Four Corners Magazine
Philippo Franchini – The Musical Alchemist
Philippo Franchini The Musical Alchemist
Blog: Between the Notes
http://tinyurl.com/philippoblog3
Inner Listening
Introspection, contemplation, meditation—these are all terms for a practice that leads our attention toward a heightened awareness. Inner Listening is the foundation for developing this awareness. The different impulses, traits and conversations we all have within us have their own vibrations and sounds…and this cacophony is often the first thing we notice when we turn our attention inward!
How do we harmonize all this inner jumble???
Consider that all emotions and thoughts we have every day, every moment, ultimately arise from Silence. Many people have had special experiences where time seemed to stand still and all was peaceful. The Nada yogis say we can learn to dive into this stillness by listening to ever more subtle sounds. We can do this by beginning with soothing outer music and gradually turn our focus to the inner symphony of our own body.
Once we go beyond our own body’s nervous system, we can venture beyond thought, to merge in the Anahata Brahma or “unstruck sound.” Anahata Brahma means is the Cosmic Word -the Om or Amen.
In this video I introduce some of the Rasas (flavors) of different kinds of music. The Rasas represent different frequency levels, and introduce a sound meditation that can be practiced to develop more inner sensitivity.
Breathe slowly and deeply as you do this and harmonize with the Cosmos (aka your Sonic Self!)
Blessings,
Philippo Franchini
The Musical Alchemist
Darwin’s Unfinished Business
Chapter 3
Evolution
Never Mind the Gonads,
Here’s the Real Agenda
It is time to look even more closely and critically at the orthodox evolutionary paradigm we are attempting to overwrite. To recapitulate, it is not that this paradigm is wrong, only that it is not right enough. It is not the whole truth. It is not the whole story. Obsessed with details like individual genes, it fails to capture the exuberant panache, confluential orchestration, and sheer organismic acumen of life, serving instead to reduce organisms and the sophisticated feats of biological engineering that they embody to merely this or merely that genetic mechanism. This is reductionism gone awry, the zealous urge to reduce autopoietic artistry into bits and pieces seemingly explicable in their own terms without reference to any bigger context. While we would never dream of reducing an acclaimed painting or a musical symphony in the same reductionistic way, Nature’s tree of life is treated differently.
The creed of merelyism tells us a lot about human psychology. It is clear that the majority of scientists and philosophers like to consider themselves and other humans as the sole possessors of “high” intelligence whereas the process, which built them (i.e., evolution, or Nature), is considered pointless and mindless. Therefore, any paradigm that bolsters this kind of merelyistic egoism is destined for a warm reception. The more that the complexity of life is reduced, the more smugly confident some may feel about themselves. The more we can remove signs of intelligence operating within the evolving tree of life, the more unique and esteemed human intelligence becomes. Merelyism attracts research grants and academic acclaim. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for alternative and more holistic approaches to understanding life. As we shall see in this chapter, a more holistic approach means an approach in which context (i.e., the sensible environment and the sensible laws of Nature operating therein) is the key factor with which to understand both the origin and subsequent direction of evolution.
In order to allow the new paradigm of natural intelligence to acquire momentum, let us begin by taking a basic example of a living organism and see how the old paradigm is applied so as to explain that organism’s existence. According to the thought experiment of the last chapter, we have already established that organisms represent significantly arranged systems/patterns of atoms, molecules, and cells. Now we need to see in even more detail how merelyism explains such evolutionary feats of organic organization. As alluded, genes are the key focus. A tiger will serve as our study example. Consider one in your mind’s eye.
Now, any sane, sober, and right-minded person gazing upon a tiger will doubtless be impressed by the apparent design, for a tiger is an exceptionally beautiful creature capable of running, hunting, calculating, digesting food, excreting waste and toxins, breathing, maintaining its internal temperature, healing itself, cleaning itself, reproducing, and so on. Flaunting beautiful autopoiesis, a tiger has what it takes to survive. Well, apart from the relentless threat of man, that is. Notwithstanding the threat of our species, tigers are patently highly efficient living organisms.
As we have ascertained, organisms like tigers are constructed from trillions of cells; skin cells, liver cells, brain cells, muscle cells, and so forth. These cells are themselves made up of trillions of molecules, and those molecules further made from atoms. A tiger is thus a singularly significant arrangement of physical material, untold trillions of basic parts orchestrated into a seamless and enduring pattern able to stave off entropy. In short, a tiger has striking natural design written in it and all over it. No wonder, then, that people in the past were tempted to see organisms as the work of a divine hand. But we live in more educated times. From our vantage point atop centuries of science, we are able to build upon Darwin’s revolutionary insights and see that multicellular organisms like tigers are not wrought ex nihilo by the hand of God almighty but are the manifest result of evolution through natural selection (i.e., the hand of “almighty” Nature). We have at least to buy into this idea before proceeding with our analysis.
Genes and DNA
Biological science tells us that the physical form of a tiger and its behavioral repertoire (its phenotype) are determined by its genes, those long sequences of DNA residing in each of its cells. We won’t take issue with this either. All the evidence points to the fact that DNA is a digital code (quaternary and not binary like computer code) bearing instructions on how to link amino acids so as to make proteins, which make cells, tissues, and organs. Genes, being discrete segments of DNA, which get replicated during reproduction, are thus sets of instructions for eliciting biological autopoiesis—they code for the components that, when organized, elicit the sort of nifty biological processes previously considered. In the tiger there may be gene complexes that control musculature or the immune system or fur coloration and so on.
The plethora of genes that exist within the tiger gene pool are precisely those genes that work, which confer upon tigers morphological and behavioral characteristics that serve to enhance the reproductive success of tigers. Genes for building strong leg muscles will obviously be passed on to future generations, because tigers with strong leg muscles will be able to run faster and thus hunt better. More food equals better fitness equals better reproductive viability. A gene, which made a tiger lopsided or extremely timid in the presence of herbivores, would not survive long, because such genes would obviously be selected against. So it is that the hand of Nature continually selects among various genes. Those genes bearing instructions, which aid the gene’s own success in replication, are favored by Nature, whereas less survival-favoring genes are selected against. Indeed, one can reason in this way about natural selection without actually having seen a tiger.
For more information on this book visit: www.innertraditions.com
Sedona International Film Festival
Sedona Green Film Series at
Sedona International Film Festival
Special Opening Events
February 18th & 19th
Every year, the Sedona International Film Festival keeps getting better and better. And 2012 is no exception. Among the nearly 150 wonderful films are special works that focus on the challenges facing the human condition. This is the Sedona Green Film Series. This year, there are more than a dozen films highlighting sustainability issues in the festival. In addition, the festival kicks off with two Sedona Green film and community conversation events on the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday, February 18 and 19, at the Sedona Performing Arts Center.
The Revenge of the Electric Car will kick off the program on Saturday, February 18 at 3pm. Narrated by Tim Robbins, this lively film goes behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever.
Following the film at 4:30pm, Sedona Green and Sustainable Arizona will host a community conversation: The Power of Film to Move Hearts and Minds. The panel will feature filmmakers, sustainability experts, educators and a specialist in the study of neuroscience. In addition, there will be displays including electric and biofuels vehicles.
Sunday at 2pm, it’s The Big Fix, a film that begins with an expose of the events that lead to the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling disaster and delves deeply into the corruption surrounding the powerful in the halls of government and business. While this film is a well-documented indictment of the status quo, the community conversation which follows the film at 4:00pm will be anything but negative.
Our panel of experts will look at some of the challenges we are facing in Arizona and the world and talk about ways each of us can take positive action to improve our own quality of life. “We know about the doom and gloom. We see it in the media everyday,” said Matthew Bonnstetter, founder of the Sedona Green Film Series. “What we want to concentrate on are the positive things that are happening all around us…to make our communities, our businesses and our lives better and more secure.”
The panelists include Michael Nash, award-winning Irish-American filmmaker best known for Climate Refugees and Fuel. Mr. Nash will bring a sequence from Climate Refugees to introduce his talk about climate change and its current impacts.
Dr. Stefan Sommer is professor of ecology and sustainability at NAU. He also is an award-winning producer of several films including A River Reborn, the story of Fossil Creek.
Andrea Houchard, also from NAU, is the leader of philosophy in the public interest, a program that helps communities deal with challenging issues. Amy Coplan is professor of philosophy of film at the University of California at Fullerton. She studies how films influence thought and actions. John Neville is the president of Sustainable Arizona and was an award-winning writer and producer specializing in sustainable development. Matthew Bonnstetter, Vice President at SolarWorks and board member of Sustainable Arizona, will moderate the discussions.
The SPAC lobby will host displays of nonprofits and green businesses from the area. Learn what is happening in sustainability at Keep Sedona Beautiful, Sedona Recycles, Value the Verde Ecotourism, Sustainable Arizona, Sierra Club and Gardens for Humanity plus see the latest in electric vehicles, solar and clean energy technologies. There will also be a concession stand will feature delightful foods provided by the Heartline Café.
For tickets to the film, please visit the Sedona International Film Festival website: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com. The community conversations which begin after the films each day are free and open to the public.
Our media sponsor is Green Living AZ at www.greenlivingaz.com.
For more on sustainability, visit www.SustainableArizona.org.
Valentine’s Day Resolution: Install Love 2.0
VALENTINE’S DAY RESOLUTION: INSTALL LOVE 2.0
By Marsha Lucas, PhD
Author of Rewire Your Brain for Love
“Oh, man, I hate Valentine’s Day!” I hear this a lot in my office as February 14th approaches. Since I focus on helping people create healthier relationships, you can probably guess why. Valentine’s Day is the bane of anyone who’s single but doesn’t want to be. It flings daggers of loneliness rather than the gentle arrows of Cupid. And if you’re in a relationship, Valentine’s Day can feel a little like an episode of “Survivor” – are you (or your relationship) surviving? Thriving? Or getting voted off the island?
Instead of dreading another February 14th, consider turning it into your day to make a healthy relationship resolution. You could call it a new year of the heart, the first day of the rest of your love life.
Waitwaitwait! Before you start making your long list of habits that you could resolve to change, you need to remember that cultivating new or better relationships isn’t about admonishing yourself to stop yelling, or putting little sticky notes on the mirror about how wonderful you are. You’ve probably (repeatedly) tried scores of ideas like those, and your relationships still don’t cut it – the same old problems keep resurfacing.
Here’s the thing: The way your brain is wired is mostly what helps – or hurts – when it comes to satisfying, healthy relationships. You need a wired-in “Operating System” that supports better relationships from the ground up — the kind of OS that supports “apps” for keeping your anxiety or anger from hijacking disagreements, or increasing your resilience when it comes to your emotional reactions. I’m sharing here my list of the most important apps for better love – the skills that seem to be the most powerful in creating and sustaining a healthy, vibrant relationship. Best of all, these are acquirable apps, skills you can develop and grow within yourself, within your brain, starting with the most basic and getting progressively more sophisticated:
Better management of your body’s reactions
Regulation of your response to fear and stress
Increased emotional resilience
More flexible responses to relationship challenges
Improved insight (self-knowing)
Healthy, balanced empathy and attunement—within yourself and with others
A perspective shift from “me” to “we”
Installing and running these love apps isn’t about resolving to be, say, more empathic, or to practice stress management. Trying to install these apps won’t really work if you haven’t dealt with your underlying “relationship OS.” All of us who’ve struggled with self-improvement or self-acceptance—or any other method for trying to make healthier relationships with ourselves and others possible—often fall into the trap of trying to get our cortex, the intellectual, insightful part of our brain perched way up top, to make changes in the way the deep, lower parts of our brains drive our relationships. But if you have a faulty OS trying to get those two areas to work together as a team – it’s a bit like trying to get an iPhone app to work by typing in DOS commands. It’s just not gonna go well.
Sorry to say that there’s a bit more bad news: most of your brain’s relationship OS was developed unbelievably early in your brain’s history—before you were about two years old. Your first experiences with relationships—those you had with your parents—have a huge influence on how you deal with relationships throughout your life. The your-parents-to-you relationship covertly operates in important, behind-the-scenes ways in your later you-to-your-partner romantic relationships.
And the style of attachment you develop in childhood (secure or insecure, anxious or avoidant) is most often a lifetime deal. It informs and influences how you interact with others, how you see yourself in relationships, and, as much as you might not like to believe this, it deeply influences the kinds of partners we attract and are attracted to, leaving us to play out the same relationship patterns over and over again. The lessons of our primary childhood relationships run so deep and so strong—and often waaaaay outside our conscious awareness—that we all find it extraordinarily challenging to overcome them. It’s a buggy operating system. Unfortunately, you can’t just order a replacement OS on Amazon.
But — you can rewire your brain for better relationships, starting now, with your Valentine’s Day resolution. You can rebuild your OS for love.
How? Recent studies by leading neuroscientists and biobehaviorists—researchers from Harvard, UCLA, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Cambridge, to name a few—have shown that the practice of mindfulness meditation promotes changes in the brain in areas and ways that can promote healthier relationships with yourself and others.
And it doesn’t take years of practice—many beneficial effects are seen in the earliest stages of practice, in as little as a few weeks of practicing 20 minutes a day.
Can’t do 20 minutes? That’s perfectly okay; start with two.
Now, if you’re not finding the love of your life, or if you’re in a crummy relationship, you don’t usually say to yourself, “Hey, I know – I need to start meditating!” But let me share this perspective with you: I’ve been practicing psychotherapy for over 20 years. I’ve always felt deeply honored to help people as they dig in and do the often difficult work of creating better lives for themselves. And since I began using mindfulness meditation with my patients, I’ve been privileged to witness some of the most amazing shifts and improvements. It has been the single most remarkable and elegantly simple way to update your OS that I’ve ever seen, and the neuroscience evidence backs that up.
By practicing mindfulness meditation, you can rewire your brain’s relationship operating system, get the amazing love apps—and make this Valentine’s Day the beginning of Love 2.0.
Marsha Lucas is a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist in Washington DC, and author of Rewire Your Brain for Love: Creating Vibrant Relationships Using the Science of Mindfulness (Hay House, February 2012). www.RewireYourBrainForLove.com
Be Your Own Herbal Expert – Part 2
Be Your Own Herbal Expert- Part 2
Susun S Weed
Herbal medicine is the medicine of the people. It is simple, safe, effective, and free. Our ancestors knew how to use an enormous variety of plants for health and well-being. Our neighbors around the world continue to use local plants for healing and health maintenance, and you can too.
In your first lesson, you learned how to “listen” to the messages of plant’s tastes. And you discovered that using plants in water bases (teas, infusions, vinegars, soups) – and as simples – allows you to experiment with and explore herbal medicine safely.
In this lesson, we will learn how to make effective water-based herbal remedies and talk more about using simples.
Tea for You?
Teas are a favorite way to consume herbs. Made by brewing a small amount of herbs (typically a teaspoonful to a cup of water) for a short time (generally 1-2 minutes), teas are flavorful, colorful drinks.
Herbs rich in coloring compounds – such as hibiscus, rose hips, calendula, and black tea – make enticing and tasty teas. They may also contain polyphenols, phytochemicals known to help prevent cancer. Since coloring compounds and polyphenols are fairly stable, dried herbs are considered best for teas rich in these.
Herbs rich in volatile oils – such as ginger, chamomile, cinnamon, catnip, mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, lavender, bergamot, and fennel, anise, and cumin seeds – make lovely teas, which are effective in easing spasms, stimulating digestion, eliminating pain, and inducing sleep. Since much of the volatile oils are lost when herbs are dried, fresh herbs are considered best for teas rich in these, but dried herbs can be used with good results.
I enjoy a cup of hot tea with honey. But teas fail to deliver the mineral richness locked into many common herbs. A cup of nettle tea, for instance, contains only 5-10 mg of calcium, while a cup of nettle infusion contains up to 500 mg of calcium. For optimum nutrition, I drink nourishing herbal infusions every day.
Infusion for Me!
An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed for a long time. Typically, one ounce by weight (about a cup by volume) of dried herb is placed in a quart jar, which is then filled to the top with boiling water, tightly lidded and allowed to steep for 4-10 hours. After straining, a cup or more is consumed, and the remainder chilled to slow spoilage. Drinking 2-4 cups a day is usual. Since the minerals and other phytochemicals in nourishing herbs are made more accessible by drying, dried herbs are considered best for infusions. (See experiment 2.)
I make my infusions at night before I go to bed and they are ready in the morning. I put my herb in my jar and my water in the pot, and the pot on the fire, then brush my teeth (or sweep the floor) until the kettle whistles. I pour the boiling water up to the rim of the jar, screw on a tight lid, turn off the stove and the light, and go to bed. In the morning, I strain the plant material out, squeezing it well, and drink the liquid. I prefer it iced, unless the morning is frosty. I drink the quart of infusion within 36 hours or until it spoils. Then I use it to water my houseplants, or pour it over my hair after washing as a final rinse, which can be left on.
My favorite herbs for infusion are nettle, oatstraw, red clover, and comfrey leaf, but only one at a time. The tannins in red clover and comfrey make me pucker my lips, so I add a little mint, or bergamot, when I infuse them, just enough to flavor the brew slightly. A little salt in your infusion may make it taste better than honey will.
Having trouble finding herbs in bulk at your local health food store? Try ordering online:
• Mountain Rose Herbs – http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
• Pacific Botanicals - http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/
• Frontier Herbs – http://www.frontierherb.com/
• Garden Medicinals – http://www.gardenmedicinals.com/
Simple Messages
When we use simples (one plant at a time), we allow ourselves an intimacy that deepens and strengthens our connections to plants and their green magic. There are lots of interesting plants, and lots of herbalists who maintain that herbal medicine means formulae and combinations of herbs. But I consider herbs as lovers, preferring to have only one in bed with me at a time.
When I use one plant at a time it is much easier for me to discern the effect of that plant. When I use one plant at a time and someone has a bad reaction to the remedy, it is obvious what the source of the distress is, and usually easy to remedy. When I use one plant at a time, I make it easy for my body to communicate with me and tell me what plants it needs for optimum health.
I even go so far as to ally with one plant at a time, usually for at least a year. By narrowing my focus, I actually find that I learn more.
Coming Up
In our next lesson we will learn more about the difference between nourishing, tonifying, stimulating/sedating, and potentially-poisonous plants; how to prepare them; and how to use them. In the following installments we will explore the difference between fixing disease and promoting health, how to apply the three traditions of healing, and how to take charge of your own health care with the six steps of healing.
Experiment Number One
Make and drink a quart of nourishing herbal infusion made with stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry leaf, or comfrey leaf. If you wish, flavor it with mint. On the same day, make a tea from the same herb, using dried herb. Compare and contrast the colors, flavors, and sensations.
Experiment Number Two
Make an infusion of stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry leaf, or comfrey leaf, using one ounce of dried herb as usual. At the same time, make a quart of “brew” using the same herb, but fresh, not dried. To make it fair, use 4 ounces of fresh herb. After one hour of steeping, look at both jars, taste and compare/contrast. Repeat three more times at hourly intervals.
Minerals are released slowly into water. They darken the color of the water and give it a dense, rich taste. Oil-soluble vitamins float to the top and make a thin glaze of swirls.
Experiment Number Three
Buy, or grow, a tasty, aromatic herb, like ginger, peppermint, or rosemary. For this experiment you will need one tablespoon of fresh herb, and one teaspoon of the same herb dried. Place the fresh herb in a cup or mug and the dried herb in another. Fill both to the top with boiling water. After one minute, taste, smell, compare the teas. Wait another minute and compare again. Then wait five minutes and try each one again.
Experiment Number Four
Make a tea with aromatic seeds – anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, fennel, or fenugreek. Use a teaspoon of seeds in a cup of water. At the same time, brew some using a tablespoon of seeds per cup. After a minute, taste, smell, contrast. Repeat in five minutes, then in thirty minutes, then after an hour, then after four hours. Teas and infusions of dried seeds are almost the same.
Further Study
1. Drink 2-4 cups of nourishing herbal infusion for a month and see if your health changes in any way. Best if you don’t drink coffee or tea during this month.
2. Choose a green ally to focus on this year.
3. Read Healing Power of Minerals by Paul Bergner.
4. Read about stinging nettle and oatstraw in my book Healing Wise.
5. Write out the botanical names of the herbs you used in making your teas and your infusions.
Advanced Work
Learn more about essential oils in plants. Grow several plants rich in essential oils.
Learn more about tannins. Make an oakbark infusion.
About Susun Weed:
Vibrant, passionate, and involved, Susun Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition. She challenges conventional medical approaches with humor, insight, and her vast encyclopedic knowledge of herbal medicine. Unabashedly pro-woman, her animated and enthusiastic lectures are engaging and often profoundly provocative. Susun is one of America’s best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women’s health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world. Learn more at www.susunweed.com
Transformational Astrology
February 2012
Henry Seltzer
The Astrology of February features Mars, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus and Neptune. The red planet is now retrograde in Virgo, and similar to a Mercury retrograde period in this present condition of Mars, usually representing aggressive and ego-oriented urges, there is instead a tendency for going internal and mulling over our normal actions and activities rather than just doing them. Saturn, also retrograde as of February 7th, loosely aspects Mars as it stations and closely aspects Neptune, so that the contrast between life in the physical plane, represented by Saturn, and life in the multifarious inter-dimensional spaces beyond the purely physical, represented by Neptune, now in its own sign of Pisces after the third, is very much upon us now, adding to the meditative posture symbolized by a more internalized Mars.
Meanwhile the revolutionary energy of Uranus is also very much with us as this second month of 2012 gets underway. Uranus, quite as much as Neptune antithetical to Saturn, therefore takes us out of ourselves and our surface concerns. The recent New Moon from the last ten days of the previous month in Uranus’ own sign of Aquarius closely aspected both Uranus and Jupiter, whose combination brings out the rebel in us all, and also brings forward the potential for surprising events to unfold that change our basic set of perceptions of the world around us.
February 14th, Valentine’s Day, when everyone is out buying chocolates and flowers, coincides with the Last Quarter Moon and with Venus square to Pluto, and therefore this year will represent more of a mixed blessing. We will be searching under the covers of our motivation with regard to relationships as well as patterns of outward aggression, and along with the joyful and celebrity sides of sexuality and romance the various shadow sides – jealousy or factors of power and control – could easily emerge. This is especially true since Chiron is also prominent. We might be able to bring to consciousness certain aspects of our earlier wounding that, just when we least expect them, continue to crop up in our present day situations.
As the cycle begun in late January with the Aquarius New Moon concludes, the one beginning with the February 21st New Moon in early Pisces is powerful as well in that it trips off the same triumvirate of outer planet energies, namely Neptune/Chiron in Pisces, Uranus in Aries and Jupiter in Taurus. Brilliant ideas continue to be the norm rather than the exception, with the extra added benefit of Neptune’s compassion thrown in. Venus is still flirting with both Pluto and Mars so the relationship dynamic remains a bit dicey, but there will be plenty to think about as we look more closely into events in the physical plane, seeking to discern the inner soul-level meaning.
All through this month, these cosmic forces are at work on us, helping us surmount the fences that have been holding us back for far too long from taking our rightful place at the forefront of our own spiritual evolution. This month represents a fitting introduction to the strongly transformational period of time that is shaping up for late spring, when Uranus and Pluto make their exact pass, the first of seven, on the square aspect that has been building between them these last several years. We will be older and definitely wiser on the other side of this powerful spring and summer.
ARIES (March 20-April 19). Chaos and confusion can yet breed wisdom, Aries. This is a time of back-and-forth movement rather than straight ahead. Although you are full of energy in some ways, you find yourself pausing in mid-flight to reflect on where you are going. This is in fact an excellent time to look to the inside for answers to questions you perhaps until recently didn’t know to ask. There has been building a strongly intuitional level within you, and it serves you well in this time of inquiry. Some facets of your worldview might be crumbling but there is much to be gained as you open to inner guidance. You suspect there is more to your life than you have been letting on; and you are attempting to suss out what is really going on here.
TAURUS (April 20-May 19). You are operating in a hazily optimistic and future-oriented mode these days, Taurus, and seeing just how far that can take you. You are yet simultaneously very focused on your work in the world and bent on taking big chances in order to maintain your momentum there. In some ways like those cartoon characters that are dueling right off the edge of the cliff, in one way you are feeling frisky and free, but only when you choose not to look down. In another part of yourself you might be discontent, and not only a little, over how far you are removed from everyday concerns. But since it’s working for you, you do not have to dissect what exactly reality consists of, whether it is on or off that cloud; it merely is.
GEMINI (May 20-June 20). Everyone around you is joining hands, Gemini, although not necessarily in the physical. You are tempted to shout “alle alle outsinfree” just like in the childhood game. A mystical nature overcomes you at times so that the other-dimensionality of the outer universe is no longer just a rumor. You are, from the security of a deeply felt place of inner refuge, discovering new worlds not so much to conquer as to enliven and even to embrace. All this would be wonderful were it not for the nagging thought that you must somehow still take care of real-world business. This is not as much of a problem as you think since you are simultaneously occupying at least two realities at once. Try clapping your hands three times and softly whispering “make it so.”
CANCER (June 21-July 20) There is no time like the present, Cancer. Some form of spiritual evolution awaits and the moment to act is getting near to hand. Transformation is truly in the air for you these days and you have as well a deeply felt intuitional basis to draw upon that gives you needed guidance. You have been building up to taking some huge leap of faith that will propel you forward and, yet, still you hesitate to make the move. As you mull over your situation in the midst of this powerful month you are able to recognize that while prudent caution is a healthy reaction, you might need to look more closely. If it is only fear that is holding you back you have no real choice but to forge ahead.
LEO (July 21-Aug. 21) You are particularly attuned to partnership these days, Leo, and may be taking a break from feeling as though it is all up to you. While working it as a team, you are yet very capable as well of subtly taking charge when the situation calls for it, but in so doing you are obeying, rather than commanding, the forces of nature that are flaring up like solar flames all around you. You feel mystically inspired and yet more fully present. It is one thing to get a sense of direction from your own single mind and quite another to get that same feeling in concert with another, but you are managing to pull off both of these feats without even breaking a sweat or flexing an obvious muscle.
VIRGO (Aug. 21-Sept. 21) You are working the mystery, Virgo. This month you are acknowledging more fully the powerful road of self-development that you have been on lately, and taking it another step further into conscious choices. There are still knots to unravel. You are getting deliberate about making a spiritual pilgrimage to the center of these conundrums and conducting a town-hall meeting within your own mind and heart on how best to accomplish this daring feat. Others are important now and they shake you out of your winter slumber and urge you to get on with what you started. These significant persons in your life are there not only as fellow conspirators but also to remind you to open up to all that you are and to all that you can become.
LIBRA (Sept. 22-Oct. 22) The season of surprises has not ended, Libra. If anything your flirtation has become even more intense with unexpected offerings on the part of the cosmos that surrounds and nourishes you. Sudden moves in response are almost second nature by now. You are called to service and to more vibrant self-expression, but not from the standpoint of merely ego involvement. The universe is affording you an opportunity these days to make radical changes in your life and in the way that you do relationship with others, and to make these in line with inner promptings that you can no longer ignore; these take you into better alignment with your highest intention for yourself, or with at least as much of that soul-purpose as you are currently able to acknowledge.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Your world is out of joint, Scorpio, and only you know the way out of the trap that has been set for you. The nature of these times, and of your deeply felt intuitional responses, requires a fundamental shift. Where some of this will play out: home and family concerns, and finding your emotional sense of security within yourself. The good news is that your release is fully within your own grasp when you have the necessary fortitude. The bad news is that it does not come easily or entirely without pain. Of course you stand to lose some part of your normal waking identity in order to gain that which will outlast this least part of yourself, and hides you from who at base you truly are.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 20) It’s a long road that has no turning, Sagittarius, and you are beginning to find yours. You are also finding your footing in the midst of difficult and often troubling times, buoyed by the notion that with enough faith you can move mountains. Life may be quite a roller-coaster ride at present and it is truly a difficult passage from where you are now to what you must eventually become. You operate on this thin rope both for the sake of the collective and for yours alone. Being possessed of a fount of brilliant ideas and imaginings now, you are nevertheless in an excellent position to make vast headway over the next few weeks and months. The result is that you will hardly recognize yourself come the summer, and maybe that could be an acceptable goal.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19) It’s a paradox and a conundrum, Capricorn. Your future is coming toward you now at express-train speed and yet you still feel stuck. You are energized around career and public acclaim and at the same time feeling like you need to re-think everything in the light of an orthogonally oriented process that brings in the mystical. Then too, part of the problem is the mud that clogs up your pathway forward which may in fact be calcified from old ways of thought and of action that have long outlived their usefulness but linger on. The road ahead is arduous and yet something is nevertheless destabilizing your comfort zone and calling you to venture onward. What is it? And how do you burst through the barriers and get with it?
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 17) Another day is dawning, Aquarius, and this time there’s plenty of heat but not quite enough light. A new beginning for you in this your birthday time of the year turns out to be something of a mixed blessing, since although you have the impulse to forge ahead right now and make the most of it, you might find yourself hesitating in your forward momentum. You could blame it on the complexity of what you are trying to accomplish. There is an amalgam that you seek made of outer necessity and inner desire, of cheerful compliance with the powers that be and yet soul-level attunement to what makes your heart sing – and you won’t be satisfied with substitutes. Compassion for yourself and for the state of the world demands no less.
PISCES (Feb. 18-March 19) Dream on, Pisces, and recognize that your dreams might easily morph into so-called reality and… vice-versa. This is definitely a time to look more closely at your life in three dimensions even as a surge of energy takes you quite beyond them. Your resources, including financial ones, have been fluctuating for weeks now, with surprising pay-offs as well as shortfalls so that there is no discernable trend. Now in this present month the drama of it all fades to less importance compared to finding out why your basic sense of security has been so affected by what is after all only a concept. Relationship is another area that is subject to a more intense scrutiny than usual as you mentally meander through surface events in search of the deeper – and more truly vital – meaning.
Henry Seltzer, transformational astrologer and creator of the TimePassages astrology software, is based in Santa Cruz, California. An extended look at this month’s star signs is available on his website. Holding degrees from MIT and the University of California-San Diego, Henry is a popular speaker and also offers life enhancing private astrological counseling. Call him at 831-425-3686, or visit his website at www.astrograph.com.
Smart Meters: Dumb Idea?
Smart Meters: Dumb Idea?
By Cindy J. Cole
There is no question that advancements in technology have impacted almost everyone on the planet in one way or another. In the United States, our lives have changed dramatically over the last fifty years or so with the development of cordless phones, computers, the Internet, microwave ovens, cell phones, and wireless networks. For many, these developments have made lives easier and allowed folks to keep in touch with family and friends around the world or even run a business from any location. However, many are also starting to ask whether all this progress comes with a steep, even lethal, price tag. The recent death of Apple mogul, Steven Jobs, has been related by some to continuous long-term exposure to high Electro-Magnetic Fields, a by-product of his life’s work – he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer that only shows up those who have undergone extensive imaging for another illness.
Often we know that there are risks involved as we willingly incorporate technology into our lives. In some cases, we choose to accept the risks or try to find ways to mitigate them. In others, we deny that the risks exist and just move on with our lives. But when do the risks begin to outweigh the benefits? At what point do we need to take a stand and say enough is enough? When do we begin to look at the good of the many and not just the few? Many people are drawing that line in the sand when it comes to the installation of smart meters.
Smart meter installation has begun across the country and in other parts of the world including Europe and Australia. Smart meters are an integral part of creating a worldwide “smart grid” for delivery of utility services. In the US, the federal government has provided over $4.5 billion for the development and implementation of smart grid technologies. Advocates of this extensive plan see it as an energy-saving way to control the flow of power nationwide. Opponents see it as expensive, invasive, unsafe, and unhealthy.
So, what is a smart meter? According to the Arizona Public Service (APS) website a smart meter “is a meter that provides two-way communication of information on energy use between your home and APS. Smart meters can be read and programmed remotely without sending a service person to your home.” Sounds simple, right? But what APS fails to mention is that smart meters transmit the information they collect via wireless signals – utilizing Radio Frequencies (RF) that produce EMFs. In addition, in order for smart meters to send their data back to APS, date hubs (equipment for collecting data from multiple meters and relaying it back) may need to be placed throughout neighborhoods adding to greater frequency emissions and EMFs.
Health Concerns
The safety of RF exposure is something that is hotly debated amongst scientists, wireless equipment manufacturers, and utility companies. The World Health Organization has yet to provide extensive research regarding EMFs, which the utility companies have used as a determination of its safety. An APS pro-smart meter brochure states: “The World Health Organization has concluded that no known adverse health effects can be attributed to low-level radio frequency.” However, on the WHO website, the line following this statement is that “there are gaps in knowledge still needing to be filled before better health risk assessments can be made.” And in May 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHO specialty agency, declared RFs to be a “possible human carcinogen.”
Dr. David Carpenter, a Harvard-trained physician who was the head of the New York State Department of Public Health for 18 years says that “we have evidence…that exposure to radio frequency radiation…increases the risk of cancer, increases damage to the nervous system, causes electro-sensitivity, has adverse reproductive effects and a variety of other effects on different organ systems. There is no justification for the statement that smart meters have no adverse health effects.” And just how much RF radiation is put out by smart meters is another point of contention.
APS and other utility companies that have begun implementing smart meters often claim that the RF emissions are no worse than what a person experiences with a cell phone held against the head. In some cases, this may be true but we always have the option of turning off our cell phone or using it with a wired headset that has been shown to reduce radiation exposure. Once a smart meter is installed on your home, there is no way to turn it off or move it. Some have equated this exposure to be more like living right next to a cell phone tower.
The RFs are measured from smart meters using a “time averaged” method. This approach looks at the RF emissions over 30-minute time spans. What independent research is showing, however, is that this method is serving to hide the extremely high spikes in RFs emitted when the meter pulses to communicate with the mesh network or send data. By averaging out the high spikes with the lower emissions during non-transmission times, the overall level of emissions appears lower. But the spikes can be so high that they are off the scale of even the most sophisticated measuring devices. And the pulses tend to come in unpredictable and erratic patterns.
Utility companies have tried to tell consumers that their smart meters pulse infrequently but this is also proving to be untrue. APS claims that their wireless meters send out signals for no more than a few minutes in a 24-hour period. However, independent researchers who have measured functioning smart meters have found them to be pulsing at rates as high as 2 to 20 times per second. There is even research that indicates that this pulsed form of RF radiation is actually more dangerous to people than a constant stream, like that found with cell phones and Wi-Fi. This research was related to sickness amongst radar operators and was conducted in the 1930′s.
If science and research isn’t enough to prove the RF emissions from smart meters are dangerous, there are countless first-hand stories in complaints filed with utility commissions across the country, where otherwise healthy people who have suffered from the physical impacts of radiation from smart meters. Many report these effects occurring within hours of smart meter installation. The health issues reported include headaches, nausea, heart problems, insomnia, ringing in the ears, stress, anxiety, and irritability.
Another factor in the health concerns raised by smart meters is the creation of what has become known as “dirty electricity”. This phenomenon could explain why some people begin to experience health symptoms even before their smart meter starts broadcasting. The smart meter can cause voltage shifts in the power lines going into your home which in turn cause high frequency electricity to emit RFs through your appliances and other electrical devices. This creates high-level EMFs in your home that can cause the illnesses listed above. Again, this is a hotly debated issue as there are some who do not believe that this phenomenon even exists and others who have reported the onset of health issues immediately following the installation of a smart meter.
Security Concerns
Health issues are not the only reason why smart meters may not be such a smart idea. There are also extensive concerns about the security of the meters and the wireless system that is designed to carry usage data to the utility companies. The very features that the power companies say will allow them to deliver your electricity more efficiently are what make the system extremely vulnerable to hackers creating a variety of security concerns.
Microsoft itself, on a Windows help forum on their website, declares “there is no way to guarantee complete security on a wireless network.” And, unlike Wi-Fi and Bluetooth security systems, in the protocol used for wireless transmission in smart meters, called Zigbee, the encryption keys are transmitted as plain text. This is equivalent to using the word “password” to secure a sophisticated computer network.
An article in the September/October 2009 issue of Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, included several different methods by which the security of a smart meter could be compromised. From tapping into a meter’s memory chip using syringes to listening in on the wireless transmissions, the article demonstrated that there could be extreme risks to data security using the current generation of smart meters. And, once the smart grid system is in place, the data from your meter could also be present in multitudes of additional meters in your neighborhood. The smart grid is designed so that meters share information from surrounding meters so that all data will eventually be transmitted to the collecting agency. If one meter fails to transmit, data is duplicated on other meters so it will not be lost.
At the personal level, concerns about what information is transmitted over the smart grid are high. If the security of the system is vulnerable, then any personal information that is a part of your utility account could be up for grabs. A hacker could also falsify data regarding your rates and usage – hopefully to your benefit! Not to mention being able to tell whether or not anyone is home based on the amount of electricity use the meter is reporting or the ability to disable a home security system.
On a bigger scale, hackers could potentially break into the grid through any individual smart meter and gain control over the entire system. One of the perks of smart meters touted by companies like APS is that they will be able to shut off a consumer’s electricity without having to make a site visit. So the system contains remote shut off mechanisms that could also be vulnerable to attack allowing a hacker to shut down the power grid any place that a smart meter is present. If the utility companies have their way, smart meters will be everywhere – including hospitals, schools, and banks. Because of the mesh nature of the smart grid, it has also been shown that a virus introduced into a single meter would spread like a wildfire.
Safety Concerns
Another by-product of smart meter installation has been an increase in electrical fires in buildings that have them. In California, where Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has installed more than 8 million smart meters, a fire in East Palo Alto involved 80 burning smart meters. In San Bruno, a fire caused by exploding smart meters killed 8 people and destroyed the homes in an entire neighborhood. Multiple reports of smart meters smoking, smoldering, burning, and exploding have been filed.
PG&E has, more often than not, blamed faulty wiring for these electrical fires. However, it may not be that simple. The problem may once again be related to the high RF spikes emitted by the smart meters. These spikes are not intended to travel down the electrical lines in a building connected to a smart meter. However, various factors can cause the high frequencies produced to do just that. Improper installation of the meters by inadequately trained technicians has been suggested. Arcing of power in the lines and shorts can also occur. Cindy Sage, of Sage Associates, an independent environmental consulting firm, stated in a July 2010 report that “wireless smart meters don’t intentionally use the electrical system to send their RF signal back to the utility to report energy usage. But, when the wireless signal is produced in the meter…it boomerangs around on all the conductive components and can be coupled onto the wiring, water and gas lines, etc. where it can be carried to other parts of the residence or building.”
Current wiring standards are not sufficient to support the high frequency spikes that emit from smart meters. In addition, smart meters have not been tested and approved under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules, nor are they certified by Underwriters Laboratories, the independent, non-profit product safety testing and certification organization that certifies most of the rest of the electrical equipment consumed in the US. This means that, in general, homeowners insurance will not pick up the tab for damages caused by a smart meter.
In addition to fires, there are also a plethora of reports from people whose home appliances have been damaged or destroyed following the installation of a smart meter. The electrical equipment we have in our homes is also incapable of handling the large RF spikes that may be delivered through the wiring by the smart meter.
The Final Blow
On top of all the health, security, and safety issues that have been raised, the final blow often comes along with the first bill the consumer receives after installation of a smart meter. In spite of promises that the new meters will save energy and money, most utility customers report an immediate increase in their monthly bill – sometimes more than two or three times the amount they were billed for under their analog meter. There are several reasons why this may occur, though companies like PG&E and APS have failed to offer their own justifications for this broken promise.
One explanation is that companies are varying rates more for peak and off-peak use of power. So, for consumers who are on a time-rated plan, the real-time monitoring capabilities of smart meters may mean they are paying more now for the fact that their refrigerator runs all day long. Another explanation speculated is that consumers are being charged for electricity delivered to the meter on the power company’s side of the lines but not used yet on the homeowner’s side – a way of charging for potential use rather than actual use.
Whatever explanation is applied, thousands of complaints have been filed with corporation commissions that govern utility companies in the states where smart meters have been implemented. And consumers have filed lawsuits against PG&E in California and against public utilities in Maine and Texas. Will suits against APS be far behind?
Mandated, Really?
There is no federal mandate for the implementation of smart meters. In Arizona, there is also no official option to not have one. APS had initially told those that protested the installation of a smart meter on their property that they would be put on a “temporary” opt-out list and that further installations would be delayed until 2013. However, more recent contacts with the utility provider have been less gracious. One consumer received a letter from APS that stated: “Our Company is in the process of installing smart meters throughout the state and we expect to complete the project by the end of 2014. I regret to inform you that we do not offer the option of opting-out.” In Maine, people had to fight for it but they were eventually given the option to refuse smart meters. Californians are still fighting for it. However, the alternative proposed by the utility companies is often an exorbitant fee for those who choose not to have a smart meter.
Research has shown that there are other, safer technologies that can be implemented to make our power delivery systems more efficient. In fact, there is significant evidence that wireless technologies place an even greater strain on the environment than wired ones. And what about all the people whose job it is to go out and read your meter? Is this really the time to be forcing people out of their jobs so we can rush into an expensive technology that may have a great deal of risk involved in its implementation?
Maybe these so-called “smart” meters are really a dumb idea after all.
Between the Notes – Resonance
RESONANCE
Welcome to Blog No. 2 of Between the Notes.
Now that we all know we are vibrational beings, let’s explore one of the main qualities associated with vibration: RESONANCE.
When we talk about resonance we are talking about the way waves or vibrations affect each other and the way they interact. We use this concept in our common speech to describe feelings of alignment, sympathy, attunement, or common ideas (i.e., “That idea resonates with me.”) Or it can be used conversely to describe a lack of harmony or disagreement. When we hear music we love we might say, “It strikes a chord in me.” The same can be said about a particularly eloquent speaker or an evocative poem. In each case an intrinsic frequency within us is being moved; stimulated by a similar frequency coming into our field of senses; and connected to our emotions. People that make musical instruments also use the principle of resonance when crafting a fine sounding guitar, violin, or piano.
As I demonstrate in this video, a string held in the fingers and plucked won’t make a great sounding tone. But, if you stretch that same string over a wooden box, the wood will resonate with the vibrations created when you pluck it. Viola’! You’ve created a primitive instrument, complete with amplification!
We have the ability to receive all kinds of vibrations and influences, some of which will enhance our well-being while others will weaken or even damage us. We’ve all had the experience of being around a particularly negative person and feeling exhausted or negative as a result of the experience. This is because we begin to resonate with them, either out of sympathy, a desire to connect, or plain old unconsciousness. And at the same time, there are people in our lives we love to be around because their energy produces an uplifting or inspiring effect on us.
By being sensitive to our feelings and paying attention to our intuition we can attune ourselves and resonate with situations, people, and places that amplify our inherent spiritual integrity. For example, being in natural environments is particularly restorative to our balance and peace.
The fundamental note is, choose your music, work, and friends wisely because in time we become that which we resonate with!
On that note, I’d love to hear about what you resonate with. In the comment section post the kind of music, poetry, spiritual teachers, food, colors, etc. that amplify your vibration.
Enjoy the new webisode. I hope it strikes a chord!
Philippo Franchini
The Musical Alchemist
Law of Supply and Demand – Marlene Buffa
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.
In a way, the Spiritual explosion of the 21st century operates similarly. This time, we’ve learned from the efforts of those before us, and actually seek and sometimes find answers within ourselves instead of from somewhere or someone else. And try as we might, the formula is – there is no formula! Life gives you what you ask for in the most perfect cloak of lessons and movement.
Source and Request
As humans, we’re quick to blame the supply – “There isn’t enough for me!” If that doesn’t work, we try the non-productive, plaintive blame-game, which of course, ultimately perpetuates our situation. Subconsciously, we know life is abundant and there is always enough. The supply is not the problem. Then, it dawns on us to actually ask for what we want! Aha!
Spiritual teachers guide us to be specific in what we want, or we’ll get the Soup du Jour from the Universe. We then get really good at identifying and asking the Universe for our needs and desires to be met. We make lists of what we want with tangible or esoteric qualities, waxing specific about all the details of who, what, when, where, why and how we expect our delivery. This leaves the Universe a pinhole of opportunity to dispense our good if it must meet all these conditions to please us. In other words – stop the noise!
Conversely, we’re also guided to be general in the expression of our desires and let Spirit figure it out for us. Huh? Ok, I get that I can tell the Universe I need $1,378.32 by the end of the month. Does God care about the amount? The Infinite created the Grand Canyon and Angel Falls for goodness sakes – sure a measly amount of money is easy to manifest in comparison! What gives?
What our spiritual teachers tell us is true on both paradigms. We DO need to ask for what we want, and be specific in our request, and we need our request to be fillable within the parameters of earthly possibility! While I’ve always joked I wanted a million dollars in cash to fall from the sky in my back yard. That may be possible, but not likely. What if it came to me in a different, more perfect way? Give up the reporter requirements (who, what, when, etc.) and just ask for what you want.
Basically, we want our needs and desires to be met in life. We notice the dribbles of good coming from the faucet of our supply. Our gratitude in receiving an unlimited, albeit restricted flow of what we want, identifies our satisfaction and provides us with the opportunity to more clearly define our desires. We alone define the magic formula for us. We came to the planet with a plan, a goal, and lessons to learn. No one else can determine your formula for you. What we really want is to live an abundant life filled with happiness and completion in the learning experience. Let the Infinite provide the game board. You keep rolling the dice!
Marlene Buffa
Taking a quiet sideways glance at life, Marlene offers insight through her words from experiences. . A student of new-thought teachings, Marlene finds practical spirituality around every corner and seeks wisdom through observation of life’s inter-relationships. Sometimes playful, sometimes poignant, always thought-provoking, her writing inspires readers in meaningful ways.
www.wordsofmind.com.
Transformational Astrology – Henry Seltzer
January Astrology
Henry Seltzer
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.
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 22nd 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.
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.
ARIES (March 20-April 19). This is a powerful month for you Aries, heading into a potent New Year when many things in your life will alter, and when business as usual is out the window in favor of right livelihood. As long as you can keep your wits about you then your luck is definitely flowing. You begin the year well and how you end is strictly up to you and what more really can you ask? A potentially feisty ride awaits toward month’s end and into February but your days of difficulty and struggle are limited as long as you adhere to the simple maxim of allowing grace to enter. You win by seeing deeply enough into what is actually happening so as to discern the direction that the universe is asking you to go, and then choosing to go that way.
TAURUS (April 20-May 19). This is a time of big action, Taurus, and of imagination in motion. It’s a tightrope walk in which you strive to meet yourself gracefully in many different simultaneous ways, and you are operating without a net. You are all set to experience life in the largest possible dimension and to gain from your experience a truly big-picture viewpoint – as long as you refuse to look down. Whether you consider yourself ready or you don’t, your actions are expanding out into the surrounding universe and making not just a ripple but a stir. You are serving to further society and to enable your own self to take a powerful stand; but it must be a spiritual stand in order for your balancing act to remain on target.
GEMINI (May 20-June 20). The hits just keep on coming, Gemini. The series of transformations that you have been engaged in for many months won’t let up in 2012, quite the contrary. Your changes have taken a new turn recently. You are making yet another evolutionary leap in this present month that will take you further along the path that you all along knew you needed to follow. This time your vision really has legs for a new future plan more closely aligned with soul-purpose. A whole new world will open up for you as this period unfolds. It will not be without struggle, and it might not look pretty, but there is a rich spiritual component associated and that’s enough to take you a long, long way down your road.
CANCER (June 21-July 20) This is the truly the first month of the rest of your life, Cancer. Many opportunities are presenting themselves to you in this New Year. You are still engaged in where your life is taking you, and still surprised at some the new directions that have been opening up, so that in many ways it seems as though not much has changed. And yet there is a qualitative difference now. You are starting to get on board with the notion that your life is moving through a distinct and startling evolution and that you cannot by any stretch return to where you once were. This is more than a little scary, but exhilarating also and happening no matter how hard you try to resist. It’s refreshing to realize that in fact it really is all up to you.
LEO (July 21-Aug. 21) The plot is thickening, Leo. The time has come, as the Walrus said, to talk of many things; and these are things not normally covered in your pre-existing worldview. A new year and a new mandate await you. You might normally feel as if you are the center of your own universe, apart from the rest of the society that surrounds you, but lately, not so much. You are seeing the world and your role in it with new eyes. You feel more compelled to join up somehow, and although still somewhat on your own terms, enter into a mode of service to the surrounding collective. Even more, through the trials and challenges of this sense of mission you will come to understand your stance much more clearly – and ultimately yourself.
VIRGO (Aug. 21-Sept. 21) The wave of metamorphosis keeps on coming, Virgo. This is for you a continued season of spiritual sustenance and deep transformation. Your worldview is changing and you along with it, so that you find that you are reinventing yourself. A moving target is difficult to squarely hit and there are also volatile emotions accompanying this shift that so that everything could be up, down and all around for quite a while. You can perhaps no longer subscribe to any non-functional relationship patterns that survive to the present day. Inter-personal connections suffer, but then eventually improve. The important thing is that you are on your way. The path that is opening up before you now is profound, life-altering and scary, but you are on the road to freedom and nothing can stop you now.
LIBRA (Sept. 22-Oct. 22) You are digging deep this month, Libra. The psychological basis for your root security needs and as well the fall-out from scenes on the home and family front are very much up for you right now, including new relationship initiatives that are both exciting and destabilizing all at the very same time. Surprising inter-personal developments could lead to drama or increased tension as the month unfolds. There could be ancient patterns of behavior stemming from early childhood trauma which come up for you and that are finally ready to be acknowledged and integrated. Spiritual solutions are waiting in the wings. Your challenge is to respond as gracefully as possible to events as they arise, just taking them in, without getting hooked, and yet without turning your gaze away.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) This is still a time of deep reflection, Scorpio, even though your vision for the future is very active now. These ideas are taking you mentally where you need to go. You are seeking a better fit with an internal soul purpose that is becoming clearer to you by the day. Be advised, however, that it might take you a lot longer to get the actual walking of your talk into true alignment with your fledgling concept. You could be struggling somewhat at this time as well with ancient issues. You are engaged in discovering your true self-concept and making of your fundamental service orientation an act of conscious sharing rather than one of knee-jerk reaction to early conditioning and to feelings of lack. When you discipline yourself to watch and wait, you will find the right direction to allow your feet to travel.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 20) It’s a tricky business now, Sagittarius, as you enter the New Year. This is a time of putting security needs uppermost and yet it is not financial security that you truly seek. There is also the stability and the deep psychological security that comes from knowing that you are on the path dictated by soul-purpose and that no matter how far away you remain from actually articulating that inner vision, you have done your best to do so. To this end, you have cosmic forces coming to your aid. You are ripe for significant progress there. You are undoubtedly dealing with financial fluctuations and issues with resources, but they take a back seat compared to finding your true pathway forward, the road that is aligned with soul purpose, which is the place to put your full attention.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19) Your month and year kicks off with a bang, Capricorn. You are both inspired and destabilized by the archetypal currents swirling about you now, in this your birthday time of the year. There is excitement at leaving behind in some ways all traces of the past – although something important also remains – so that it is a bit dizzying. With your ruler Saturn beginning to slow down, stationing to retrograde motion next month, and Mars also after the New Moon of January 22nd, you might find yourself operating in stop-and-go mode, with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake, simultaneously. There is wisdom in both approaches. To maximize happiness and avoid misery you must relax into the paradox, taking something of the new and unknown as normal while with another part of your psyche remaining skeptical and holding back.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 17) This is strangely evocative period of time for you, Aquarius. You are in the midst of intense transformation right now, but little of it is visible, as this takes place in the deeper parts of your psyche, somewhat cloudy to your conscious mind. You are spiritually connected and dream-world oriented, so that it might be best to extend your closest attention to what your inner world reveals to you in the form of dreams and visions. You become more available to friends and colleagues after the 22nd, but the influence of these unconscious parts of yourself remains. Never underestimate their power. Your real-world approach will be forever altered by the changes that are brewing now beneath the surface, and will shortly make themselves manifest at all levels of your being and in your outer-world presence also.
PISCES (Feb. 18-March 19) This is an essentially optimistic period, Pisces. As the New Year gets underway, you are looking ahead to a brighter future for yourself; one that more closely matches your true heart’s desire. There are implications also for significant relationships that you cherish, as every part of your life settles into a new blueprint for future activity. You could continue to feel fluctuations in finances, and old patterns of behavior might be triggered and demand to be dealt with, but even these issues can be exciting as well as scary, the harbingers of important life changes that you are more than ready to make. It’s all in the perspective that you bring. You win when you are able to put your trust in the surrounding cosmos and take comfort in the realization that time, like a river, never stops moving forward.
Henry Seltzer, transformational astrologer and creator of the TimePassages astrology software, is based in Santa Cruz, California. An extended look at this month’s star signs is available on his website. Holding degrees from MIT and the University of California-San Diego, Henry is a popular speaker and also offers life enhancing private astrological counseling. Call him at 831-425-3686, or visit his website at www.astrograph.com.
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