The Community of Astrology
March 29, 2019
We are a rare community, us astrologers. We share a complete language system—the astrological language. And we all love finding new friends who speak our astrological language. There are dialects of our language, too. Sometimes these dialects are SO distinct it may seem like we don’t share a language at all. You can see these big dialectical differences when you compare modern western astrology to Vedic astrology, Chinese astrology, or even when Hellenistic astrology is compared to Evolutionary astrology. As our world becomes more diverse, as we each learn about “others,” it’s important that we continue to be communities that respect and learn from others. This includes becoming familiar with different astrological dialects. As an astrologer who works with both Western astrology and Vedic astrology I am “translating” dialects all the time.
When you work with more than one system there is a risk of combining rules and patterns in a willy-nilly way that becomes a bit messy and a lot less precise. This can work, but it means tossing out millennia of patterns that definitely work, thereby muddying the interpretive process. Not that it can’t be done: I’ve known astrologers who put together what, in my mind, are the most bizarre combinations and come out with valid information. I think the beauty of our field is that we are working with a hologram of the actual UNIVERSE of meaning, and no matter where you stand to look at the hologram, it has a fair chance of showing you the true picture.
My approach to using two systems is to keep them separate. Yes, there are techniques that bridge both systems: Graphic ephemerides and Sabian symbols point to spots in the sky and defines circumstances by that point rather than by the zodiac used. The Moon’s point is where the Moon IS, whether you call it Taurus, Aries, or McGillicudy. And yes, there are parts to Vedic astrology that have shaped my approach to Western astrology, but a lot of that is my early introduction to Western astrology left out a lot of detail. When reading charts for clients, I go back and forth constantly. It’s possible this weird combination has to do with my early exposure to Hellenistic astrology.
In the early 90’s the astrological world was blessed by the work of Robert Hand, Robert Schmidt, and Robert Zoller who dug up (almost literally) untranslated astrological texts from the ancient world—in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew. These had never been translated into modern languages. Even the work of Hermes Trismegistus contained a lot of astrological material which was simply LEFT OUT of translations because “astrology is nonsense so why translate it.” ARHAT and Project Hindsight started publishing translations and giving seminars on what they were learning about ancient western astrology. The problem was, they were finding text fragments that gave long lists of rules and then the fragment would end and no one knew what to do with partially discovered rules. With time, they discovered many fragments from different writers that seemed to be part of a complete body of knowledge. They worked on piecing the fragments together to reveal a full body of astrological knowledge that had been lost to us. As a result, many current young astrologers are focused on ancient western astrology.
At that time, however, I was already studying Vedic astrology. I kept seeing vague parallels to the interpretive patterns of Vedic astrology in these ancient western fragments. Feelings were floating around in my body that I might well have been a Greek astrologer at the time, sometime in 300BC-200AD, when eastern and western techniques first “met” each other, and the West was fascinated by the learning of the East and the East also learned from the West. I knew this was home territory for me, but I also knew my love was the PRACTICE of counseling astrology, and at that time there wasn’t enough information for the ancient western stuff to be useful in practice. With five planets in earth signs, my system had to be useful, so my focus would have to be on the Vedic tradition which, though ancient and in need of re-interpretation for modern western cultures, still existed intact. So I kept my ear open for the ancient rediscoveries, subscribed to the Project Hindsight translations and workshops, and practiced Vedic and Western astrology.
To see how Western astrology changes relate to changes in Vedic astrology, look at the work of the brilliant Indian astrologer, and teacher K.N. Rao. Rao has spent his astrological career testing out old rules against current circumstances and updating out-of-time interpretations. In Rao’s astrology a certain combination no longer makes you the “owner of 10,000 elephants”. It makes you a very wealthy person. And the pattern that used to say “prostitute” is now found in the charts of many upright actors and actresses who “sell their bodies to the public” by playing heroes and villains on screen. So the Vedic tradition has rules that hold true if you take into account the culture and attitudes of the times. The changes have to do with updating conclusions to relate to the modern culture rather than losing whole bodies of techniques and then discovering fragments and figuring things out from scratch.
Western astrology has had a very different past. Western astrology has been lost and found innumerable times in the past 2000 years. Contributing to the confusion and astrological changes of THESE times, we notice a funny thing happened to astrology in last 150 years. In the late 1800’s Alan Leo, deciding astrology was too complex for the masses, introduced Sun Sign astrology, seeding the ubiquitous “Astrology [Sun Sign] Columns” in public newspapers and magazines today and creating a huge rise in popularity of astrology. Before that time, astrologers were not even part of general awareness. In the first half of the 20th century, new astrologers entered the field with a primary awareness of Sun signs. Works published in the early 20th century were still using techniques which were almost entirely lost to astrologers who discovered the field after Alan Leo’s work
This difference of astrological continuity is, in my opinion, the biggest difference between western and Vedic astrology. Western astrology wasn’t concerned about turning “elephants” into “wealth” because we forgot all about “elephants”. But each re-discovery of Western astrology incorporates current world understandings into astrological science. Sun sign astrology came along at about the time Freud’s work entered the world. It was active when Carl Jung started using astrology in his analytical work with clients. Sun sign astrology based ALL planetary positions on Sun sign interpretation. If you have Venus in Aries, just apply all the Sun sign Aries traits to the subject of Love and Money. If you have Mars in Capricorn, just apply all the Sun sign traits of Capricorn to Action, Energy, Anger… and so on. There’s nothing inherently incorrect about this, but it meant folks were doing astrology without any other techniques, therefore leaving a lot of gaps of details and understanding.
Thanks to Freud, Jung, Adler, Charles Tart and others, the whole field of psychology and later transpersonal psychology seeped into and began filling the cracks and crevices in the incomplete Sun-sign astrological system. Late 20th century astrologers found astrology to be a microscope onto the psychological and spiritual development of individuals. How brilliant! And this developed because of a lack of specific techniques.
Then astrological trends continued for another step and declared predictive astrology to be Wrong, both morally and practically, because “people can always transcend their astrological fate and astrologers shouldn’t make people feel they have no choices.” People using predictive astrology were now seen as fatalistic and backward-thinking.
Obviously, there’s stuff left out here. If astrology teaches us anything, it’s that the world doesn’t work when we think This OR That. It works when we see This AND That. Fate OR Free will? Rather Fate AND Free will!
People can change their fate IF they know how to handle correctly the energy fields they find themselves in. One WILL find themselves in difficult energy situations. Free will is in what you DO there. For instance, most young people faced with a Pluto challenge fight it until the situation gets really ugly. Most people would be aided by an astrologer’s advice on how to surrender to the energies of Pluto, etc. etc. But one doesn’t NEED an astrologer to do this.
My youngest brother, David is a neurologist, with no interest in or use for weird things like astrology. So I kept my mouth shut for years, knowing I’d otherwise be thrown out of the conversation. I did wonder when Pluto in Sag would be squaring his Gemini Sun. He was in med school at the time. So after he was out of med school and in practice—and a bit mellowed–I asked him what happened that year. I suggested that someone who had more power than he was standing in his way in a manner that could have damaged his career. He said there was nothing bad that happened, but that his adviser and research director had something against ANY idea that he proposed. He knew what he wanted to do for a research project and knew that the advisor would oppose it just because David asked for it, so he talked with a friend. The friend was another student that the advisor just loved. David asked his friend to suggest this would be a good idea for research but it would be an awful project….. so why don’t you get David to do it. Result: my brother got the project he wanted! Without astrology—but he used the correct technique to overcome the Pluto problem.
Those who say we can overcome the disasters of difficult transits are correct, but you can’t do it without knowing something, either instinctively or astrologically.
One reason I believe late 20th century western astrologers backed off from predictions is because not all predictions are about good things. How do you tell someone their daughter will be in a terrible accident in early March? How do you leave it out? My life changed when I discovered the remedies of Vedic astrology.
One thing that changed is that instead of being afraid to tell a client of a difficult future energy system, I can now tell them what could happen if they don’t do remedies and what might happen if they do remedies. The feedback from this is marvelous, and there’s no longer the problem of seeing something bad and trying to decide whether or not to warn someone. There are arguments that doing remedies is to put something other than yourself in control over your life, and that we have the power to change things ourselves and shouldn’t “give our power over” to remedies. Saints and wise men and women may instinctively adjust to difficult energy systems, but most people don’t fall in that category. Some of these saints and wise-persons, demonstrating how astrology doesn’t control them, have deliberately chosen awful dates to start some enterprise that ends up being successful. I’d bet they knew systems to remedy the planetary difficulties! Sharing remedy systems that allow a person to change their fate allows everyday people to get a glimpse of Life on the Wise Side.
Another of the basic questions about Vedic “vs.” western astrology is about the sidereal vs. tropical zodiac. There is about 24 degrees of difference between the two zodiacs, so 4/5’s of any western sign will be the previous sign in Jyotish. If your western Sun is around 24 degrees or later, you’ll keep your same sun sign. People are always saying stuff like “but I’m CLEARLY an Aries and not at all a Pisces, of all things!” The answer is that Aries and Pisces don’t have the western personality characteristics you’re thinking of. These are two totally different interpretation systems. Vedic astrologers are more interested in what HOUSE a planet is in and where is the dispositor (e.g., for the Pisces Sun, where is Jupiter? What sign? What house?) In Jyotish (Vedic astrology) the answer to what sign you are will be totally unrelated to the Sun and unrelated to SIGNS. It will be the Nakshatra, or lunar mansion, of the Moon. An Indian who is asked “what’s your astrological sign?” will answer with the name of the Nakshatra. The Moon has 27 lunar mansions, and these are the “signs” associated with personality characteristics. The basic interpretation system in Jyotish starts with planetary house/sign/Nakshatra placements and with dispositors’ house/sign/Nakshatras (well, also aspects, which are different, too).
And of course there’s the Fate vs Free Will question. Late 20th century Western astrology stresses free will over everything, but everyone has had certain experiences in life that definitely feel like Fate. Indian astrology offers answers to these questions, too. There are some things that are SO strongly indicated in a chart that they are part of what is called “fixed karma”. Out of 24 ways of determining whether or not a person will have children, 23 of them, in my chart, are flat out “no” answers. One says it might happen if I try real hard with a lot of technical help. Despite having wanted children for several decades and doing what I could to get pregnant, it never happened. When I discovered this pattern in my forties I was relieved to be able to follow astrology without worrying about supporting a child. Other kinds of karma give more choice. And remedies can change the situation UNLESS the Karma is fixed. (They can help emotionally even when the karma IS fixed.) When you combine the contemporary psycho-spiritual awareness of the western chart with the fate-free-will answers of the Indian chart, one can have a much clearer idea of what is possible and what we must prepare to accept (or, learn to love).
Modern western culture tends to suggest that we should be in charge of everything in our lives. Carl Jung said the key to happiness is to “love what IS”. To think we are the ultimate decider of everything in our lives is, to my mind, an inappropriate arrogance. None of us are autonomous. We are part of a large system in which all parts interact and affect the others. We are all subject to outside circumstances. We may have decided to enter life in a difficult family, during a long-lasting war, in a land where climate change forces life changes, where a loved-one dies prematurely. Once that first decision is made our freedom is in how we respond to these situations. We can own our own power, but we can’t claim the power of the gods, or Fate itself. It’s helpful to know the difference. Seeing how the interpretive insights of the two major astrological systems overlap and interact adds to one’s ability to see the big picture.
So using both Western and Vedic astrology gives us both history and contemporary views on life and how it works for us. It gives us opportunities to make the most of any situation and allows us to see precisely what energy systems we’re living in. In future articles we’ll cover more specific technique-related examples of how these systems work together.
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Anne Beversdorf is a practicing astrologer in Texas, with clients around the world. In her 26+ years as an astrologer she has read 18,000-20,000 charts. Anne is also the founding librarian for the Alexandria iBase Project’s Astro-Catalog and author of the book Vedic Secrets to Happiness, (available on Amazon) a highly praised book of Vedic astrological remedies reverse-engineered so anyone can figure out what remedies to use. She has recently been awarded the Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Who’s Who in the World, where she’s been listed for 30 years. Anne always welcomes new clients. [email protected]; www.stariel.com
The world–via Pluto
December 8, 2016
Pluto demands change. We’ve had opportunities to change the way things work in the US. We’ve had opportunities to decide whether the oligarchy makes the rules or the people make the rules. We have repeatedly decided in favor of the oligarchy (Citizens United, Sanders losing the democratic primary among other choices). It seems to me we are doing everything we can to topple the old system. Apparently the only way left is to watch all the old rules collapse under vast realms of idiocy to see if anything can be rescued from the falling residue.
Planets Now…
August 12, 2016
Astrological Conditions—The biggest factor in the astrology of Now is the Saturn/Neptune square, with some extra punctuations. Saturn is the Status Quo. Neptune is the idealizer and the dissolver. So on the one hand we have a energy that strives to dissolve the status quo entirely, and on the other energies that idealize the status quo. The extra punctuation comes at the tail end of August. MARS, the actor, anger, aggression. After a long retrograde and an equally long shadow period period this year, Mars finally passes its shadow on August 22. Late that day and on the 23th and 24th it will be at the very same degree of Saturn. This is a recipe for frustration. Saturn means STOP and Mars means GO. Saturn is Authority, and Mars is Anger. We’ll probably see correlated world events around this time.
Oh yes—we do have 3 eclipses coming up soon: 8/18 a Lunar Eclipse at 25 Aquarius. It rattles around several other transiting planets in the mid 20-degrees so if you have chart-points at this degree this will impact your emotional stability. 9/9 a Solar Eclipse at 17 Sagittarius. Mars is close to this degree by transit. If you have chart points at this degree be prepared to allow an ‘eclipse’ of that issue in your life. 9/23 another Lunar Eclipse, this at 0 Cancer. This is a ‘world point’ and will bring world events. Hunger or flooding come to mind.
Please remember that of all the terrible news stories we hear, almost NONE of them will be in your neighborhood or the homes of your families. This is an awfully hot summer—so please do your best to keep cool and calm!
Mercury Retrograde–yes, Again
May 27, 2015
Mercury Retrograde, etc.
If that’s not enough, the Full Moon of June 2nd is also squaring Mercury and Neptune from early Sagittarius. At least the New Moon of June 16 is very LATE Gemini–so it isn’t muddying the water beyond recognition.
I don’t think we’ve seen the ends of floods though. Keep buckets under any leaks and sniff for gas leaks, too. These are Neptune’s doings.
What Makes Astrology Work???
May 27, 2015
But there is a profound truth that connects all forms of “knowingness.” In fact, this truth connects EVERYthing, and this truth is that ALL IS CONNECTED. This is what the word “holism” is ultimately about–and notice the relationship of the word “holism” to “holy.” Truly, All is One, and furthermore, we really CAN see the whole in any of the parts. Physicist Nassim Haramein recently was awarded Best Paper in the International Physics Conference for proving this mathematically. His thesis is that the world is indeed like a hologram, and each fragment of a hologram–or our universe–contains all the information of the whole.
How does this relate to divination? If All is indeed One, and we are all as connected as a Haramein says, close observation of anything in our universe can answer questions about the whole. Tarot can, dowsing can, birds on a wire can, an unmediated mind that is connected to the ALL without personal prejudice can. All these are connected to All That Is and are therefore directly connected to everything that is happening. Obviously, it takes some skill to read this kind of information, but it is available to anyone.
But astrology offers us two huge advantages in this effort to know everything. One is that it has been in use for a long time, with systems that require much knowledge but not necessarily psychic abilities. So one can learn to do this, while psychic abilities are sometimes less easy to learn. The other advantage for astrology is even bigger.
In other divination systems, the patterns of the NOW can tell us about the Now. Anything happening in the NOW reflects on everything else in the NOW. On the other hand, the Sun, Moon and planets have been in our sky for billions of years and will be for the unforeseen future. At each moment, they are part of All That Is, and reflect elements of time. And because of long millenia of observation and the development of ephemerides (tables showing the position of planets on any day in the past, present, or future) we have a view of “now” that can be seen for any time. With skill, an astrologer can see outlines of patterns that existed in the past or that will exist in the future.
Furthermore, becoming aware of All That Is, reflected in the positions of the planets of the past, present, and future, seems to aid astrologers in their ability to psychically blend into the patterns they see. I believe it’s a slight lifting of the veils that keep us thinking we live alone, isolated in a material world without connection or ensoulment. In fact, we are all part of the Soul of All That Is.
Old spiritual tales tell us that God, in her infinity, recognized her aloneness and wanted others to learn from and to share in the majesty of creation. So she sent out droplets of her soul into the universe that became human beings, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, planets, solar systems… and each of these souls has experiences that enlarge God’s knowledge of creation. We all have a part in this, and we are all a participant in this. By seeing our holism, our holy connection to everything, our view expands.
To me, the tools of astrology have taught me that I am a part of ALL, and that all my clients are expressions of God. It has taught me to better read the conditions of the holy holism that I live in. And astrology has taught me to see that whatever the temporary conditions of the “now”, the conditions of the whole are no less than the soul of God, and therefore loving, kind, and good.
Seasons of Change
March 23, 2015
A 
friend called me this morning, looking for how to answer a friend’s question that “western astrology can’t work because of the precession of the equinoxes”. I got the giggles.
[The rest of this is in three sections. Part 1 is the technical stuff. Part 2 is the MEANING, which is (always) more important to me. Part 3 is the “how I’m dealing with it” part.]
Part 1 Yes, the difference between western (tropical) astrology and Indian (sidereal) astrology is that sidereal astrology is completely based on the positions of the stars. And tropical astrology isn’t. But tropical astrology is completely based on the positions of the equinoxes and solstices. So every spring equinox (when you can balance a raw egg on its point!) will always be Zero Aries in tropical astrology. Both of these systems are based on something physical, which has some kind of meaning to the mechanically minded, though the mechanically minded will not see how the physical leads to non-physical kinds of meaning. If we look again at the two systems, tropical and sidereal, we see that the sidereal system also lacks sky-map precision.
Astrology uses 12 constellations to create the 12 astrological signs. Each “sign” is 30 degrees of arc. But the constellations are NOT all 30 degrees of arc! Pisces is HUGE and overlaps with Aquarius a lot–which is why we are, IMO, right now, at the very end of the age of Pisces AND at the beginning of the age of Aquarius. Aries is a tiny little squirt. It happened before Pisces and Pisces overlapped part of Aries, too. So in neither system is astrology an exact sky-map representation of the sky. All the constellations are different sizes and shapes, and both systems of astrology simply say each sign is 30 degrees. Somehow this works. Not even astrologers can tell you why — if you’re asking from the physical level of reality.
Part 2 The reason it works…. Have you ever tried to discuss the esoteric meaning of your dreams with a surgeon? (My apologies to surgeons–I actually know one with whom that would be a natural discussion, but you get my drift here, I think.) Surgeons deal with the most physical parts of the physical world. Dreams come from somewhere else. The problem is that most people’s thinking has NOT caught up with science, which says that Physical Matter is only FIVE PERCENT of the universe. Many advanced physicists (and meditators, and others) say that each of us is a fragment of SOURCE, which is an unbreakable singularity. When something is entirely single, ALL OF EVERYTHING is a part of it. So SOURCE, of which we are a fragment, contains ALL of EACH of us, including the 95% that is NOT physical. In SOURCE, we are not separated from each other, we are not separated from the stars, we are not separated from ALL of GOD Itself.
It seems to me that astrology, which reaches way beyond the physical understanding of our own physical world–our own bones and sinews, our own plot of dirt on the ground–is a way of expanding our understanding of SELF (and physical world) that stretches us beyond our limited physical senses.
Funny thing here–we sometimes talk about “defining moments” or “defining experiences” in our lives. THE defining moment–the one with the greatest importance and defining power of all, is our birth into the physical world. So it makes all the sense in the physical world, as we reach for meaning beyond the physical, to use the omens and meanings of that moment to understand our Being in this physical world.
Part 3 So now I’m living in a world in which I know my physical body is only a tiny fragment of my larger self. I’m trying to reach out to my non-physical SOURCE self for an understanding of what’s going on in my life–cause things ARE going on. My birthchart is being powerfully impacted by Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. And all of these planets can be associated with Death. (Pluto, almost always makes us aware of death issues, but almost never does Pluto actually kill a person–though it may make you WISH it would! Pluto tends to kill identity, which feels like dying anyway.)
In the past 2+ months I’ve had email problems (server LOST days of email without ever sending them to me!), computer problems (my old one died and the new one took 2 months of tech support to work correctly) and recently I discovered my phone was telling everyone I wasn’t accepting calls (that’s fixed now, so please call). All of these things have tremendously affected my business–which is 100% astrological counseling. If people can’t reach me by phone or email, how on earth am I to counsel them?? So I’ve been experiencing a sense of death, closure, ending. I am VERY invested in astrological counseling. I love what I do. And from the present aspects to my chart and the results, it’s entirely possible that I love it too much. It has become my identity.
So I am in the odd position of trying to invite in the 95% of myself that does NOT exist on the physical to help me identify ways to exist in the physical world. Really an oddball balance. It’s really very hard to balance oneself physically while opening to something else entirely. But as a wise woman recently pointed out to me, not only is all the physical world really just vibration–energy, not matter, but a very slow vibration that appears solid to us… not only is that true, but the non-physical part is what creates the vibratory rates. And as we reach out to access the SOURCE-MIND, of which our own minds are a part, we can allow the creative to bring anything we want into this world.
I’ve never been into “The Secret”-like collages of wishes and dreams because I always suspect that my wishes and dreams are created by my limited 5% imagination. I am open to BIG energy shifts, of whatever GOOD type. (And all is good, but still I prefer that it feel good to me, and my astrological experience tells me that not resisting change is the best guarantee of good results.)
So I am opening my arms wide–welcoming all my beloved clients and knowing that even more wonder and joy is available if I don’t try to define it before knowing what’s available. A big YES to everything.
Responses to March Experiences
March 15, 2015
This month is hitting a lot of triggers for people. First–thanks to those of you who sent the NASA newsletter about a big Solar Flare hitting us the 11th-12th and knocking out a few global computer systems. Just inconvenience, but a direct predictive hit.
Some folks were freaked about the earth-related predictions I made. I wasn’t freaked when I wrote that–earthquakes happen all over the world all the time, as do volcanoes and other events–even huge fires. And BIG ones happen fairly regularly. I didn’t intend to suggest that the event would be so big the whole globe would experience it, but I think we’ve still got something coming that we’ll all be aware of and, therefore, feeling.
The BIG theme for this month is the feeling of death. Whenever feelings of death start overwhelming people, they tend to become frightened, and tend to want to shut down those feelings. But we’re dealing with Pluto here. Pluto is about symbolic death and rebirth, and if we resist Pluto’s “death” we are resisting the rebirth, and that’s when Pluto moves from symbolism to real things. It’s VERY important to acknowledge the feeling of death. Pluto demands that some part of our identity die. It’s saying something we identify with very strongly is actually holding us back, but to let that go we have to drop some part of our personal sense of self, too–and that’s the thing that’s hard to do.
Another thing that can make letting go of what’s ready to go more difficult is we don’t always know what’s going to replace it. We don’t know what’s coming. Sometimes, in fact, we don’t know for sure what it is we are being asked to release.
The only process I’ve found to work for this goes as follows:
1. Allow feelings of death and/or loss to overwhelm you for a while–a few minute maybe, or an hour. Whenever they come up, allow them to move through you, watching the feelings, looking for clues, and telling yourself that this is OK, it’s part of processing deep change. (It is NOT about aging, or your own imminent death or the death of loved ones unless this is an obvious ongoing part of your life at this time.)
2. Use a mental mantra or prayer that goes something like this: “I am willing to let go of whatever must be released. I surrender my will to a higher will to guide me through this shift. I open myself to new delights to replace old patterns.”
And repeat. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. That’s it!
Visions of Light: MY March Experiences
March 10, 2015
The February Merc Rx broke my computer and my multiply-handicapped brother broke his shoulder in an icy fall, requiring surgery during the Retrograde. I ended up in Indianapolis for the coldest week of the year, all of which made it hard for clients to reach me. He needed the help, and all ended up OK there. THIS month, my wonderful sister will be here for a week from New York. I AM looking forward to that.
Pluto DOES threaten one’s identity, but that’s not the only thing going on. Saturn is my chart ruler, and my natal Saturn is being exactly opposed by Neptune right now–the classic “WHO AM I” question. Neptune is also opposing my Mercury, meaning intuition is working better than nuts-and-bolts language at the moment. [A former client and professional accupuncturist has just moved back into town, and since we’re both low on clients at the moment, we’re exchanging work. He’s a Pisces and his skills perfectly address the Neptune in Pisces opposite Saturn in Virgo story. Jampa Stewart–call me if you need him!]
In addition, Saturn in the Sky is on my Midheaven, approaching a square to my natal Saturn: Get your career in gear is what it’s saying, but Neptune opposite my Saturn is saying “Huh???” The square suggests it isn’t something NORmal that I’m looking for. Perhaps a higher faculty of intuition used in my analytical readings?
So I sat in bed worrying, really feeling the fear, grief, loss, and a sense of emptiness that I couldn’t explain or understand. Then I thought, if there’s an empty space, what can fill it??? And that’s when I caught this vision of myself. Sequins and beads glittering over an intensely golden tunic, worn over a long, white skirt, and my hands met at my center in the center of this blinding light. I thought I was carrying the light, but then realized it was coming from within me. So I mentally reached into my chest cavity and ripped open my ribcage (Uranus/Mars/Pluto) and the light got brighter and brighter and felt profoundly fulfilling. I realized that whatever is changing now, something empty is leaving and something inspiring is coming. I wish I knew the details, but the message from Pluto is always “surrender the ego needs and walk into the light”. So there we have it for the time being. If and when it becomes clearer I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, I’m VERY open for business!
March 2015: BIG ASTRO MONTH!
March 9, 2015
This month is different though. We get Mars, and the Sun and Moon in a lunar eclipse all involved in this last exact aspect, and that makes all the difference. I’m predicting earth events–earthquakes, volcanoes, explosions even, or even an earth-damaging solar flare. Why? Mars, in Vedic astrology, rules land. Mars and Uranus together are always accident/explosion/event related, and this time they’re exactly conjunct, in fire-sign Aries on March 11th–though again, the confluence of all these events within 9 days means that from today forth, March is “all bets are off”.
Mars has NO patience and Uranus is generally pretty hot to trot itself. Now add a square from the power-death-rebirth planet, Pluto, and we’ve got life-and- death changes to land, of an explosive or fiery nature. And on the 20th, a Solar eclipse at 29 Pisces brings the martyr/sacrifice energy in. This is followed by a Lunar Eclipse on April 4th at 14 Libra, which echoes the Mars/Uranus/Pluto square that just (almost) ended. This combo suggests danger to a female world leader, and the Sun’s involvement, also in a fire sign, raises the concern of increasing Solar Flares.
If you’re an ordinary person, this is a month for high caution. Accidents will be ready to happen–so don’t clean the gutters or climb tall trees. Don’t rewire sockets without turning off the power (Uranus rules electricity and technology). If you have planets at 14-16 Cardinal (Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn), you are already feeling the pressure here. I surely am!
The key to survival is releasing resistance. And the next article will outline my own process these last weeks…
Merc RX survival and more
March 9, 2015
AAAARGH!!!! This has been one of the craziest Mercury Retrograde periods EVER! I’m FINALLY functioning again–computer blew up JUST before the retrograde, forcing me to purchase a new computer the day before, with a stationary Mercury squaring my 6th house Pluto (work issues!) What can you do?? Well, in my case, WAIT would have been the right answer. I ended up finding a great computer tech guy in Austin, which I needed, and who got me out of total disaster, but I still have bunches of weird problems. I hope I can get them solidly fixed.
Then, still RX, my multiply-handicapped brother (autism, blindness, hearing loss) slipped on ice and severely broke his right arm. Bad enough that he needed shoulder surgery, so I ended up in Indiana for what I thought was a a few days but ended up being over a week, because of his onset of a severe gastric distress. ‘Nuf said. It sounds so heroic to do this, but I must confess I was reluctant and grumpy for a while. Not grumpy to Brother tho. Glad to be back home with my sweet pup now, and thanks SO much to Chuck and Karen who cared for him despite CHUCK’s mulltiple shoulder surgeries while I was gone. WHEW!!!
And the computer?? Well, I’m still stumbling into problems almost daily. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
Timing Events with Vedic Astrology, part 2
December 1, 2014
Astrology Tips:
Vedic Astrology Prediction (Part 2)
Continuing this series of tips for timing events in Vedic astrology, this time we’ll focus on a wonderful technique taught by Sri K.N. Rao. Sri Rao is perhaps the greatest Vedic astrologer alive and I’m honored to have attended several of his seminars.This technique is what Raoji calls “the simultaneous aspects of Saturn and Jupiter”. That is to say, to see when an event will take place, you must first identify what house is associated with that event (e.g. marriage is 7th house), and what Varga (divisional chart) is associated with that event (e.g. marriage is seen in the Navamsa Varga). Let’s use marriage as an example, (though we could use career opportunities–10th house and dasamsa, events related to children (5th house, Saptamsa Varga), sale of a home (4th house, Chatursamsa Varga IMO), etc.
To see when a person might marry, and after checking dasa periods, look at the seventh house in the Rasi and Navamsa, and find the location of the ruler of that house in each chart. Now look at an ephemeris of transitting planets. Find a time when Saturn aspects EITHER the 7th house or the planet ruling the 7th house. Then find a time when Jupiter aspects the 7th house or the 7th ruler. If you find a time when both happen at the same time you’ve pinpointed the date with a relatively high certainty. Do the same in the navamsa, and if the dates overlap you’ve got a pretty sure bet.
If you apply this pattern to the chart using Surya Lagna (sun sign house as ascendant) or Chandra Lagna (moon sign house as ascendant) in both Rasi and Navamsa and tally up how many times you get a repeat of the double transit pattern. Count them up–if the majority show a double-aspect at the same time you’ve got more confirmation. The more confirmation (the higher the majority) the more certainty in this predictive date.
There’s extra wiggle room in this formula when we look at retrograde aspects. We’ll look at this next time.
Astro-Guide to Gift-Selection
December 1, 2014
Astrologer’s Guide to Gift Selection
The very best way to figure out what gift someone will like is to base it on their Venus sign. Venus represents what we value and what we love. 
If you need help determining the Venus sign of friends and relatives, contact me here by email. The first 5 request will be free (3 names each). Later requests will be $10 for 3 lookups, which we can handle by credit card, paypal, or the DONATE button on my website in the newsletter.
Venus in Gemini loves variety, ideas, and social encounters. Encyclopedias of trivia–especially about one of their favorite topics; teaching an older Gemini how to use Facebook; a bunch of mystery novels; a new smart-phone or a music/radio/mp3 device; or a grab-bag of many small and clever items will thrill a Gemini person. You could also throw in a day-trip to a great dinner theatre.
Venus in Cancer loves to snuggle. These are sentimental people who will respond to a snuggly couch-blanket, a hot chocolate kit and, if you’re intimate, a “coupon” for a gentle personal massage. Many Cancers like cookbooks, comfy items for the home (a sofa pillow with a sentimental message), and a gathering of the clan.
Venus in Leo loves drama–but mainly if they’re the star of it, so contrive to let them show off. They want to be seen with someone dressed to the nines, and a flashy-but-classy item of clothing for them is not out of place. Tickets to the ball of the season, a must-see concert, or a noticeable piece of jewelry, all delivered with heaps of praise will go over well. If you really want to win their heart, ask them to tell a favorite story in front of the crowd.
Venus in Virgo loves detail. A collection of interesting boxes, small to large; a grab-bag of clever and varied office supplies (Virgo Venus always loves office supply stores), a library card if they don’t have one, boxes of beautiful note cards, a gift certificate to a bookstore that also sells cards or reading accessories will make Virgo Venus feel loved and appreciated. (Click here for more.)
Venus in Libra loves beauty, grace. and harmony. Beautiful silk scarves or neckties; dinner in an elegantly appointed restaurant, tickets to an event in a beautifully designed venue, books on design and style, or on graceful manners. Whatever the gift, wrap it with style. Presentation is everything. A gift certificate should be in an elegant envelope with a bow tied around it (no stick-on bows, please). Whatever you give in a beautiful package will be that much more appreciated. .
Venus in Scorpio is sometimes tricky, as they keep their preferences secret. In fact, a book or movie of “secrets”, or material on the occult or conspiracy theories might appeal. They’ll like detective stories, experiences that may be frightening but offer transcendence (scary movies with a redeeming point to make), stories of true experiences of the paranormal or supernatural; transpersonal “depth” psychology. Touch Venus in Scorpios in a deep way, guide them to face and overcome fears, and you’ll have a friend for life.
November 2014 Stariel Newsletter
November 6, 2014
| Subject: | November ’14 Stariel News |
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I’ve been using this app for myself and others for about four months now, and continue to be impressed (and to hear rave reviews from others) on its effectiveness. If you’re dealing with hard-to-treat health issues or are involved in alternative healing modalities, I urge you to try the 15 day free trial of this app, Quantum Infinity. I can knock out a backache in 20 minutes and have found asthma relief, lethargy relief, and general healing from an unexpected cascade of reactions to supposedly simple standard practices of western medical treatment (appendectomy and blood pressure meds). 
OK, bottom line here: If you really “get” archetypes, you can read the mind of the universe. This lecture will trace the path that brought me to this realization, and will offer you practical ways to use these patterns to understand and improve your life.
s is now the sixth year of Stariel Newsletters. ‘Til now, finding back issues was pretty hard. Not anymore. Some website housekeeping has put ALL back issues together, easily available at my main web page,
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Prediction Techniques of Vedic Astrology, Part One
October 15, 2014
A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a friend who is a longtime student of Vedic Astrology. He made an interesting observation which basically outlines the basic practical difference between Vedic and Western astrology. He said he’d been failing miserably during years of trying to predict events in his life, and guessed he was relying too much on the effects of transiting planets. He was right. Here’s my short lecture on the process of quick predicing with Vedic astrology, based on my understanding of the teachings of K.N. Rao. First, depend on the dasa system. If you have an accurate birth time, the dasa system, which assigns each portion of your life to the guardianship of a particular planet in your chart, is the first place to go for long and short-term predictions. These time periods are based on the specific position of your moon at birth, and each planet governs a period of time ranging from six to twenty years. Each period is divided into subperiods, and each sub-period is divided into more subperiods.
Astroweather 4/15/14
April 15, 2014
Astroweather: We’re In It Now, Folks!
For astrological details, check out the newsletter archives for the previous issue. Right now, I’m gonna focus on what it feels like. And remind you that all this energy is only HEIGHTENED by the eclipse cycle we’re in this month and this year. BIG BIG stuff. This doesn’t happen every century. Believe me. We’re at the beginning of new-world-creation. OK, that’s the good news. The middle section below is tough stuff, and the end is good news again, so stick around.
The specific energies can be compared to a traffic problem, wherein we’ve got a 4-way intersection with no signage. Barreling toward this intersection are four huge vehicles: two semi- trailers and two giant touring buses. One semi is full of dangerous contraband. Another has potentially explosive high tech stuff. One touring bus is full of professors and students on a field trip. The other carries rock and roll bands.
If you have a planet near 13-14 degrees Cardinal (Aries/Libra, Cancer/Capricorn), you are standing in the center of the intersection. The closer you are to those degrees, the closer you are to the intersection. The rest of us are standing around watching. Tensions are high, and anyone trying to fight these energies will NOT win. YOU try stopping this collision by holding out your hand if you want to. It won’t be pretty.
What can you do? First, if you’re standing nearby, get out of the crash zone. Flying debris can disable even the most detached bystander. If you are experiencing very high tension, anxiety, self-righteous frustration or anger, the seemingly irrepressible urge to FIGHT an unfair situation, BACK OFF NOW. St. Francis’ serenity prayer is the key to this, and the point of the point is in recognizing where you do NOT have the power and cede it to those who do.
This is Not what westerners like to do. We believe we CAN and MUST right every wrong. That’s just flat-out unrealistic. There are higher powers at work, and we must surrender. If that’s not possible, please recognize that you are entering the territory of martyrdom, which is a valid choice, but I’d rather you know you’re making it.
In the world today, just a few examples of who’s standing in the intersection includes the United States (the SUN, our identity and leadership); Vladimir Putin (HIS SUN–identity, leadership and career ruler), the Ukraine republic (her Neptune–ideals) and… Angela Merckel (her Jupiter–beliefs, optimism, and South Node–her comfort zone). I’m sure there are many more players involved.
Furthermore, the series of four TOTAL lunar eclipses over this year and next are hard on “the public” (Solar eclipses tend to remove heads of state or, in modern terms, heads of large international companies. Lunar eclipses cause difficulties for the public at large, or rank-and-file employees.) The lunar eclipse of April 15 is total over the USA.
Historically, these patterns bring great confusion and upheaval at the time, followed several years later by serious reforms. I have been concerned about this cycle because I have two planets, Mars and Neptune, involved in the cardinal cross. What I’ve experienced so far is a series of intense breakthroughs that appear to be dissolving dysfunctional emotional patterns dating to WAY before this lifetime. And a nice financial breakthrough when the hospital ‘forgave’ 93% of a humongous medical bill from an appendectomy last year. Believe me, I’ve been working on this “surrender” thing.
The key to benefits during this time is to allow the egg to crack open. There’s a whole new life inside!
Astrology, Archetypes and the Soul of the Cosmos
April 13, 2014
Lecture at the Astrological Society of Austin, March, 2012
Astrology, Archetypes and the Soul of the Cosmos [ 1:15:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (580)Sri-Yantra and Uranus-Pluto Astro-Weather
June 24, 2013
There’s no question at this point that the world is in a process of change. Whether we’re talking about droughts, floods and epic storms, or the increasing distance between government and the people, or the over-reaching powers of corporations who seem to be buying laws that benefit them and squelching laws that help individual citizens, we can see that things are out of balance. More than that, they’re in the process of change.
In most periods of personal change, our nostalgic desire is things to “go back” to how they used to be. However, I’ve never seen this wish fulfilled. As the patterns in the world around us change, our wish for things to “go back to how they were” is a dim hope, indeed. What we need to recognize is that change is a process of growth and evolution, and can only move us forward. Birth is a messy and painful process, but each one of us must experience it.
a. Mutating Sri-Yantra
We’ve got some help this year. Between July 20 and 30th, we will experience the development of an extremely rare Star-of-David, or Sri Yantra, pattern in the sky. This means that one planet will be at each point of a six-pointed star pattern. On the 24th, all but one of these planets are “traditional” planets, meaning planets from Saturn inward. The only “modern planet” filling one of the points is Pluto, and therein lies a tale. The ancient planets, bound by the physical world materiality of Saturn, delineates events in the physical world of things and action, and not just in our perception of things. But Pluto in Capricorn (still squaring Uranus) speaks to a profound death/rebirth process on the perceptual level. This is about our personal responses to the perception of dramatic change..
On a global basis, I don’t expect this to produce a singular breakthrough of any kind. My teacher used to remind me that the world as a whole cannot advance to a level higher than reached by the vast majority of its citizens. But what we DO get at this time is an opportunity for enlightened action on an individual level. Enlightened because of the balancing effect of the two entwined triangles, and action because the traditional planets have to the world under the limits of Saturn: physical, material, bricks-and-mortar reality. This action is likely to be impelled by one’s awareness of potentially catastrophic change. If you have planets near 3-10 degrees of water and earth signs (representing our ability to RESPOND to situations) you will be profoundly assisted by this pattern.
b. Uranus Pluto squares.
November of this year will deliver the 4th and 5th of the seven exact Uranus/Pluto squares that occur between 2012 and 2015. This year is the turning point, and I do expect some large system failures at this point. This is a good thing. To the extent that we anticipate changes and prepare for them we are easing the birth of the new, which is caused by the destruction of the outmoded. Pluto challenges us to the exact degree that we hold on to outgrown concepts. Start now to examine what is no longer working, both in your personal world and in the world around you. What alternatives can you introduce? How can you prepare for the better future? We’ll talk more about this in the months ahead!
What’s in a Chart?
June 23, 2013
Years ago, I’d occasionally find myself in a position where someone would push a chart into my hands and ask “What do you see?” … Well, I’d be flummoxed. I’d see squiggles and lines and hopes and expectations on the person’s face–and go totally blank. It all looked like gobbledygook to me. It took me years –and a similar confession of the same reaction from astrologer Rick Levine who’s a personal hero of mine, to realize WHY this was true.
Why?? Because a chart doesn’t TELL us anything. Nothing at all. First of all, there’s no way to “see” if the chart is a human being, a dog, a building, or a chicken. Given that level of ignorance it almost goes without saying that we can’t detect the “soul level” of the being represented by the chart. The chart doesn’t “tell us” ANYTHING! We have to ASK.
A chart might be simply a moment in time. Every moment in time has an astrological signature. The issue is that no chart has MEANING without CONTEXT. That’s where the intimate and intricate dance between astrologer and client begins–in creating the context.
Along the way, I also discovered that “gift-readings” were often sadly empty, offering little to the gifted client but the satisfaction (or not) of mild curiosity. What is the CONTEXT? What is the issue to explore? Like you, most likely, I’ve wondered why there’s such a difference between the readings of different astrologers. I mean beyond the issue of skill and competence in the astrological language.
After pondering these questions for a long time I finally realized the explanation to all these issues was the same. The astrological chart tells us nothing until we engage with it by asking QUESTIONS. Without the question, there’s not an answer.
Astrologers, by nature, are fascinated by the variety of ways people meet their lives. As a result, each astrologer has areas of curiosity that become implicit questions. When I read a chart, I’m curious about the psycho-spiritual growth and development of the person, what prompted their growth, how they’ve handled crises in the past, what innate resources they may be under-utilizing in dealing with the present. I’m also curious about timing when challenges arise and detecting the best way to meet those challenges for peace and personal growth.
I remember going to the “vacation home” of a referral client. Located in one of the most exclusive spa resorts in the country this person clearly had a lot of money if this was her fourth home. I correctly identified that she married and divorced within six months when she was “barely legal”. I assumed this kind of issue would create an internal crisis that would precipitate a growing period. She looked at me blankly. I could see great generosity flowing to her from people who could be seen as teachers or spiritual mentors. She agreed that generosity came to her from a man who married her, at her father’s request, solely to provide her with money, but blanked out on learning from him. I went through her chart crossing out all my assumptions as she showed them to be faulty. I was looking for what gave meaning and purpose for her life and it turned out she wasn’t looking for meaning or purpose! With what was left, and without any sense of irony, I finally said. “It looks like you’re here on earth to enjoy life, go to parties (yes, that was there), and have a good time!” Her face lit up! “That’s it exactly!,” she beamed.
It’s also hard to read charts for ourselves or for people we’re close–because we don’t ask the right questions. We think we know the person and fail to ask the obvious questions. When we’re in love we don’t ask “will my instinctive way of approaching new situations clash with his?” (hard aspects between Moons or Ascendants will trump whatever sweet conjunctions may be there) or “Will what I don’t know about this person hurt me? (Do any of their planets fall in your 12th house? How do those planets aspect your chart points?)
As I think about Questions, I realize that asking the right question is an art. My sister can meet a person and instantly ask a dozen questions that bring that person into a stimulating conversation. When looking at life itself, we all ask different questions, and the questions we ask of life are important. We get answers that relate to our questions. We don’t get answers that don’t relate to our questions. I have a friend who always asks “Can I do more” in any situation. It didn’t surprise me that she hit a wall of life-changing exhaustion. I remember my mother’s implied question when I was a toddler: “What amazing thing is this child going to do next?” I thank her for this. My life is a lot more interesting that it might have been had my mother asked “What trouble is this kid getting into now?” A doctor who asks the right questions will make better diagnoses. A teacher who asks the right questions can stimulate learning. What questions do you ask of life?
As a practicing astrologer, not only do I bring my questions to a chart… I also look for questions my client brings to me–which finally gave me the answer to those who hand me a chart and expect me to say something. Now I take a guess at a question. Maybe it’s “Surprise me!” “Tell me something about me that I haven’t thought of.” Or, if I notice their planets involved with slow-moving transits “Why is my life going crazy at this moment?–and how long will it last?”
2013 in the Stars: Part 1
May 10, 2013
Well, first there was that week in February... when a meteor exploded over Russia (and hit ground, too), and a comet (or asteroid, depending on the report) passed INSIDE the orbit of the the Moon, and the Pope resigned on the same day that lightning struck St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican…. Those were symbolically huge events and in other years might have stood out as highlights, but so much more has happened this year that they recede into the background. My pre-2013 notes were unclear. Words for early February included changes of power and authority figures, long time associations, and big-money and power plays. Then Mercury went retrograde on February 23rd, which combined with the Pisces energy of February and March made much of the next month’s news illusory at best.
In March North Korea scared much of the world by declaring that the truce with South Korea (and the USA) from the 1950’s Korean War is now over, and they’re getting ready to launch nuclear weapons at the US. Remember that the tropical zodiac had a huge stellium (clustering) of planets in Pisces–typically connected with illusions, delusions and lies. Sidereally this cluster was in Aquarius, indicating North Korea’s status as a rebel against the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the warning was delivered and received. Pisces is also related to contagion, and China brought us news of the first deaths from a new avian flu, along with the bizarre news of 12,000 dead pigs found in Shanghai’s water supply, the Huangpu River; and 1000 dead ducks in Sichuan’s Nanhe River.
Also in March, the Vatican selected a new pope: Pope Francis is the first Jesuit and the first Pope from the Americas. Though he is conservative on much church doctrine, his care for ordinary people is unprecedented. In my notes for 2013, I marked March 17 as a day with world healing energy. Turns out this was the day Pope Francis made his first speech as pope.
Mid March, Mercury went direct (the 17th) and we not only had a clustering of planets, but the Sun and Mars were in a very long dance together, with the entire bundle moving, at month’s end, into abrupt, aggressive Aries and building into conjunction with explosive Uranus and a square to death-related Pluto.
Which brings us to April: For the week of the 15th my notes said “Rage, danger; surprises, shocks.” The Boston Marathon bombings, the fertilizer factor explosion that devastated the town of West, Texas near Waco, and the ricin letters sent to politicians all took place in that week. The culprit was the Sun with Mars and Uranus, squaring Pluto–along with a bundle of other planets in impatient and angry Aries. Uranus and Mars are a formula for explosions, and putting them both in Aries just makes it all bigger. The twice-yearly “eclipse season” also began in late April, with a Lunar eclipse in early Scorpio on the 23rd. Fairly close to Saturn, this tamped down subterranean anger which we may yet see explode on the larger scene.
I’d thought the Solar Eclipse of May 9 would give us another eruption of anger. Taking place in mid Taurus, the Moon’s exaltation here may have softened the blow, but my notes bring more shocks thru the 13th and a strong likelihood of major flooding between the 14th and the end of June. There’s cause for optimism around the 27th of May… and I’ll round out the year in the next newsletter.
BTW, Kudos go to Naomi Bennet, astrologer from Austin, who predicted amazingly high stock market numbers for this spring. Indeed, the Dow Jones has reached and is holding its highest numbers EVER right now.
September 2012 Newsletter
September 13, 2012
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