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When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars -- 5th Dimension, Age of Aquarius People are, quite naturally, skeptical about astrology. While I am fairly clueless about exactly how planetary influences could possibly affect my daily life, I do know that there’s something to it. No doubt about it. There’s just too much coincidence for there not to be some validity to it. Just from a statistics perspective, it’s impossible to ignore how often the astrologers are right. After almost 50 years on the planet, I firmly believe two things: a) there is nothing new under the sun, and b) we are nowhere close to having learned it all yet. Somehow, skeptics aside, the same laws of physics that rule the magic of torque and gravity, tides and glaciers, are also responsible for conducting the orchestra of the planets. If I drop a hammer, it will hit the ground (and hopefully miss my foot). If Mercury goes retrograde, communications will start to go south. Somehow, they are related. Fiery Mars, dreamy Neptune, life-and-death Pluto: I find myself compulsively tracking their movements through the heavens. And, when Mercury goes retrograde, I progress from “compulsive” to “obsessed”. For the uninitiated, here’s the nickel tour: Mercury rules communications; also short journeys, reasoning and possibilities. Contracts. Email. Romantic lost weekends. The fastest planet in our solar system, it circles the sun every 88 days. About three times a year, based on the relationship it has with the Earth, it enters a retrograde state: put simply, from Earth, Mercury appears to be moving backwards, away from us. The results? Messed-up communications. SNAFUs. Missed calls. Confusion. Journeys interrupted; foggy reasoning. People who are attracted to each other suddenly go shy. Talk to those in the astrological know, and they’ll tell you. Expect confusion. Delays. And whatever you do, don’t sign a contract or get surgery. You could be dealing with the fallout for months. The last time I had a really bad retrograde Mercury, it was April of 1992 and I was getting ready to move a 250-person office in downtown Los Angeles. It was a Wednesday evening; I was supervising the installation of phone circuits in the new space when the Rodney King riots broke out. In the next days, what was I grappling with? Oh, nothing much; just how to put a telephone switch on the back of a truck and move it four blocks down the street. In the middle of a riot. Communications? Short journeys? Nah, must be coincidence. (We didn’t move the office that weekend. But, ever since then, every one of my friends and colleagues who were involved in that move keeps the Mercury retrograde schedule close at hand. Tattooed on the inside of our eyelids.) This time, the Mercury Ret is in a water sign. Over the last few days, Mercury has been backing away from Earth, backing out of its home sign of Gemini into emotional Cancer, the home-body. And my latest....what? Journey...across the country to talk about installing...what? A call center...is interrupted by...what? Rain. It’s a rich irony. There is no coincidence. In the last fifteen years, I have become a believer. I’ve made it halfway home; the last leg of my journey was cancelled. As I sit here in the middle of the country, surrounded by floods, I know that I am actually quite lucky. All around me, people are losing their homes. What could that possibly feel like? Families in this area have lost loved ones; people who were alive on Monday are dead today. I think of my own family, my amazingly capable children and their extended support network, tucked into their dry, sunny home, and I know that it’s just the roll of the dice – simple, albeit astronomical odds – that they are safe and alive. The travel agency has booked me into a hotel to wait for the airports to settle. Flights are overbooked or cancelled; there’s no getting to California until Friday night. I have everything I need. I can do my job from anywhere. I’m not hungry; there’s indoor plumbing, two TVs, hot and cold running water, a hot breakfast, workout room, microwave mini-pizzas and a plastic geranium. A garbage disposal. I have a toothbrush, a computer, sticky notes and a highlighter. Clean sheets, a king-size bed, mouthwash and air conditioning. There’s a fireplace, for Christ’s sake. A fireplace. “Ugly Betty” is on, which usually sucks my brain clean out of my skull and leaves me in hysterical laughter on the floor. Tonight it’s just not working. I don’t want to watch TV. I don’t want to work out; I don’t want to relax. I want to go home. I want my kids; I want my birds. I want my white-iron bed and my soft green quilt. I even want my stupid orange cat Squeaky who usually is the biggest irritant in my day. I would give a lot to see his flat prizefighter’s nose on the other side of the living-room window, meowing silently for me to open up his private worm-hole and let him into the house so he can continue tormenting me. I sit here on the sofa, nibbling sullenly at my mini-pizzas, flipping the channels, and I see the TV weatherman droning on and on about the dire predictions for more rain. July 9th, Mercury goes direct. So, it’s not all that bad. Only eleven more days. Eleven more days of interrupted journeys. Eleven more days of hit-and-miss in the chat rooms; eleven more days of go-slow and pausing to re-read emails before hitting Send. There’s not much to be done except enjoy the downtime and hope to hell I can keep my mouth shut before my evil Sagittarius tongue gets the best of me. Maybe I’ll even have made it home by then. Anyone taking bets? |
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6/28/2007 8:45 pm |
hello, I don't know if this means much, but I have noticed a level of confusion for me lately if I haven't been able to see the big dipper. sounds wierd I know.... but where I live it is quite apparent. and I don't know my constellations, but there was a short time ago I could see the stars but the dipper wasn't in the sky where it usually is.....and I had alot of worrysome problems, now it''s back, here mid sky north northwest, and problems don't seem as bad. coincedence or not?? just an observation.
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6/28/2007 9:07 pm |
hello, I don't know if this means much, but I have noticed a level of confusion for me lately if I haven't been able to see the big dipper. sounds wierd I know.... but where I live it is quite apparent. and I don't know my constellations, but there was a short time ago I could see the stars but the dipper wasn't in the sky where it usually is.....and I had alot of worrysome problems, now it''s back, here mid sky north northwest, and problems don't seem as bad. coincedence or not?? just an observation. There's a theory out there about the Earth "slipping" on its core, that says that our starscape alters from time to time. Maybe it was summer smog, or maybe God borrowed it for a while...either way, I am glad to hear that the Dipper is back in your sky....and that your problems have eased. That is the best of all coincidences. Best regards from LadyK
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7/5/2007 7:41 am |
I think astrology is a load of nonsense, but I do like the way you write. If that comes across wrong, don't blame me, blame Mercury.
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7/21/2007 12:42 am |
The stars of Orion's belt have always had a special "feel" for me as well. I feel most myths, legends and beliefs have some basis in fact. While I don't consult a horoscope daily before leaving the house, I do know that there are definite shared characteristics among people born at the same time of year. I have used this knowledge in the past to help achieve rapport with people. I also know that there are certain zodiac signs I get along with as a general rule better then others altho my astrological compatibility report from FF seems to be in disagreement with that. For example it shows my compatibility with Sagittarius and Virgo as poor and I have always felt more comfortable with them then other signs. Hmmm June 28th is the date of this post. I'm assuming you made it back to California. What kind of birds do you have? James Enjoy the ride. All you take with you when you leave is the experience.
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7/21/2007 1:10 am |
The stars of Orion's belt have always had a special "feel" for me as well. I feel most myths, legends and beliefs have some basis in fact. While I don't consult a horoscope daily before leaving the house, I do know that there are definite shared characteristics among people born at the same time of year. I have used this knowledge in the past to help achieve rapport with people. I also know that there are certain zodiac signs I get along with as a general rule better then others altho my astrological compatibility report from FF seems to be in disagreement with that. For example it shows my compatibility with Sagittarius and Virgo as poor and I have always felt more comfortable with them then other signs. Hmmm June 28th is the date of this post. I'm assuming you made it back to California. What kind of birds do you have? James Many people guffaw heartily. Let them; I wish it were different, but I have to assume that our modern world has simply bred too many skeptics (or possibly over-educated us). After all, the majority believe that Jesus Christ is divine; yet cannot define "devine", and have never stopped to examine what that even means, let alone why they believe it. (And they think I've got explaining to do!) I have small birds: cockatiels and parakeets. Hand-raised, they are the most loving of creatures, bowing to press their tiny heads against your cheek, spreading their wings into heart-shapes to show their devotion....nibbling at ears and eyelashes with tiny beaks. If you have never known the love of a bird, you will quickly find that dogs and cats pale in comparison. Thank you for your concern: I made it back to California on July 1, but not without extenuating circumstances, temper tantrums, exhaustion, and a determination never to leave again (it will not last long, as we are headed to Michigan to dance the Great Lakes Feis in August). We have had gorgeous sunrises, hot weather, and clear cool nights full of Orion this summer. Count me in on Blogstock. LadyK
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7/21/2007 11:26 am |
Ah, but James, you should learn the chant: the four compatibilities are: Aries, Sagittarius, Leo and Libra (there are others; this is just the fire/air signs). And, that just covers your Sun sign (while important, it is just one of many factors). Add your Moon, and a whole other world opens up. Many people guffaw heartily. Let them; I wish it were different, but I have to assume that our modern world has simply bred too many skeptics (or possibly over-educated us). After all, the majority believe that Jesus Christ is divine; yet cannot define "devine", and have never stopped to examine what that even means, let alone why they believe it. (And they think I've got explaining to do!) I have small birds: cockatiels and parakeets. Hand-raised, they are the most loving of creatures, bowing to press their tiny heads against your cheek, spreading their wings into heart-shapes to show their devotion....nibbling at ears and eyelashes with tiny beaks. If you have never known the love of a bird, you will quickly find that dogs and cats pale in comparison. Thank you for your concern: I made it back to California on July 1, but not without extenuating circumstances, temper tantrums, exhaustion, and a determination never to leave again (it will not last long, as we are headed to Michigan to dance the Great Lakes Feis in August). We have had gorgeous sunrises, hot weather, and clear cool nights full of Orion this summer. Count me in on Blogstock. LadyK I had a great cat then named Autumn who never did completely overcome her instincts but a large Labrador wolf hybrid named B.F. who loved that bird. Sinbad would fly down to the floor and strut about like he owned the place or perch on B.F's back. If Autumn made a move in his direction, B.F. would give her "the look" and she would back down. I miss that bird and often consider getting another. Enjoy the ride. All you take with you when you leave is the experience.
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