from the outside as well as those I inflict upon myself. (When a gal has ear wax and can hear only what is going on inside her, it's a formidable jackpot! The ringing and the sounds are all mine.)
Onward from the ear wax ...

Here's the jackpot potential: I wrote this to describe our lives six birthdays ago. "By the time our friends joined the small birthday celebrators for food and drink our brave Sam and Sal were living in their car as a last solution. Safe places alluded and offending smells had become life-threatening poisonous apples."

Since then Earth has revolved and rotated and Sam and Sally have safety pinned themselves to places and people who offer jackpot after jackpot of joy. The life-threatening poisonous apple disease still persists; many people still love Monsanto and refuse to make different decisions about tending to and living with 'weeds.' I, can do very little to make Monsanto change. But, my life? My life rings with potential to be fully present (ear wax or not) and I have a partner who cares fervently ... that's the Cancer sun for you. What I do with what we learned since Sam and Sally lived in the car becomes the daily experience of magic and myth-making and the creation of stories like "The Safety Pin Cafe" where protocol and respect for all places and creators is the practice. From the Introduction of that medicine story, is this:

"We cross borders without regard, ignorant or arrogant of the protocol native to the transitional spaces that take us from this place to that place. Traditions remembered and practiced would maintain and pass along the right things to do, at the right time, and in the right frame of mind. Have we all become wanderers with passports unstamped with the memory of teachings from the Ancestors and Nature? There are rituals to remember and common magic to induce respect for the beings and places that share this planet.

Funny how Nature and Those-Who-Watch time the magic and adjustments for setting things right."

Turning wounds and amputations into a body and life that sees JACKPOT on the next exit is just the sort of journey I have begun. The personal Route 66 is one that conjures up magic within the frame of my reality. Like Elsa wrote in her newsletter, "People willing to think deeply about the hard stuff are likely to hit the jackpot." What a life!

Can you spot your jackpot?
 





 

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?