Astrology – Page 17

Astro 101 — Hemisphere Interpretation

In the last lesson of Astro 101, I introduced the astrological houses. If you missed that blog post then I encourage you to read that before you continue with this lesson. Also, you can read all the lessons from Astro 101 by simply going to the resource page I created to keep everything nice and organized. In this lesson, we are going to move on to something new the hemisphere orientation of the houses.

One of the main things to remember about astrology is that it’s all about numbers. In past lessons we learned that there is one chart, two genders, three modalities, 4 elements and all of this components combine together to become the twelve signs of the zodiac. While we are learning about the astrological houses, you will notice this pattern continues.

Imagine, if you will, that the chart is a pie (who doesn’t like pie). You can divide a pie in two different ways – north to south or east to west. Similarly, we can divide the chart from north to south or from east to west. In earth science, these are considered hemispheres. Astrologically, we refer to them as hemispheres as well. Each hemisphere of the chart has unique qualities or characteristics that are attributed to them. Planets that are placed in hemispheres will express themselves based on the hemisphere they are in. This will modify the way they ‘act’ based on their environment.

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes!

Astro 101 — Introduction to the Astrological Houses

An Introduction to the Astrological Houses

Did you know that every relationship you have or will EVER have is found in your horoscope?

Well, they are!

Your parents are found in your chart, your love relationships, your pet, your doctor, your educators, your friends, your siblings, and even that ONE person you wish wouldn’t be in your chart is THERE. IF you didn’t know this, then this lesson is definitely for you!

In my last teaching series of Astro 101, I explained the astrological signs. We learned about astrological gender, elements, and the modalities that form the 12 signs of the zodiac. In this series, we will explore the astrological houses which will help prepare us for our study of the planets.

If you do not have a copy of your chart, you can get one for free by using the application widget on my site. In addition, I have created an extensive tutorial to help you understand how to read your chart so that you can learn all the various bits and pieces that combine to make up YOU.

The Astrological Houses

I remember when I first started studying astrology (1984) that I found astrological houses confusing. At that time there were few resources a teenage boy could get in upstate New York – just the random books that could be found in the library. I understood the signs as they were descriptors of how the planet is going to perform; yet, the houses were baffling to me. Eventually, I took a high school psychology and learned about projection. Then the houses began to make more sense to me. The houses were areas of our life and our relationship with the outer world from the front porch of our Ascendant (imagine yourself sitting in a chair at your Ascendant look out at the rest of the houses). So, every house has an innate expectation that we have projected upon in since birth.

Claire Martin in her book, “Mapping the Psyche” has a wonderful quote about the difference between houses and signs. She says:

“The signs dictate a temporal cycle and the houses describes a spatial cycle, the two systems can be superimposed upon each other because, in astrology, every cycle has the same intrinsic meaning.”

Simply put, the signs are seasonal in nature, and they occur simply because the earth moves around the Sun and is measured in 30 degree increments. The Sun begins its each year (beginning of spring) in the sign of Aries and ends each year in the sign of Pisces (end of winter). On the psychological level, the sun moving through the signs reflects birth-growth-death-rebirth cycle that is inherent in the seasons and all of life.

The houses, on the other hand, develop spatially because of relationships. In the 1^st house one develops self-awareness in relationship to themselves, the 2^nd house we develop a relationship to money, and around the wheel we go creating relationships with individuals and groups until we experience our larger relationship with the collective in the 12^th house. Additionally, since the houses reflect our relationships with others, they are reflections of who we are ourselves since we will project the contents of our personal chart onto the people around us. The purpose of astrology is to bring our projections back home to the Ascendant, which makes us more well-rounded individuals.

Astrological House Cheat Sheet:

Here is a quick list of the astrological houses and the relationships that exist within them. Of course, I will go through them more thoroughly but this gives you a jumping off point to start playing with your own houses.

1^st house	Relationship to ourselves and the immediate environment
2^nd house	Relationship to our money, values, possessions, and body
3^rd house	Relationship to siblings, neighbors, teachers, and ideas
4^th house	Relationship to father, family, and early environment
5^th house	Relationship to children, love affairs, pleasures, gambling, and risk taking
6^th house	Relationship to work, co-workers, day to day life, routine, health, and pets
7^th house	Relationship to marriage, spouses, partnerships, and open enemies
8^th house	Relationship to sex, death, and shared resources
9^th house	Relationship to travel, higher education, God, religious or spiritual ideas, adventures, and finding a sense of meaning in life
10^th house	Relationship to mother, the public, our career, and our boss
11^th house	Relationship to friends, colleagues, collective society, and political idealisms
12^th house	Relationship to the collective unconscious, dreams, myths, ancestors, and the hidden worlds.

Homework Assignment:

On a piece of paper making a list from 1-12. Write down the sign on each of the houses and any planet that may be in the house. This will give you a bit more grounding in your own chart and an idea of what to look for interpreting your own houses in the sections to come.

Next Lesson: Chart Orientation

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Mercury Retrograde Can Be Good For You

Did you know that Mercury retrograde can be really good for you?

I know, it’s annoying, but it really does have a purpose!

As you guessed Mercury continues to be retrograde on Sunday. Since Mercury is moving through the emotional sign of Cancer this can really intensify the other astrological transits and Sunday’s Venus/Pluto transit is no exception.

Venus (in Taurus) and Pluto (in Capricorn) are both in earth signs. Earth signs are known for their sexuality and when two erotic planets get together it can lead to a lot of physical based intensity – don’t make me paint you a picture. Mercury can amplify any tension that may exist within this aspect and a whole lotta’ luvvin may go on!

Venus trine Pluto is very emotional intense and you will experience a heightened emotional response to your environment today. Since Mercury gives us amplified reflection (one of his superpowers) while in retrograde, you may receive insight into your relationship that could ultimately increase your emotional bond. This can feel overwhelming at first, but enormous benefits will be gained.

Storm Cestavani is the co-host of the top rated metaphysical show “Keep It Magic” and the co-creator of the “Tarot Magic” with Coventry Creations. Storm is available for consultations by setting up an appointment to speak with him. Simply click on Book A Reading with Storm at the top of the page.

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Forget the Hype — Mercury Retrograde is a Powerful Healing Tool

One of the problems in writing a blog is being concise enough to be informative, yet not overwhelming the reader with information overload. This is daunting, when dealing with a complex subject like Mercury Retrograde (now known as Mercury Rx). Regardless, on June 7, 2014 astrology websites across the internet will begin to echo the reminder that “the trickster planet” has gone retrograde. I’ve written volumes about the effects of Mercury Rx – what I intend to explore here is the natural process of reflection inherent in the configuration to provide deeper understanding of our natural rhythms of life.

What is Mercury? For those that do not have an astrological language, Mercury represents our understanding of life. He is the planet of education, communication, discussion, documents, papers, television, radio and the information you search for on the internet. In Greek Mythology, he is known as Hermes the swift footed communication God and the protector of commerce and industry. Unlike the other planets, Mercury is rather unique by appearing to move backwards 3-4X per year. The retrogradation process is notorious for causing problems with communication, technical problems, plan hassles, and it is not wise to begin anything new or make vast changes during this period.

The Greek Hermes was a two-fold deity as astrological Mercury rules the two signs of Gemini and Virgo. On one hand, Hermes (Mercury) is the messenger of the God’s and the God of crossroads (periods in our life, where we do not know what decisions to make?) and mental connections. He appears in our lives when we suddenly understand something with new clarity and new comprehension. However, Hermes was one of the few deities (along with Hecate and Persephone) that were allowed to traverse the boundaries between the upper world (consciousness) and the underworld (unconsciousness). In his underworld guise, he serves two primary functions. He ushers the souls of the dead down to their final resting place, and in a few instances used necromancy to bring the souls of the dead back to the land of the living. His role of the psycho-pomp, I believe gives us the deepest understanding of Mercury Rx.

In astrology, we can take Mercury’s passage through the zodiac as a cyclical period. Every so often, Mercury turns around and moves the other direction creating a more introverted tone to the mainly extroverted planet. Since I believe astrology is instructional, Mercury sends us a message that we need to turn “inward” and review the past period of direct motion. (To an extent, I believe all the planets when they go retrograde urge us to reflect on certain areas of our lives colored by the sign the planet goes retrograde in)

Activity 1: Get out a piece of paper. Write down the events and circumstances that you have found meaningful or distressful since Mercury turned direct on Feb 28, 2014 . Explore as many areas as you can. Take a look at the significant areas of your life – financial, professional, and relationships, and write down how you feel about these particular areas. What did you experience? Once you are done writing, fold up the paper and continue reading.

Another tool we can use to amplify Mercury Rx is through the tarot Major Arcana card of Judgement.One of the best decks that I have seen that conveys the deepest layers of the Judgement card is the Mythic Tarot.The card makes use of Hermes role as the psycho-pomp, at what appears to be the entrance to the underworld (unconscious).Beneath him are the sarcophagi with three mummified figures reaching up towards Hermes.Many astrologers consider Mercury Rx to be a time where unresolved issues from the past come back to be resolved.Likewise, I believe the Judgement card represents rewards for past efforts, and a deep understanding that we ourselves “create” our own future through the actions and decisions that we make in life.In many ways, we truly ‘reap what we sew’.

Taking ownership of our current circumstances is a powerful healing mechanism. It allows us to take control of our lives, and provides us with the opportunity to make better choices and decisions that create our future. Mercury Rx can provide us a cyclical period to examine our past actions, behaviors, upsets and joys and understand the deeper side of our personality. We may find parts of ourselves that may need improvement, parts we need to work on, and parts we really like. We can use this time to make great inner change! Looking at the Judgment card once again, we can visualize the mummified rags on the corpses as symbols for the parts of our lives we would like to change. Underneath those rags of the past, might be the butterflies for our future tomorrow.

Activity 2:

Take a look at the figure of the Judgement card for a few moments. Now close your eyes. Imagine yourself in the room with Hermes. Talk to him and ask him for assistance in helping you understand the aspects of your life that you would like to change. Take note of any feelings or messages that you may have received.

Activity 3:

Take out your piece of paper in Activity 1. Re-read it and make note of how you feel about the past few months. What do you believe you need to change? Print up the black and white version of the Judgement card. If you click on the image itself, a larger version will appear that you can print. Now, get out a pack of crayons or colored pencils and color in the figure of the Judgment card. Use any colors that you wish to reflect your current situation, and the events of the past few months. Use the three figures in the sarcophagi to reflect areas of your life that you have new insight about, or wish to change. Take a look at the figure you have created. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in the room with Hermes. Talk to him and ask him for assistance in helping you make the changes that you need to make in your life. Ask Hermes to provide you with the information necessary or tools he can provide you with to assist you in your tasks. Take note of any feelings or messages that you may have received.

For your listening pleasure here is an audio companion to this blog post from the archives of Keep It Magic. It’s all about Mercury and his role in mythology, astrology, and magic.

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Finding Your Inner Gold — The Sun

Finding Your Inner Gold – The Sun

How often do you read your horoscope? If so, then you are familiar with where your Sun is located in the horoscope. You are either a Taurus, a Scorpio, an Aquarius, or one of the other 9 signs that make up the astrological heavens. But, what do you really know about the symbol of the Sun that we base all our sun sign descriptions on?

In this episode of ‘Keep It Magic’, Jacki Smith and I explore the astrological Sun beyond the sun sign columns and delve deeply into the works of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and Erich Neumann. Since the symbolism of the Sun reflects the need and urge to become unique individuals, then there must be a universal map or plan that describes solar unfoldment. This is perfectly described by the “Heroes Journey”.

We encourage you to put away everything that you know about your Sun because the information provided in this episode will only amplify your understanding. Instead, it is perhaps more helpful to realize that the Sun is constantly unfolding and becoming itself and is always in a process of becoming. Unlike the Moon which develops through our experiences in early childhood, the Sun takes effort. It is up to you to decide if you are going to heed its call.

Current Spirituality Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with KeepItMagic on BlogTalkRadio

Finding Your Inner Gold — The Moon

I’m excited about the next four episodes of Keep It Magic. Over the years, Jacki Smith and I have had numerous requests for more astrology content on the show. We have done a bit over the last 3 years (yes we are at the tail end of Season 3), but creating them can be rather tricky. Our challenge has always been how to create an inclusive content about astrology without focusing heavily on individual astrological positions. So we have decided to do shows on the planets meanings and mythologies in order to provide our listeners with a more rounded view of the individual planets and everything they encompass.

Our first episode is on the Astrological Moon. In my opinion, the Moon gets far less astrological press and attention than it should. Perhaps, the reason is that we live in a solar conscious society that place its importance on potential, possibility, goals, and the future. However, being bound to a body that needs warmth, nourishment, and security are all lunar consciousness necessities, and without this grounded reality our ability to manifest our solar desires and personal contentment are minimized.

In this episode, Jacki and I explore the different connections and meanings of the Moon that are beyond the traditional keywords of feelings and emotions. Plus, we explore the goddesses of the Moon and how amplifying their symbols help us to understand the Moon and any lunar dysfunctions that may occur if the Moon is not properly expressed in the horoscope.

Before you begin this episode, I do ask that you put any preconceived ideas, meanings, or associations you have with the Moon on a shelf. This will help you grasp the concepts discussed easier.

Current Spirituality Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with KeepItMagic on BlogTalkRadio

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