Forever Blowing Bubbles

The Bubble Man in Central Park, New York City

Once you discover this post is in fact about the Age of Aquarius, you have my full permission to roll your eyes and say “There she goes again!”

But do give me this.  After almost three weeks in America this past October during the government shutdown, hearing Obamacare this, Obamacare that, and what has this world come to with America spying on her allies, I was ready to get the hell out of Dodge.

The day we flew back to the Netherlands, we ate lunch with dear friends who are fit to be tied about personal and worldwide privacy and security invasions, and, quite honestly, are wanting to flee the country.  As though it happens only in America!

As I sat there listening to their obvious consternations, feeling helpless, I had one of those brain farts.

“We are living in the Age of Aquarius!” I began….

[hold that thought]

Astrological ages last approximately 2,000+ years each while the vernal equinox precesses clockwise through the twelve zodiac constellations.  Thus far we have tracked 6 astrological ages by major changes in the development of Earth's inhabitants…culturally, socially, politically…all the way back to BC 10,000.

The previous age was the Age of Pisces (the fish), from ca. BC 6 to AD 1994.  Pisces is about universal love, compassion, self-sacrifice, altruism, creativity, intuition and deep spirituality…as well as  deception and illusion.  It was the age of Monotheism, Spirituality, and the Fish...the age of Christianity and the effect of the Jesus-fish (Ichthys) on the entire world, for good and bad.

All astrological ages have a cycle of discovery, trial and error, progression, growth and resolution related to the traits of their individual zodiac signs.  Starting with the crucifixion of Jesus to everything that followed, including untold wars, revolutions and reformations, burnings at the stake, heresies, and sectarian hatreds, all in the name of Christ…you get the picture of why Universal Love had to climax the end of the Piscean Age.

Thus the logical segue to the Age of Aquarius:  universality, friendship, emotional detachment, individualism, invention, philanthropy, humanism, vision, enlightenment, intellect, originality, technology, change, freedom, science, quantum physics, String Theory, space.

And so?????

It means we've begun a new age of figuring out what we can and cannot do in a world small enough to fit in the palm of our hand!

It means we're ascertaining what controls and regulations are necessary every time we invent something new, especially related to the world-wide-web.

It means we have to befriend our enemies in order to coexist in one world!

It means we will probably find life on other planets.

And on the heels of our earth's worst "natural disaster" ever, killing over 3,600 people thus far, it means we're figuring out climate change on this planet, for its survival.

I don't mean to sound simplistic.  But instead of despairing, a bit of pragmatism helps me midst the craziness.  We need those right now (like my Atlanta friends) who hate the misuse of power.  Inequality.  Slavery and sex trafficking.  Invasion of privacy....

THIS is the time to "fix" it.  THIS is the age when it will happen.

Are we ready for this social awakening en masse?  Can we embrace the individual choice to make it happen?  One step, one person at a time.  Each doing our part.  Not pannicking.  Not despairing.  Believing all things.  Allowing Love to win, which surely was the lesson meant for the last age?

Of course, we can also blow bubbles between our spurts of human and technological awareness, right?  Why not!

When Mercury Goes Retrograde

Mercury stands atop the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, NL

…ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

Three to 4 times every year and for approximately 3 weeks at a time, planet Mercury goes retrograde.  That is, it slows down in its orbit around the Sun.  The dates for this year, 2012, are:

March 12 – April 4
July 14 – August 8
November 6 – November 26

Yup, we’re smack-dab in the middle of a Mercury Retrograde (MR) and have almost 2 more weeks to go.  So what?!

Mercury, that mythological Messenger of the Gods, happens to “rule” everything related to communication and transportation, that’s what!  Perception, language, writing, editing, research, speaking, learning, the assessment of data, telecommunications, computing, software, electronic gadgets, cameras(!), the postal service, shipping, couriers, wires, cables, machines with moving parts.

When Mercury retrogrades, it scrambles information and causes static and confusion…which is why it’s not a good time to sign contracts, complete important transactions, make big decisions or purchases, especially electronics (if you don’t want a lemon!).

Everyone in the whole wide world can be affected when Mercury retrogrades but especially Gemini (moi) and Virgos (my wife) who are astrologically “ruled” by the rascal.  Astrid and I always laugh a bit nervously when these times come around because we know we need to PAS OP! (= Pay Attention!).  When we’re driving anywhere, we expect delays/detours and are pleasantly surprised when they don’t happen.  We write everything down to make sure we don’t forget anything.

Once I sheepishly told my preacher dad about MR, not knowing if he’d pooh-pooh me into the ground.  He started laughing and said, “Oh, you mean that’s what happened when Mom and I drove home from Virginia the other day and I had forgotten where I put my glasses!  The next day I found them in the corner of the luggage rack on top of the car!”  Bingo.  Lucky for him, they never fell off during the entire drive to Michigan!

Stupid, crazy, silly, frustrating, befuddling, infuriating, aggravating things happen during MR.  You forget where you put things.  You buy something you regret.  You can’t find the right words to say or write.  Before auto-save happened on the computer, you’d lose whole documents.  [Remember the Jesus Saves computer joke!]  Sometimes you lose your whole computer!  Or your camera falls into the lake.  Or you copy people in e-mails you didn’t mean to.  You press Send before you intend, you lose your comment on FB…. 

Yada Yada Yada.  Been there, done that.

But here’s the GOOD NEWS:  MR is the best time in the world to finish things you’ve already started, so all is not lost!  The closet you started cleaning out, the book you were reading/writing, the trip you were planning, the knitting project, the garden….  When Mercury slows down (like now!), it’s the perfect time to tie up those loose ends.  In fact, Mercury will help you finish them.  He needs calming down himself and would like nothing better than for all of us to just slow down a bit.

Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect. Mercury forces us to slow down and fix what's broken, and in so doing, rethink things.  It also gives us time to get to projects we have put on the back-burner.—Susan Miller

Give yourself permission.  You know you want to.  Breathe in, breathe out.

For those of you still rolling your eyes, I bet you believe in the effects of the full moon, right?  I rest my case.

Sex is Dirty

In Glastonbury, England (like Sedona, Arizona!)

Now that I have your attention!

This post has been rumbling around inside me for a long time because, well, it's a big part of my life since my 1990 divorce.

Through a friend from work at the time, I started learning about astrology and natal charts in particular.  This had been forbidden territory in my conservative preacher's home since forever, in spite of the fact that my maternal grandfather was one of America's premier astrologers of his day.  He had his own magazine, published books, a pen name Wynn, and a Hollywood following.

But I knew I was NOT to touch it with a ten-foot pole.

The things we were taught or somehow absorbed by osmosis in our family upbringing...don't you wonder where they came from?  Where is it written that sex is dirty, for instance...or that certain things like astrology are just a bunch of hogwash, if not straight from the Devil?

At the same time, 1990, I started a massage-therapy course at one of the most reputable schools in the country to augment my then-single income.  Interestingly, massage therapy at that time was 10 years behind chiropractic in mainstream acceptance.  Whenever someone mentioned I was a masseuse, I had to correct them (sex is dirty, remember?).  Today both chiropractic and massage therapy are part of most health insurance plans.  But not back then.

Where is it written that the Western way of viewing life systems is better or more intelligent than Eastern practices we can hardly pronounce, let alone understand?  Did you know that most of these ancient modalities take years and years of apprenticeship for mastering:  Acupuncture.  Massage therapy.  Chiropractic.  Tai Chi.  Yoga.  Crystal Therapy.  Chakra Balancing.  Astrology….  I've heard that most of them take about 16 years.  Why wouldn't we believe in them?  Or why do we pick and choose the ones we will keep while throwing the rest away?

I am an amateur photographer.  I am also an amateur astrologer.  There, I've said it.  Most people can accept the first but not the second.  Trust me, I know.  I have to be careful about when and where I say it.  But the more I love and accept this part of who I am, the more fun it becomes for me, just like photography.  I have top-of-the-line natal-chart software every bit as good as PhotoShop, which I love figuring out.  How could I possibly split it off from myself and segregate the different hats I wear without diluting who I am as me, myself, and I.  It's all who I am, making up the whole.

With the rise of China and India as super powers that may eventually over-shadow both America and Europe, it might well behoove us to start paying attention to Eastern philosophies and practices that are older than dirt…but not dirty.  Yes?

Maybe it's part of becoming world citizens?  It's so easy to be ethnocentric and believe our way is the only way.  To what end?  To the ostracism of our next-door neighbors, probably.  And to a narrow world-view that diminishes us.

But then some of you already know this about chatty Gemini me with a Sagittarius ascendant.  All you have to see is the two planets in my 9th House and smile.  The rest of you can just roll your eyes and say "There she goes again!"