What’s New – and What’s Coming – in TMA

Our Dec. 2008/Jan. 2009 (21st anniversary) issue is at the printers now, and it is due to be mailed out to all subscribers in early November. It is packed with useful information, as usual, and I’m always amazed to witness how much care goes into each and every issue. This is what has sustained the magazine’s success all these years, the care and attention to detail — from the writers and editors on down to our friends at Ripon Community Printers in Wisconsin, who have printed every issue of TMA since 1993. In the cover feature of this issue, “The Wild Ride of 2009,” Adrian Ross Duncan looks ahead to geopolitical and economic trends that will likely reflect the planetary configurations of the year ahead. I hope our readers will post their comments about the new issue on this blog.

We are now turning our attention to the Feb./March 2009 issue, which will focus on the lunar nodes in depth, with excellent articles from Brian Clark, Kathy Allan, and Linda Johnsen. Just last Friday, I interviewed veteran astrologer Bill Herbst for this issue, and he gave his views on Obama, the Cardinal Climax of 2009–2014, Pluto in Capricorn, and the transformative forces now facing humanity. Brad Kochunas, Roy Gillett, Hank Friedman, Fern Feto Spring, and Liz Kirkham are also contributors, as well as Student Section regulars Dana Gerhardt and Donna Cunningham.

We haven’t heard much from writers about the new planet Eris recently, but the last Full Moon in Aries was conjunct the current position of Eris, and it sure has been a chaotic month, especially for the economy. I wonder whether Eris will gain traction and be included more and more by practicing astrologers, or whether it will fade over time. (Tell us, should we include Eris in TMA’s chart wheel displays?) We have published a few articles on Eris in the last two years, primarily in the April/May 2007 issue — which reminds me, we’re going to have a big Back Issue sale starting right after the first of the year. Details will be posted on this site as well as in the printed magazine. We have copies of about 45 Back Issues available, from 2000 through 2008.

It has been a sad time at the office lately. All of us here have worked closely together for the past ten years, and during the last 14 months, our Art Director, Tara Sanders, has been on medical leave fighting a serious illness. We have enjoyed her beautiful cover designs and illustrations in TMA over the years. She is a very special soul. Will you join us now in praying for her healing?

I want to thank all of you for what you have contributed to the magazine, whether as subscriber, faithful reader, writer, advertiser, or just someone surfing the Web and spreading the word about us. It all helps, and we appreciate it!
— Tem

Monday morning notes

I’d like to share a few points made last week at our local NCGR panel on the elections. Obviously this election year has been a great year for astrologers shall we say, as the planets are speaking so starkly. (I especially mean in terms of the overall zietgist of the times, predicting the winner is another matter.) Each speaker focused on one of the key players charts (i.e., Obama, McCain, Biden and Palin) and we all had far more to say than time to say it. We also looked at the election day and inaugural 2009 charts.

Talking about Ms Palin, I was struck by the prominence of Neptune. Now that we have correct (?) birth times for Palin and McCain I see that her progressed Ascendant is conjunct his natal Venus, which is also on the natal US (Sibly) Neptune in the 9th house. The US chart has Mars square Neptune – along with other symbolism (e.g., a tendency to be aggressive (Mars in the 7th), towards an ill-defined (Neptune) enemy,  the 9th house signifies the media and the square from Mars suggests a powerful/effective tendency for the media to be used as an instrument to distort. Also, the solar eclipse previous to the election was on August 1 at 9 Leo. This was conjunct the Ascendant in Washington, D.C. and had Venus (24 Leo)  opposite Neptune (23 Aquarius). As a simple translation: a media savvy, telegenic woman is part of the theme. (Money matters also loom large, but that’s another story.)

Sarah Palin is, in part, a media/Neptune phenomena – consider, for instance, that she has given no press conferences, yet has appeared on Saturday Night Live, along with Tina Fey, who has been a media sensation herself with her spot-on imitation of Palin. Think of some of Neptune’s qualities in this regards- chameleons, shape-shifters, glamour, actresses, artifice, seduction.

I also noticed that the first exact Saturn/Uranus opposition on November 4 is exactly angular in Washington, D.C. Saturn is conjunct the MC and Uranus at the nadir – very powerful picture of the great importance of this opposition in the US.

I’ll post the relevant charts as soon as I can. At the moment, I’ve  got a minor household emergency to attend to: my hot water heater blew last night, due apparently to pressure build-up. (A householder’s responsibility I was heretofore unaware of.) In any event, pretty good picture of transiting Uranus in my natal 4th house opposite transiting Saturn in the 10th – i.e., I’ve got to get the blog written, I’m late…

Cheers! Be back soon…

 

Chiron with the North Node

Chiron, the celestial representative of the maverick and the wise and wounded centaur, will station direct on October 25 at 21°09′ Aquarius, conjunct the North Node. The two bodies (along with Neptune) have been close all year and were also conjunct at Chiron’s retrograde station in May. Astrologer Terry Lamb has been writing about this combination for awhile. Her new political blog post McCain Rubs Salt in the Great American Wound brings us up to date with the possibilities of a great healing inherent in this combination. Enjoy!

Financial News for the Brave

Most of us are galvanized by the graphs and commentary on financial markets (Look, it’s world-wide now!) that is dominating the collective news. It seems essential to turn off the media long enough to keep our balance and sanity with whatever it is that deeply restores our own eco-system. When ready for another look, here’s a link to great collection gathered by mundane astrologer and blogger David Crook on stellar insights 108. You’ll find Ray Merriman’s take on the week in the markets, as well as classic articles by Bill Meridian on the Federal Reserve and the History of Stock Market Astrology. Thanks, David.

TMA readers, please enjoy (?) the blog, post a comment if you like, and then maybe get out for some fresh air or dinner with a good friend..we’re all in this together!

Tension Building?

Almost everyone I talk to these past days – friends, family, colleagues, clients – is getting familiar with some version of anxiety.

Even here, in relatively quiet southern Oregon, the tension symbolized by the ever-closer (exact on November 4) opposition of Saturn and Uranus is keeping many awake at night.

Saturn, the lord of time and constraint is being confronted directly by his mythological enemy, Uranus, lord of chaos and excitement. They represent starkly contrasting archetypes – the old and the new; stability and upheaval; status quo and an urgent or shocking call for change.

It’s enough to make me long for the good old days (i.e., 2005 and 2006) when Saturn was opposite Neptune in the sky. Then, the keeper of time and tester of limits was facing a nebulous opponent; things were harder to define and impossible to see clearly. At best, Neptune invites working with art, music, meditation and essentially relaxing into a boundary-less state of surrender. That may have been easier to do then; now Uranus’s impulse to dare and awaken is engaging with Saturn and the feeling in the air is quite different.

The god of the heavens and night sky, Uranus is seen as the function that opens the mind to a vaster, bigger picture of what is possible. Saturn’s inclination is to resist change and, at worst, to cling to what has always worked in the past.

It’s not too hard to see Saturn and Uranus in a big conflict out there in our world now. Considering the acute drama and increasing bitterness in the US election; the incomprehensible “shock and awe” moves on the financial stage; the anxiousness around loss of freedom (and money!); the tendency to experience society as divided between rapid reformers and amoral libertines; the “endless” wars and so on, it’s no wonder we’re having some sleepless nights.

If we consider things psychologically, however, the planets provide guidance to our personal lives. An opposition offers – or, more rightly in this case, demands – the chance to become aware within ourselves of inherent tensions. Tension between our own past and future; between what we most deeply fear and where our greatest and boldest ideas lie; between what know about ourselves and what we can only imagine. The opposition invites acceptance of factors and forces that seem diametrically opposed – the chance to come to terms with internal paradoxes that are easier to see outside of ourselves – all those other guys out there are the ones acting badly, aren’t they?

We can consider this in our own habits. Saturn’s favorite stance is one of defense. It may be easier to hold a tight rein on ourselves, or on a behavior or attitude that we are accustomed to, rather than inviting that invigorating moment when a highly uncertain future seems more creative and exciting than terrifying.

Depending on the natal horoscope, of course, some of us are more impacted than others by this particular planetary theme. As a first thought, those in their Saturn returns now, those of us close to our 29 or 58 birthdays, have the acute awareness that we are on the verge of a future quite different than where we thought we might be at this point in life.

I plan to add further ideas on this point within the next few days. I’m especially keen on looking at the natal chart to see Saturn’s sign and house position as a big clue to where we can individually access the stability, the inner ground and security that is authentic for us and is an inner template to keep returning to when the ride feels rocky.

 

 

 

Paul Newman

The much-loved actor and philanthropist Paul Newman died at home on Friday, September 26.

Paul Newman met Joanne Woodward in 1952 when both were cast in a Broadway play. (1) “But,” as the obituary in the New York Times reports, “he was a married man, and Ms. Woodward has insisted that they spent the next several years running away from each other.” (2)

One of many remarkable features in their synastry is the position of the Vertex in each birth chart: Newman’s is at 20°45′ Leo and Woodward’s is 20°52′ Leo, a partile conjunction. Originally described by L. Edward Johndro in the 1930s, the Vertex is seen as the most fated part of the horoscope, where we have least control over events and actions.

And so, after “running away from each other,” life had other plans in store for them, and they married on January 29, 1958. When Newman married Joanne Woodward, his progressed Sun was at 9°24 Pisces, just past her natal Sun at 8°03′ Pisces. Her progressed Moon was at 2°23′ Pisces, just past his natal Moon at 1°39′ Pisces.

Famous for their long and happy marriage, their natal synastry is indeed also powerful. To mention a few connections between the natal charts:

their ascendants are conjunct, i.e., hers 12°, his, 13° Capricorn

Saturn, the ascendant rulers, are sextile one another – his Saturn 14° Scorpio; her Saturn 10° Capricorn

both have Venus sextile Saturn natally: (his Venus 14° Capricorn/ Saturn 14° Scorpio; her Venus 13° Pisces/Saturn 10° Capricorn). As a simple delineation: Each has a mature understanding of love, values loyalty, and know that love gets better with age.

their natal Venus’s are sextile each other: his Venus 14° Capricorn, her Venus 13° Pisces. Their natal Mars’s are also sextile each other: his Mars 23° Aries, her Mars 16° Aquarius.

And, perhaps most importantly, they have Sun-Moon conjunctions both ways: Newman’s Sun is 6°02′ Aquarius and Moon is 1°39′ Pisces. Woodward’s Sun is 8°03′ Pisces and her Moon at 24°52′ Aquarius.

On August 16, less than six weeks before he died, there was a lunar eclipse at 24°17′ Aquarius, the degree of Woodward’s natal Moon (ruler of the 7th). This is also within a few degrees of their mutual Vertex points, both very close to the 8th house cusps. This lunar eclipse was also square Newman’s progressed ascendant at his death – 24°06′ Taurus.

There is an upcoming solar eclipse on January 26, 2009 at 6°29′ Aquarius, conjunct Newman’s natal Sun (ruler of the 8th) at 6°02′. The following lunar eclipse – February 9, 2009 – is at 20°52′ Leo, the exact degree of Woodward’s natal Vertex is on the 8th cusp: 20°52′ Leo.

On one more note to the end of a long marriage: Juno, goddess of marriage, is at 28°20′ Sagittarius in the couple’s natal composite chart. Transiting Pluto was at 28°34′ Sagittarius at Mr. Newman’s death.

(1) Chart data:
Paul Newman: Jan. 26, 1925; 6:30 am EST; Cleveland, OH (41°N30 81°W42′). Rodden rating: AA

Joanne Woodward: Feb. 27, 1930; 4:00 am EST; Thomasville, GA (30°N50′ 83°W59′). Rodden rating: AA

(2) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/movies/28newman.html

 

McCain’s Venus Moment

On his birthday, August 29, John McCain (1) chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Natal Venus, ruler of his Libra Ascendant, is at 22°48′ Virgo.

Transiting Uranus is at 21°14′ Pisces, opposite natal Venus. Since it is also his birthday, that aspect will be in his solar return chart and be effective for the entire year. Venus, of course, rules women and is key for him as it rules the natal Ascendant. We might say he ventured out to the bold and crazy Uranian fringes with his choice of running mate. Sarah Palin has shaken up the race, an excellent job for Uranus.

Although we don’t have an exact time for Governor Palin, there are some things to notice about her birthday: Born on February 11, 1964 in Sandpoint, Idaho, (2) she has Sun, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury in Aquarius. If she was born early in the morning, the Moon was in Capricorn. The Moon moved into Aquarius at 9:40 a.m. – either way, Palin’s Moon is disposed by Saturn, in rulership and therefore powerfully placed in Aquarius. Palin was born on a Tuesday, Mars’s day, so the Sun, Mars, Saturn conjunction suggest a particularly steadfast and unyielding quality to her basic character. The ambition and confidence many have noticed in her brief public appearances – not to mention frequent photos of her with a rifle in hand – are well indicated by her horoscope.

The Sun, Mars, Saturn conjunction between 21° – 26° Aquarius is currently being transited by that glamorous caster of spells, Neptune. It seems likely that the scandals surrounding the “bridge to nowhere” (how’s that for Neptune imagery?) and various other sagas (e.g., “TrooperGate”) will linger around the Governor at least until Neptune’s last exact conjunction to natal Saturn in early 2010.

And, on a last (for now) and chilling (to me, anyway) note: Palin’s Sun, Mars, Saturn conjunction are sitting nearly exactly on the U.S. Sibly Moon at 27°10′. She naturally taps into the needs of the public, especially women, and issues of security (the Moon). Palin has – at least temporarily – had a big impact on the U.S. psyche. With the first exact Saturn – Uranus opposition on Election Day coming very quickly, the polarity between the past and the future, rules and freedom, constraint and expression are all magnifying. I’d suggest that a personal task in these daunting times may be to find a way to keep standing firmly within ourselves to anchor and direct (Saturn in Virgo) the Greater Will so that beneficial reform and a future of inclusion and forgiveness (Uranus in Pisces) arrives sooner, rather than later!

(1) Data: John McCain, August 29,1936, 9:00 AM EST +5:00, Coco Solo Air Base, Panama Canal; Rodden Rating:  Source: A: From memory

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

Welcome to TMA This Week

Hi, and welcome to the first post of our new exclusive online-only feature, TMA This Week. Each week we will be posting an easy-to-read article on topics including the Best of Astrology Blogs, a streamlined version of our popular column Planet Tracks, and A Glance at the Heavens for the latest on what’s going on in the sky. Our intrepid and versatile TMA staffers will make guest appearances in the From the Magazine section. I will be the editor/organizer of this new feature – three cheers to Saturn’s transit in Virgo – and I’ll be writing as well.

TMA This Week includes a commenting feature, where you, our readers, can respond to what our authors have contributed with your own comments and feedback.

We hope you enjoy this new feature and welcome your suggestions.

Mary Plumb