astrology Archives - Reflections

Compatibility in Astrology

Compatibility in astrology is viewed through the synastry and the composite chart. However, the relationship you get, even if the astrological compatibility in some areas is excellent, will be shaped by type of marriage partner you innately are, based on your own individual chart. This is a truth that you don’t often hear or read. But consider this as similar to cooking: if the ingredients aren’t all good, it doesn’t matter how great the recipe is.

Natal Complexity

Of course I don’t mean that someone or anyone has a bad chart. But some charts have such disparate juxtapositions of key planets in elements and modalities, that it would be very hard to find a partner who would complement the entire chart in every way. Back to my analogy to cooking, some foods may have such complex flavors that they would be hard to combine with a similarly complex flavored ingredient.

Other Significant Relationships

As a caring person, I look at both the synastry and composite charts to understand the relationship focus. Where is the complex blending, the sweet spot, tasty to both partners. Also, though the romantic partner relationship is key, it is but one of many relationships we cultivate over our lifetime. Relationships with our early caregivers, mom, dad, siblings, extended family, teachers and fiends are highly significant. I urge you to look at those relationships with care and focus, through the tools of astrology. You can choose from many options to see your chart(s) at astro.com.

Planetary Pairings

For marriage as a romantic sexual union, Venus and Mars are the most important to be good aspect to each other. But marriages also embody other types of relating or responsibilities. If it’s about nurturing children, then we would want to see Sun -Moon harmony and some nurturing aspects. If a person has a strong Mercury and an intellectual need for a communicative partner, then Mercury aspects take precedence. An older or sick person might need a partner who is more of a caregiver, then we see the strong harmonious Neptune or 12th house connection. Sports aficionados and social leaders will be looking toward Mars and Jupiter. Partnerships that focus on competitions like tennis would have first house, seventh house, Aries, and Libra highlighted.

Life Stages

As we go through different stages in our lives, it’s important to take our stage of life into consideration when comparing charts. The difference between a person’s value system or sense of self after the first or second Saturn return can be quite dramatic. Relationships based on a value system that has become outdated may need to find a new focus of communication and sharing.

The Transits Can Alter Our View of Our Relationships

Depending on your own chart, some transits can really alter your perception of your role or your partner’s role in the relation. And can alter your view of what kind of relationship you want or need. I wrote a short blog post you can find here.

Equanimity

Having it all, or not?
It’s never all there, is it? You have a love in your life, but your beloved mom is no longer around. You have great ideas, but not enough money to fund them. Or the big dream house, that you finally could afford, feels empty because your loved ones work and live elsewhere and they never come to visit you. Or, you finally figured out what a great partner you have, but he is now into someone else. You have lots of energy, but lack the wisdom to use it wisely. Conversely, you lack energy, yet have great ideas for what you would do if you had the energy to do it. You have what you want, but you don’t have everything you want all at the same time. You think about it, you deal with it with as much equanimity as you can muster, and go forward in life, with that piece missing. Should that piece come back into your life, another piece may leave.

Yin and Yang, light and dark, in and out, the play of opposites.

Complementary Practices

The practice of yoga, with its postures, meditation, breath work and mantra, gives the opportunity to find equanimity amid changes, to be able to dive down, however temporarily, into that deep still part of oneself that knows not sadness, excitement, or fear.

The study of astrology gives the gift of using the mind. The mental questioning part of oneself, the part that thinks about problems and fears, will learn to identify the patterns which correlate with the changeable moods, feelings and thoughts. Astrology allows us to categorize and analyze patterns that correlate with our mental, emotional and physical states. The transitory part of ourselves, the thinking and feeling part that has opinions, takes on challenges, feels pain and expresses itself as separate and different from others becomes a field of self-observation.

The astrology chart is the visible representation of the energies that form our personalities at the moment of our birth. — The Birth Chart (Horoscope) in astrology is a representation of the entire sky, both above and below the horizon, at the moment of our birth.

Our idiosyncrasies, our uniqueness, strengths, talents, and challenges reveal themselves more clearly through the lens of this ancient complex and fascinating system.

Time to Learn

If you, dear reader, haven’t yet delved into the practice of yoga, this is an opportune time to start. There are teachers everywhere, in person, online, in apps on the computer and smart phones, on DVDs, and books.
For learning astrology, there are webinars, online classes, podcasts, books, YouTube teachers, and organizations like the NCGR, with meetings in the larger urban areas.

An Era of Opportunities

We live in a time of great unfoldment and learning possibilities. From history we learn that times of great awakening and knowledge can end, sometimes abruptly.

As the Roman Empire gradually crumbled, the infrastructure of roads, protected by loyal soldiers, also crumbled. Roving bands of thieves harassed travelers. The increase in danger prevented people from traveling, trading, and exchanging ideas. Safety was only found in sheltered fortress-like towns and in monasteries. Historians labeled that era the Dark Ages.

We don’t live in a Dark Age now, though in some urban areas, people are afraid to go out at night or to walk home from school in the afternoon. Life on this planet is changeable and unpredictable. Because opportunities right now are all around us, now, this present moment, is an excellent time to grasp them.

Prince Harry in the News

Birth Chart and Delineation

When Prince Harry was in the news a while ago, I looked up his birth chart and share here my short delineation.

If I did a cold reading of his chart, without knowing his name, profession or anything about him, here are some things I would notice and remark upon. I would see the Mars in Sagittarius, indicating that he likes to move his body freely, sports would include running, climbing, and any competitive tournaments. Since Sagittarius is a crusader at times, I would advise that he has the capacity to be ruthless in promoting or coercing others to adopt or harbor his philosophy or world views. With this Mars in the eleventh house, he applies this approach to society as a whole or his friends.

Prince Harry Birth Chart — Prince Harry Capricorn Rising, Moon in Taurus, Sun in Virgo

Smarter than He Seems

The next planet that I notice is his Mercury in Virgo. He isn’t stupid. Mercury in Virgo is an analyst and sometimes sharp with words. Combined with his Sun in the same sign, he is smarter than he seems, but too focused on details to see the big picture, often getting lost in minutiae, and he may alienate others with his sharp words. The mind here is analytical without vision. However, the position of these planets in the eighth house indicates that he has the capacity to go within, to drop out, to be alone and ponder. Jupiter and Neptune in the 12th house additionally indicate capacity, indeed need, to hide away and be alone. Here they also give capacity for secret philanthropy. Neptune and Jupiter here also expand psychic and emotional energies coming from deep within, can create self-imposed or community imposed isolation and seeking altered states of consciousness.

North and South Nodes

In this short analysis of his chart, I would note that the north and south node positions show a familiarity, though discomfort, with status and career with eventual comfort in home and later in ancestry. The moon in the fourth is a strong indicator of the importance of his mother (and father) in his life and his family in general.

Secret Philanthropy

Because the houses show where we “do” our lives and the planets and signs show what we do, here are my further thoughts:

He would benefit from doing actual secret philanthropy, charity behind the scenes, in institutions like hospitals or prisons. Family life suits him well. When I see several planets in the 8th house in someone’s chart, I often find out that death has made itself known to them in a tragic way. Facing endings, death, is a very hard lesson and the eighth house also asks us to embrace the “what’s next” and to recognize the cycle of life in all its aspects. That is why we associate the eighth house not only with death, but with sex, and recycling, and the renewal of anything by transformation into a new form. This could be a life work for the material, practical Virgo, who isn’t always able to envision the ineffable realities very well.

Seems that Prince Harry is voicing his desire to live his own chart, his written and spoken reality is congruent with this chart I see before me, right, wrong or indifferent, and his Virgo Mercury is doing the speaking.

I’ve written a short blog post about his royal relative Edward VIII at https://blog.carolynrelei.com/edward-viiis-impressions-of-ms-simpson/

Wallace Simpson and Edward VIII

The quote below is from an unearthed memoir of Edward VIII that intrigued me enough to look up both of their natal charts. Looking at their charts, I easily saw that Edward VIII’s impressions of Ms. Simpson accurately describe a Gemini stellium which is prominent in Wallace Simpson’s chart. (A stellium is a grouping of several planets all in the same sign).

The screenshot below captures the intriguing point. View the article which contains the quote at https://mol.im/a/12673407

Edward VIII spoke of how he admired Wallace Simpson for her wit and vivaciousness. — The essence of a Gemini stellium personality

Now, let’s look at the chart itself!

Wallace Simpson natal chart — Planets are grouped in Gemini in Ms. Simpson’s chart

Edward VIII natal astrology chart — Edward VIII also has a grouping in Gemini

Fascinated by the talkative, mercurial Wallace Simpson, Edward VIII’s impressions of Ms. Simpson read like a classic textbook of astrological keywords for Gemini. The interrelatedness of both of their Gemini planets fostered communication, travel, and connections. Of course, some of the travel is because of their position of near or actual exile. History hasn’t been very kind to this couple. Edward VIII’s moon in the first house in Pisces is a position of a psychic sponge and sometimes indicates a quitter or an individual who doesn’t have enough fight in him to see things through to a desired outcome. Though some call the quitting cowardice, I feel that the moon in Pisces often sees the world as an illusion. It wouldn’t be hard to quit something that interiorly seems at times to have so little substance.

If you are interested in the chart of a more modern royal, you will find my post by clicking blog.carolynrelei.com/prince-harry-in-the-news

Major and Minor Influencers, San Francisco 1966

There were major and minor influencers in San Francisco whose legacy continues today. I was fortunate to encounter many of them there.

Acid Rock Music and Peace Marches

Returning from Europe in July 1966, after almost a year of travel, I was immersed in the San Francisco vibe. This was the period of acid rock, Be-ins, the Oracle, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane. The venue was the Avalon Ballroom. Our friend, Woody, had a gig as the Master of Ceremonies at the Avalon. Mentioning his name at the box office gave us free entry. During the fall of 1966 through the spring of 1967, we went to the rock concerts weekly, seeing the above mentioned groups and many more.

Peace marches attracted attention with signs and rock groups accompanied the marchers

Besides the rock concerts at the Avalon, there were anti-war demonstrations, marches and celebrations. We attended many of them, mostly by chance, simply by walking into Golden Gate Park or taking the bus to the Panhandle.

I wasn’t in the best of health then, having contracted amoebic dysentery in Egypt. The antibiotics had stopped the virulence of it, but my body wasn’t dealing with food very well yet.

I Made Healing My Focus

My greatest desire was to have good health. So on my “trips” I focused on my body, looking inward, asking what it needed to be well.

My internal and external exploration for healing my body bore fruit. By the the summer of 1967, we were completely living a new lifestyle. Early morning and late evening yoga practice, eating vegetarian food, mantra meditation, and walks to the ocean became a daily routine. The beach below Lincoln Park was relatively deserted in those days. On the beach we often sat patiently to watch barnacles catch their prey in the tide pools.

Time at the beach below Lincoln Park was meditative and healing.

Our path was brightened by the luminaries who lived in San Francisco during that seminal period. Influencers and teachers included A.C.Bhativadanta Swami, Richard Hittleman, Suzuki Roshi, Eknath Easwaran and Sivaram. Many swamis from India taught classes or gave lectures. Timothy Leary was there from time to time. Standing next to him in line one day, I sensed his energy to be nervous and scattered, quite unlike the disciplined energy of the teachers of yogic meditation that were sharing their wisdom with us.

Master Subramuniya’s Influence

There, too, was the relatively unknown yogi, Master Subramuniya, whose ashram was a few blocks from our apartment. While we experienced many in-person classes with several of the important spiritual influencers, we never met Master Subramuniya, though we attempted to attend events at his ashram on more than one occasion.

His influence, though, was through his guest appearances on a nighttime talk show. People called in to ask him questions about their experiences opening the doorways of perception with LSD or mescaline. I remember one of Subramuniya Swami’s calm responses. He explained to the caller, based on the caller’s description of his experience, which chakra was being activated. He explained the psychedelic experience through the lens of yogic states of consciousness.

Explorers in a Strange Land

It’s probably hard to fathom that, in the 1960s, the effects of psychedelic drugs were little known to most people. Like travelers in a land that hasn’t been mapped yet, we were all explorers.

And, while Timothy Leary made the news, others were quietly planting seeds of world views that would bear various kinds of fruit.

Though Subramuniya Swami did not introduce me to yoga, nor was he my guru, I want to acknowledge him in this blog as someone who made reasonable sense out of the chaos of experiences during that tumultuous time. You can learn more about him at the link below.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivaya_Subramuniyaswami

Arne Trettevik: The Star Shaman of South Palm Canyon – California Desert Art by Ann Japenga

https://www.californiadesertart.com/arne-trettevik-the-star-shaman-of-south-palm-canyon/

Arne Trettevik: The star Shaman of South Palm Canyon and his art is the subject of the article linked above.

Several years ago Ann Japenga interviewed me. Ann is a writer based in Palm Springs. She wanted to know about the artist who painted the paintings that I was selling. My response piqued her interest enough that she wrote the above article.

Arne, the subject of Ann Japenga’s article, introduced me to the wonders of Mayan archaeological ruins. Until I saw his slides (photos), I didn’t know much about what Mexico and Central America offered. His seven month journey in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala inspired me.

The gallery below has a small sample of his photos. Unfortunately, my scans of the original beautiful Ektachrome slides are somewhat drab.

Photos taken in 1962: Isla Mujeres, Campeche, cenote at Chichen Itza, unknown volcano, Villahermosa and the PanAmerican Highway,

This is Star Shaman Arne in 1962 — Photos taken in 1962: Isla Mujeres, Campeche, cenote at Chichen Itza, unknown volcano, Villahermosa and the PanAmerican Highway,

Shortly after I viewed Arne’s beautiful slides of his unusual (for the times) journey, he invited me to come down to Mexico to see for myself. Without hesitation, I did, and we spent several years together studying and traveling. In those days we climbed the pyramids and often we were the only visitors around.

Ultimately, there is something about being alone in these ruins that expanded our awareness of different cultures and ways of being. Travel, in general, changes the traveler. Here, in the ruins, my sense of connection to nature and spirit was enhanced.

It’s some sixty years later and I am still fascinated by this region. Most recently, I visited Xel-Ha archaeological site with Robert. I wrote a blog post about Coba with photos here. I plan to visit more of the sites. Although I earned my master of arts degree in Cultural Ecology by doing scholarly research on the region, my visits now are strictly for my own enjoyment.

What do the transits really do?

What do the transits really do? Recently, I received a message from an astrologically aware friend. She wanted to know what my reaction was when Venus was Cazimi the Sun in Leo. She thought this transit was significant because it made an exact sextile aspect to my own natal Venus conjoined Ascendant. The sextile is considered to be an opportunity. At first, I couldn’t remember anything in particular about that day.

The transit coincided with an opportunity to become peaceful!

But something did change that day. On that day, I realized that I had been creating a battle of sorts with my husband for a couple of months and I decided to make peace with myself. The truth is that he wasn’t engaged in battle with me. Our trip to California in the hottest week of the summer left me tired and out of sorts. I simply wasn’t letting go of the mood. So this gentle transit sextile marked a decision that I made to be peaceful, as it revealed to me my own attitude quite clearly. The sextile provided the ease to change, to be in a loving and open state of mind again.

Transits Affect Multiple Planets

I feel the transiting Saturn conjoined to my Moon much more strongly. Saturn is a slow moving planet. Lately, it has be conjoined to my natal moon. My natal moon is the focal planet of a natal partile yod, involving the Sun and Neptune both quincunx to Moon, while natal Moon opposes natal Mercury. Moon is square natal Mars. So when Moon experiences a challenge it sets off multiple reactions.

I feel sadness on and off as Saturn’s apparent motion moves forward and retrogrades back. The energy remains consistent whether the aspect is exact or a few degrees off. It feels as if I am at a happy get together (my own normal internal joy and outward life) but a stranger is the room. This stranger, Saturn, is the room and I know he’s there. When Saturn is in closest aspect to Moon, the dark stranger seems to be shaking hands with me and he is bringing tears to my eyes. Even when the transit conjunction is a couple of degrees from exact, I still see him in the room. And I know he’s going to walk up to me again. What is his message going to be?

Transits to my moon “trigger” other planets in my chart.

Like in a game of pool, the transit affects all the other planets in play (within orb of aspect).

Some transits are felt throughout the chart!

In addition to the conjunction, there is a “game of pool” type of energy around my chart that gets activated by any planet conjunct my Moon. When Saturn bumps the Moon, the Moon sends its energy to Mercury, to the Sun, to Mars and to Neptune, all sitting between 0° and 4°. So Moon’s issues trigger anger (Mars), mental agitation (Mercury), a longing for spiritual oneness (Neptune), and a longing for a creative role (my Leo Sun).

And I’ve noticed that when the slow moving planet walks into my 10th house, it affects me greatly. I’ve worn so many hats through my life, used a variety of talents. I’ve enjoyed putting on different occupations, different roles, so when the slow moving transits occur in my 10th house, initially, I don’t know what my role should be. I don’t know how I can most be of service to others and to myself. It is really disconcerting to flounder, in my sense of my outward role. I know I am Spirit-Soul (Moon in Pisces). But what does Spirit-Soul do in the outer world? The 10th house is not about money. The 10th house is about our place before the public, career, how we identify when we are asked upon being introduced to someone new “so, what do you do?”

Looking back

Months have gone by since writing the above blog article. Saturn has moved way past the interactions with my Moon, Sun, and Neptune. I’ve got a habit tracker app. I listed all the things that I think are important for good health in the app. Things like breathing exercises certain yoga practices using eye wash a lot of health practices and spiritual practices that I did many years ago are on my new list. My list even includes reminders to call my friends or contact people or write in my blog. So Saturn had the effect of making me feel empty and kind of structureless, career-less and friendless. The healing response is that I have put a better structure in place. It’s working! And as a result of having this structured list I have created space in my life in my days is to write, to talk, and share what I know. As a person who has spent her whole life studying, teaching, and learning, I will continue doing what I have always loved.

Relocation Astrology

Relocation astrology is a relatively recent branch of astrology. It isn’t one of my specialties, but I am aware of it and calculate relocation charts from time to time. Astrology software quickly calculates relocation charts, so I often look at them to see how different places might affect me. But I haven’t actually made any serious choices using them.

Since leaving California, Robert and I have been traveling through Mexico. It’s been an exciting journey for us – a journey of connection to each other and exploration of the greater world. We have not yet integrated into a community anywhere, as we’ve been moving a little too fast for that. At the same time, we haven’t had a sense of social isolation.

Relocating to Playa del Carmen

Shortly after arriving in Playa del Carmen, we signed a 6 month lease for an apartment. All of a sudden, after signing that lease, I felt very very lonely. I felt like I was in a trap. The sense of isolation surprised me. After a few days went by with no change of mood, I remembered to create a relocation chart for this area.

All of a sudden I could see it quite plainly, my Moon is in the 8th House here. Saturn is in my 1st. My friendly natal Venus in Gemini is in the 12th in this location. A big chunk of my depressive feelings lifted as I saw that it was locational and situational. It wasn’t Robert isolating me, it was a locational choice and I am free to move, albeit with a loss of money. Interestingly, moving here coincides with transit Saturn conjoining my natal Moon. So it is as if I moved to a place, unknowingly, where the energy of the Saturn conjoined Natal Moon transit would be actualized.

A lesson I’ve learned is that traveling with the concept of just visiting is totally different than committing to stay, in the same way that dating is different from marriage. Astrology speaks to all these conditions, and the next time I get ready to sign a lease I’m going to be sure to check my locational astrology chart.

Looking at Your Astrology Transits Using an App

Use an astrology app to find your current or past astrology transits and read about their effects.

MOON PHASES — The moon has phases – so do our lives.

Looking at your astrology transits with the Time Passages astrology app will enable you to find your current or past astrology transits and read about their effects. You can then compare the descriptions of the transit effects with the actual events or feelings in your life. What if more than one transit aspect is going on in your life? In reality, that is usually the case. Consequently, you will want to identify which of the transits seems to be most potent for you. Was it a type of aspect, such as the square, sesquiquadrate, semisquare or opposition, or was it the trine? Or, were several several aspects to a particular planet giving more emphasis to its energies? An app can help you learn more about astrology, in general, and about your own reactions to planetary energies.

Astrologers pay close attention to transits, the daily motion of the planets in relation to the natal chart.

TIme Passages astrology app makes it easy to find your transits and read about how they may affect you. — Use an astrology app like Time Passages to track transit effects

I look at transits daily, either by viewing the planetary positions using a sophisticated computer program, an ephemeris, or an app. For a newbie, I recommend Time Passages app for your phone. For a solo user, it is free and available on Google Play. I don’t have any “interest” in the app, but I suggest it to my students and other learners because I like the way it shows the dates that each transit will be in effect.

I made a short video to show how to read about the transiting aspects once you download the app and put in your own birth data. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cxaaUXzxM&t=12s

Want to see your astrological transits for a full year ahead?

Order a PDF that I will send to you via email. Learning about the transits on a daily basis, really noting and feeling them is very convincing. The first yearly transit report that I read was way back in 1975. By reading it daily and observing myself, it became apparent to me that I reacted strongly whenever a transiting sesquiquadrate was happening. Most astrologers focus on major aspects, such squares and oppositions. Yet, by self-observation I noted a correlation of my reactions to the transiting minor aspects. This helped me to feel, observe, reflect, and choose to react or not, rather than go with the, often negative, emotional flow.

You can order a full year transit report that includes the minor aspects from me here: https://py.pl/2IKUVK

Have a one-on-one conversation!

For the caring and deep personal look at your astrological transits for the year ahead, schedule a conversation which only a human can give. I’ve done readings for years in person and for the last five years I do them by phone. I genuinely help people in a way that changes lives! Schedule here: https://carolynrelei.bookafy.com

Looking at Transits

Looking at transits in a personal forecast differs in many ways from the generalized forecasts in magazines.

tides are affected by the moon's phases — Full moon over water reminds us that the tides are affected by the moon’s phases.

When I look at transits, I compare of the planets’ positions in the sky at a given moment to the planets’ positions in a person’s natal chart.

I’ve explored astrology for over 50 years, so I am well aware that we are all born with very different charts. The planets today affect each of us differently based on our natal chart.

Since many people happily follow astrology weekly prediction articles, I wanted to find out what the popular astrology column authors used as the basis of their weekly predictions. I wanted to know how the writers generalize their predictions to cover a large group of people with different natal charts

Comparing several columns by different astrologers revealed that not every astrologer focuses on the same transiting degrees. With many aspects at play during any one week or month, the weekly column astrologers appear to pick and choose among them.

Surely, using positive directed thoughts can mitigate fear and open the mind to avenues of response which provide a more favorable outcome to a temporary condition.

The common thread in all the astrology columns was not the aspect and the type of outcome that the aspect would cause. The common thread was actually advice or suggestions of the need to respond to all changes by using one’s own positive directed thoughts to guide one’s own life.

optimism and positive thinking are valuable strategies for all astrological signs — Positive thinking is a valuable tool!

The suggestion to develop a positive outlook solution for dealing with each possible scenario is a feature common to all columns I read. Because the nature of newspaper or magazine forecasts is to generalize by looking at transits for an entire group (all Leos or all Scorpios or all Geminis and so forth), positive thinking advice gives the reader a generally useful mental strategy for disarming fear, which can apply to everyone.

Unlike a generalized horoscope forecast, the transit forecast reading applies only and accurately to you.

Trust the timing in your life — An astrology forecast reading reveals the cycles of time in your life.

The transit forecast specifically for you is based on your birth time, place and date – your natal chart, that applies to you and you alone. Because of its accuracy and specificity, it will show opportunities, reveal challenges to be aware of, and describes emotional or psychological states that you are encountering. In addition, by calculating the transits for several years in the past, we can, with almost uncanny accuracy, describe conditions in a person’s life in a time in the past.

A professional personal astrology forecast is based on information in the current skies as it specifically relates to your own natal chart.

Your natal chart, or personal horoscope, is based on the exact time, date, and place of your birth. Astrologers compare the information coded in your natal chart to the current sky positions. We call this “looking at transits” or doing the transits. Interpreting it is called a “transit forecast”.

next: Looking at Your Transits part 2