Transformational Astrology

  January 2012

  Henry Seltzer

We could add dreamy Neptune as well as stern and unforgiving Saturn to the above list as the year gets underway.  Saturn is stationing in early February in close trine with Neptune, while Neptune is conjunct both to Chiron and also to the January 22^nd New Moon. Neptune is also changing signs, entering its own sign of Pisces in that same early February time frame. Thus, all the outer planets are extremely active in this important year of 2012. The Astrology of January features Mercury, Jupiter, Chiron, Uranus and Pluto. As we enter another radically transformative year, these powerful symbols are very much focalized. The New Moon from the last week of December strongly aspected these four outer planets, continuing the trend from the fall, so that the significant archetypal energies of Zeus/Jupiter, lord of death and radical transformation/ Pluto, plus the Wounded Healer/Chiron and Prometheus or the Trickster/Uranus are very much in evidence in our individual lives, and in the life of the surrounding collective. The New Moon in early Capricorn was conjunct Pluto as well. What this looks like will depend on us, but we might imagine further surprises and opportunities for transformational growth and enlightenment, as our inner wounding becomes both more drastically activated also as a consequence more apparent to our conscious thought process.

This year is likely to be very intense and is of course made even more so by the mythology that has risen up in our culture surrounding these numbers of 2012, we have an opportunity to tune in and really think about where we are going and why, both in our individual lives and in terms of the surrounding collective. It is well to remember that our every thought and action has a ripple effect throughout the increasingly larger concentric circles of societal connection that surround us: friends and family, community, state or province, country, world and cosmos.

With Uranus and Pluto emphasized at the very beginning of the year, and completing the first exact hit of their square aspect in June, this year is bound to be an extremely potent one, picking up where the intensity of 2011 left off and taking even further this past summer’s revolutionary energy for necessary change. We can work with this energy, promoting radical transformation as needed in our own lives, and in the life of the society that surrounds us. We win when we choose to be part of the solution rather than remaining outside of the flow of history and increasingly irrelevant to it.

Here Comes the Flu Season

Protect Yourself the Wise Woman Way

 Susun S Weed

Along with the beauty of fall days comes the need to get ready for winter. Time to get out my long underwear and my warm wooly socks. Time to nourish my immune system so cold days won’t be days of colds – and flu.

I don’t rely on modern medicine to keep me healthy, but if you usually rely on a flu shot to protect you, you may feel frightened by your inability to get one this year. You may be wondering what you can do instead. Or you may have discovered that flu shots don’t give protection from all types of flu, just the ones the makers guess will be active this winter. And you may wonder if there isn’t some other way to prevent the flu. Or maybe, like me, you prefer not to use shots or drugs unless absolutely necessary. You may wonder what herbs and remedies are the best to have on hand to help your family deal with the flu.

No matter what your situation, now is a good time to give yourself the benefit of Wise Woman Ways to prevent – and deal with – the flu. These flu preventers and flu remedies are simple. They are quite safe. And you don’t have to be rich to use them. Wise Woman herbal medicine is people’s medicine. Mama Medicine. You can buy most of the things I discuss in this article – and you can find them growing freely, too. You can buy the herbal preparations I mention already made – and you can easily make you own for pennies, too.

These Wise Woman Ways are supported by both tradition and science. Wise women through the centuries have kept themselves and their families safe from contagious diseases. And science has found good reasons for their effectiveness. I hope these tips will help you face winter’s ills with confidence and good health.

Law of Supply and Demand

By Marlene Buffa

Water filter

I need the expensive, big filter on my Reverse Osmosis water system in my kitchen.  I replaced all the other filters, and in the process my handyman noticed the big filter needed replacing as well and – oops! – the O-ring broke.  I put the new filter on my to-do list, but didn’t buy one yet.  Consequently, the water is still being filtered, but because of the vacuum created by the missing O-ring, it dispenses slowly and only a little bit at a time.

And then, I got to thinking….

Aside from the mechanical impairment, there is a deeper interpretation of this whole water issue.  Is it the supply?  No, I have an unlimited supply of water from the City.  Is it the demand?  No, I know that when I turn the faucet on, I get water.  It’s the FLOW!  Something is broken that impedes the flow of my good to me.  The good is always there, in total abundance.  I ask for what I want, when I want it, and it gets delivered.  However, the amount of my good flowing to me remains restricted by something that can be fixed.  If only all our spiritual needs could be answered with an obvious, “This is broken. Fix this and it will work.”

The magic formula

The world breathed a sigh of relief when Einstein published his Theory of Relativity.  With the seemingly simple E = MC2, we thought we got a handle on the universe.  Albert discovered it, defined it, and now we can all relax, right?  Great – the cosmos is now figured out – but what about you?

The 1970s saw the emerging youth free to discover who they were, experimenting with all sorts of stimuli and rebelling against societal norms.  They didn’t have it figured out – they were simply trying to find answers.  Personal answers.