Heads Up! The Writer’s Astrological Almanac

By Kathy Watts ~ March 2013

Here comes March comes howling in!

Fri 01 Mar the Moon enters Scorpio. Serious stuff, this, and good
thing. We have serious work to do. That it's Venus's day of the week
may grant us all a little grace throughout the month.

Sat 02 Mar the Moon conjuncts Saturn in Scorpio. Be respectful and
determine to have a pleasant time. Work and socialize with sincerity.

Mon 04 Mar the Moon is in Sagittarius when the Sun conjuncts Mercury
retrograde. Get introspective in a big way, and think about publishing
markets.

Wed 06 Mar the Moon is in Capricorn all day. Well, good, it's a work
day. The Moon conjuncts Pluto. Make it intense work. It doesn't have
to be for long. Nine hour later Mercury retrograde conjuncts Venus.
Formulate some personal internal notion of beauty. Two and a half
hours later, Mercury retrograde trines Saturn. You may not act on this
instantly, but some practical smart work can come out of it later.

Sat 09 Mar the Moon is void of course in Aquarius when Mercury
retrograde squares Jupiter. This could put a chill on being social,
but warm up the independent work drive.

Sun 10 Mar the Moon conjuncts Neptune in Pisces. Dream time can be the
best down time. About eight hour later the Moon conjuncts Mercury
retrograde. Thoughts may come and go, never surfacing into the world.
Take notes anyway. The big news is, it's the day before the New Moon.
Heads Up. (Or, you may think that the real big news is, Daylight
Savings Time begins.) Be your normal safe self and be conservative in
any physical risk-taking.

Mon 11 Mar the Moon conjuncts Venus in Pisces. You could share that
dream in your writing. Eight and a half hours or so later, is the New
Moon at 21Pis. Dream big for everyone, even if it's mostly in the
form of meditation (which is what most writing is). Just before
midnight (if you're on the left coast of the US), Mars changes signs,
escaping Pisces and entering its home sign of Aries. Maybe this rates
a Heads Up. It may be hard to stay in bed as late tomorrow.

Tue 12 Mar the Moon conjuncts Mars in Aries. It's Mars's day of the
week, too. Be busy, as much of your own choosing as you can manage.
Thirteen and a half hours later the Moon conjuncts Uranus. Your own
feelings may surprise you, and this can be a good thing for a writer.
This is a hot and heavy day for the Moon. I say, Heads Up.

Wed 13 Mar the Moon is void of course in Aries just about all day.
It's a do your own thing kind of day, even if it's just setting your
own schedule. Deadlines still matter, of course, but they’re your
deadlines after all. We are getting a month of Wednesdays with the
Moon in cardinal signs. Even if we can't finish a whole lot, we should
at least be able to start a few nice new projects.

Sat 16 Mar the Moon enters Gemini late in the evening. We have all of
Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday morning to do those Geminian things.
Don't let the Mercury retrograde get you down. It's ending, anyway.
Can't you feel Mercury grinding to a halt, preparing to go stationary
direct? Well, it is. Our prime editing time is running low. Heads Up.

Sun 17 Mar the Moon is in Mercury's home sign Gemini when Mercury at
last goes stationary direct at 05Pis. Not quite six hours later, the
Moon conjuncts Jupiter. Erin Go Bragh. (This doesn't mean you have to
have a pint of Guinness for supper, but it doesn't mean you can't.)

Mon 18 Mar the Moon is in Gemini all day. Mercury is direct now,
moving very slowly. Write as slowly or as rapidly as you please.

Tue 19 Mar the Moon is void of course in Gemini all morning, entering
Cancer in the afternoon. It's also the last day of the month with the
Sun in the sign of Pisces. Tomorrow the Sun enters Aries and begins a
brand new zodiacal cycle. May we all see things with fresh eye, and
with not too combustible an outlook. The mood of the whole world will
different tomorrow. Heads Up.

Wed 20 Mar the Moon is in Cancer when the Sun enters Aries. Happy
Vernal Equinox. Cast yourself an ingress chart for a peek at how the
next three months may unfold around you. It's a first quarter moon,
with the Moon in her own home. Family, home, and what you can do for
it (as well as get from it) are perpetually fascinating topics to put
into your work.

Thu 21 Mar the Moon is still void of course in Cancer when Venus
leaves the sign Pisces and enters Aries. Beauty may become less dreamy
and romantic, and more conspicuous and vivacious. Write accordingly.
Not quite four hours later the Moon moves on into the bright fiery
solar sign of Leo. It might be hard to sleep tonight.

Fri 22 Mar the Moon is in Leo when Mars conjuncts Uranus in Aries.
Heads Up. Let me try that again. HEADS UP. These are two planets that
get along perhaps a little too well together, and they're doing it in
Mars's home sign Aries. This is a lot of fire. Plus, the Moon is in
Leo. Did I mention that the Sun itself has just entered Aries and is
with range of applying to this conjunction? We can do a lot of good
with this. Just pay attention, buckle down and focus, and curb any
temper and impatience. Drive nicely. Keep fingers out of electric
sockets, and keep appliances out of water. Think and perform random
acts of kindness. Uranus should appreciate random anythings.

Wed 27 Mar is the Full Moon at 06Lib. Spend some of the next month
working on improving personal style, and being less shy about getting
your work out into the world. Consider how you can better cooperate
(without total compromise or cave-in) for the benefit of getting your
work out into the world.

Thu 28 Mar the Moon is void of course in Libra when Mercury trines
Saturn. If you work at less than break-neck speed, you will probably
need less editing than usual. Seven hours later the Sun conjuncts
Venus in Aries. You may be briefly blinded by your own vision, or
light, but something good may still come of it. Six hours after that,
Venus conjuncts Uranus in Aries. Something odd may appeal to you, a
favorite new odd word, a lucky writing undergarment, something. And,
an hour and a half later, the Sun conjuncts Uranus in Aries. The Sun,
Venus, and Uranus. Today's the day to write the kinky romance
sequence, the one with the happy ending. Heads Up.

Fri 29 Mar the Moon conjuncts Saturn in Scorpio. It somehow seems
fitting that after yesterday's fiery festival of conjunctions in
Aries, we get a slam of frozen water with Scorpio and Saturn today.
Heads Up. This could trigger a major mood swing. If this dampens the
writing urge, take a short walk or do something else briefly to
restore perspective and refocus the eyes. End this week sweetly and
well.

First, I want to say something not only personal but grammatical. I'm
aware that the prevalent verb form of the word 'conjunction' is the
word 'conjoin'. Well, perhaps this is an Aries snit, but I really hate
the sound of 'Venus conjoining Uranus' or that 'the Moon conjoins
Mercury.' Sorry. Won't do it. My ear won't let me.

This is one hot month, and I'm not talking climate change. Mars and
Uranus are extremely active, and doing most of it in Aries. Spring
has not just sprung. It has sort of kind of exploded. Some years it
does that. We're writers, though, and we're not timid. We may feel
sometimes beaten down but we are never never down for the count. Take
hold of that celestial spark, transform it into a flame, and then feed
the flame with all the passion and creativity you can bring to bear.
Be safe, be respectful, be gracious and helpful and, above all, be
you. There is only one you in all of time and space. To try and be
someone else is to rob the universe of the only you that there will
ever be. This is part of what Aries is all about. Go for it! Heads
Up!

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Michael Talbot- Synchronicity and the Holographic Universe

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Terence McKenna- Time and the I-Ching

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Russia meteor's origin tracked down

From BBC News:
"Astronomers have traced the origin of a meteor that injured about 1,000 people after breaking up over central Russia earlier this month.

Using amateur video footage, they were able to plot the meteor's trajectory through Earth's atmosphere and then reconstruct its orbit around the Sun.

As the space rock burned up over the city of Chelyabinsk, the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

The team, from Colombia, has published details on the Arxiv website.

Numerous videos of the fireball were taken with camera phones, CCTV and car-dashboard cameras and subsequently shared widely on the web. Furthermore, traffic camera footage of the fireball had precise time and date stamps.

Early estimates of the meteor's mass put it at ten tonnes; US space agency Nasa later estimated it to be between 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes. Nasa estimates the size of the object was about 17m (55ft).

Using the footage and the location of an impact into Lake Chebarkul, Jorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin, from the University of Antioquia in Medellin were able to use simple trigonometry to calculate the height, speed and position of the rock as it fell to Earth.

To reconstruct the meteor's original orbit around the Sun, they used six different properties of its trajectory through Earth's atmosphere. Most of these are related to the point at which the meteor becomes bright enough to cast a noticeable shadow in the videos." Read More

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Asperatus Clouds Over New Zealand

From Images 108

What kind of clouds are these? Although their cause is presently unknown, such unusual atmospheric structures, as menacing as they might seem, do not appear to be harbingers of meteorological doom. Known informally as Undulatus asperatus clouds, they can be stunning in appearance, unusual in occurrence, are relatively unstudied, and have even been suggested as a new type of cloud. Whereas most low cloud decks are flat bottomed, asperatus clouds appear to have significant vertical structure underneath. Speculation therefore holds that asperatus clouds might be related to lenticular clouds that form near mountains, or mammatus clouds associated with thunderstorms, or perhaps a foehn wind -- a type of dry downward wind that flows off mountains. Such a wind called the Canterbury arch streams toward the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. The above image, taken above Hanmer Springs in Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2005, shows great detail partly because sunlight illuminates the undulating clouds from the side. (APOD- Image Credit: Witta Priester)

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Remote viewers predicting catastrophic events 2013 and the near term future

>UFO Sightings Hotspot
"Two independent science-based probes provide some, although not definitive, evidence to support a possible catastrophic timeline for Earth in 2013 and the near term future.

1. A 1971 U.S. Department of Defense DARPA chronovisor time travel probe to the year 2013 found the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC under 100 feet of brackish water.

2. In a 2010 Farsight Institute remote viewing probe of June 2013 using the largest number of military-trained remote viewers in history, 39% of the military-trained remove viewers found a global coastal event and devastated coastal cities and populations, with the U.S. Capitol (directly across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court) being devastated and by deep water, congruent with the 1971 DARPA chronovisor probe of 2013.

The results of the 2010 Farsight Institute probe of June 2013 are skewed between a 2013 “catastrophic” timeline and a 2013 “non-catastrophic” timeline.

Back in 2008 some predictions were made by a team of the top, military trained "remote viewers" - each with over a decade of successful service. Lyn Buchanan from US Army Intelligence and Glenn Wheaton, of US Special Forces participated in a project run by Farsight Institute originally designed to detect minute climate changes at selected targets around the globe. Instead of climate change, the remote viewers saw a huge meteoric impact in the ocean with devastating tidal waves and volcanism. All this happening by 2013.

The results were unexpected but should be taken seriously. It appears that the governments of the world are already preparing for such an event. The scientific community believes these predictions to be so strong and reliable that they proposed to let the reputation of remote viewing, as a science, rest upon this horrible prediction.


In 2008 a team of 8 military grade remote viewers were asked to view several targets with the understanding that the actual target assignments for each session would be given to them in the future. The sessions were given a number (S1, S2...) and the notes and drawings from each session were collected, scanned, encrypted and subsequently downloaded by tens of thousands of internet users for some future date, when the encryption codes would be published. This guaranteed that the results of the remote viewing sessions could not be changed.

There was a total of 113 sessions. Once the sessions had been recorded, the targets were selected in a random manner, pairing each session with one of three possible target conditions in 9 different locations around the globe:

The locations are: 1. Vaitupu, Tuvalu 2. Fort Jesus, Mombasa Kenya 3. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia 4. Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 5. United States Congress Building, Washington, D.C. 6. Malé International Airport, Malé, Maldives 7. KITV Building, Honolulu, Hawaii 8. The Vehicle Assembly Building at Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida 9. Key West, Florida." Read More

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Astrology: Some Philosophical Thoughts on a Complex Subject

>Astrology News Service
By Adrian Ross Duncan

It is in the nature of things that nobody can be sure of what “reality” is.

"What we think of as reality is a consensus of opinions that we subscribe to and are in general agreement on. Our perception of what is going on is completely dominated by our sensory apparatus, and subsequently warped by our opinions.

It may be difficult to accept, but what we think of as going on outside our bodies – and even inside them – is a complex construction entirely subjective in nature. We gravitate toward family, friends and colleagues, sharing our opinions and absorbing theirs, thereby completing the web of illusion that makes up our daily lives.

Our body of opinion that has shaped our experience of reality over the last few hundred years is scientific materialism, which is directly concerned with the perception and measurement of the objective world. Instruments have been developed of greater and greater sensitivity to measure more and more subtle effects. When a new force is perceived and measured, it seems to have philosophical repercussions, which slowly sift down through society, until the fabric of collective consciousness is subtly reconstituted.

Perhaps this is due to the vocabulary that invention generates. When Newton’s laws of motion were expounded, the vocabulary of push, pull. Leverage, attraction, action and reaction became a way for us to represent reality, and these laws and words spawned a mechanistic view of understanding nature.

While Newton’s heritage was a vocabulary of gravity Einstein’s was a vocabulary of light and of relativity that has profoundly reshaped collective consciousness. Relativity sounded the death knell for scientific materialism because it made experience of the object dependent on the perception of the subject. Subject and object are a continuum. And just as subject and object are interrelated so too are body and mind, and matter and energy – with consciousness free to dwell at any point on this duality spectrum. Where before the whole crux of scientific investigation was to be as detached as possible from the object, relativity theory has shown this to be an ineffective and inaccurate means of investigating subtle nonmaterial forces.

Where Astrology Comes In…
This is where astrology comes in as a tool for perceiving reality. Dealing more with the mind and senses of the subject, or individual, there is an intrinsic acceptance that the object – that individual’s experience – is mutually interrelated and interdependent. Rather than life simply happening to us we are constantly evoking events in a complex dance between our character and our fate, or between our consciousness and the object of our consciousness.

An astrological consultation I once gave may serve to illustrate this phenomenon. It was for a middle-aged lady who had a very tenuous grasp of reality, with powerful delusions about being followed by men. I did my best to persuade her that she was probably imagining most of the incidents, based on the astrological fact that she had the astrological sign Pisces rising on the ascendant (where the sun comes up in the East) and the planet Neptune on the descendant (where it sets in the West). In astrology speak, Neptune is the planetary “ruler” of Pisces and has been negatively identified with illusion and delusional patterns of behavior. Simply, this particular configuration might be expected to evoke a tendency for the woman to be confused in her relationships with others if other elements of the birth chart confirmed this possibility.

It was an unconvincing consultation undermined by my inability to deal with her mental state. A few minutes after she left my office I decided to go out shopping but on opening the door I found the lady on the stairs studying a bus timetable and muttering to herself. Not wishing to appear to be following her, I smiled weakly and retired to my office, waiting until she had proceeded on her way.

Acutely aware that I might confirm her fantasies if I crossed her path I walked into town using a circuitous route. Twenty minutes later I arrived in the town square and as I did so the bus pulled up alongside me and my client stepped out. She took one startled look at me and started walking rapidly in the other direction.

Experience had vindicated my client and proved to her that her version of reality was the correct one. The extraordinary thing was that my own behavior had been altered, and events had conspired to bring about that which I had wanted to avoid. This scenario plays out in all our lives as our personal character stamps its impression on a reality that is constantly adjusting to who we are and what we do.

The corollary of this is good news in terms of free will. By adapting our behavior, we can alter reality and our experience of it. And everything in our world will alter in it, including the people we relate to.

Herein lays the power of astrology, which can be released by judicious work with the energies reflected in the horoscope. And herein lies the possibility of transformation."

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Quote of the Day

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphic Resonance theory strongly suggests that cellular bioluminescence (which in humans ranges from ultraviolet to infrared) is both personal and transpersonal. In other words, not only is the individual human “networked” with DNA light emitters and receptors; it appears our entire species is morphogenetically networked much like individual cells that form a larger biological entity: humanity. This assertion has been substantiated by the Gariaev group, whose findings liken DNA not just to a holographic biocomputer but to a “biological Internet” that links all human beings. Many native wisdom traditions are based on an equivalent understanding of the universe (human inhabitants included) as a single living being intelligently networked like a biological organism. ~Sol Luckman

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This and That

Here we go...Mercury is now retrograde until Mar. 17.

"Mercury retrograde isn't bad; it just takes some planning to cooperate with the energies. It's meant to be spent assimilating experiences, reviewing the past, and redoing, in general. As a matter of fact, if you really want to get the most out of Mercury retrograde, confine your activities as much as possible to those that have "re" attached to the beginning of the word. Reschedule appointments, repair vehicles, return to the past, rewrite documents and agreements, and so forth." ~Steven Forrest

"I had rather be Mercury, the smallest among seven [planets], revolving round the sun, than the first among five [moons] revolving round Saturn." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Cosmic Patterns and Cycles of Catastrophe, featuring Randall Carlson

"A cosmic tempo based on Sacred Geometry, encoded in myth & mystical architecture throughout the Earth governs the unfolding of world ages, the rise and fall of civilizations & is ultimately the very basis of apocalyptic prophecy" - Randall Carlson
YouTube

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Exoplanet Kepler 37b is tiniest yet - smaller than Mercury

"Astronomers have smashed the record for the smallest planet beyond our Solar System - finding one only slightly larger than our Moon.

To spot the tiny, probably rocky planet, they first needed to precisely measure the size of its host star.

They did so using "astroseismology" - effectively, turning tiny variations in the star's light into sounds.

A report in Nature describes the blistering, probably rocky planet, which orbits its star in just 13 days.

It is joined in this far-flung solar system by two other planets, one three-quarters Earth's size and one twice as large as Earth - all circling their star too closely to harbour liquid water or life."
Read More

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---2013 Eclipses
1. Lunar Eclipse Apr 25 2013 at 05° Scorpio 46'.
2. Solar Eclipse May 10 2013 at 19° Taurus 31'.
3. Lunar Eclipse May 25 2013 at 04° Sagittarius 07'.
4. Lunar Eclipse Oct 18 2013 at 25° Aries 46'.
5. Solar Eclipse Nov 03 2013 at 11° Scorpio 16'.

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J.Krishnamurti's Kundalini Awakening

Here's a good example of a favorable Neptune transit, and the efficacy of relocated charts.

It is written that Jiddu Krishnamurti experienced a kundalini awakening August 1922 while living in Ojai, CA. Transiting Neptune was exactly conjunct his relocated Ascendant at 16 Leo (Ojai).

From Mundane Charts

For more about this chart, please join us at SIA on Facebook
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Grand Deception in Brussels

BBC News: Brussels diamond robbery nets 'gigantic' haul
"Armed robbers have made off with a "gigantic" haul of diamonds after a rapid raid at Brussels Airport.

Disguised as police, they broke through a fence on Monday evening and broke into the cargo of a Swiss-bound plane to take the gems, estimated to be worth $50m (£32m; 37m euros). They escaped back through the same hole. Police later found a burned-out vehicle close to the airport. Police are looking for eight men, a prosecutors' spokeswoman said.

Caroline De Wolf, of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, estimated the haul at $50m, saying: "What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum." Earlier reports suggested the figure was even higher - with the Belgian state broadcaster reportedly putting it at 350m euros ($468m).

AFP quoted an unnamed spokeswoman at the same Antwerp centre calling the robbery "one of the biggest" ever.

She said that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich." Read More

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As the Sun entered the sign of Pisces Feb. 18, it was on the Midheaven (most public point) with Neptune (modern lord of Pisces) in Brussels, Belgium. In fact- the Sun, Neptune, and Midheaven were all parallel by declination, which further strengthens their connection. Pisces and Neptune in particular, have an association with acts of deception, and illusion.

From Mundane Charts 2

The midpoint complex: Midheaven = 1.19 Pisces = Sun/Neptune 1.21 Pisces. That's a direct and tight 'hit' at the longitude of Brussels.
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Mercury on the Horizon

From Images 108

Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? Because Mercury orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible low on the horizon for only a short while after sunset. If leading the Sun, Mercury will be visible only shortly before sunrise. So at certain times of the year an informed skygazer with a little determination can usually pick Mercury out from a site with an unobscured horizon. Above, a lot of determination has been combined with a little digital manipulation to show Mercury's successive positions during March of 2000. Each picture was taken from the same location in Spain when the Sun itself was 10 degrees below the horizon and superposed on the single most photogenic sunset. Currently, Mercury is visible in the western sky after sunset, but will disappear in the Sun's glare after a few days. [APOD - Image Credit: Juan Carlos Casado]
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Mercury goes stationary-retrograde Feb. 23 at 20 Pisces, and then appears to move backwards from our geocentric point of view until Mar. 17, when it turns direct at 5 Pisces. Mercury is not at it's in best in Pisces when it comes to critical or analytical thinking, but favors intuition and imagination. Generally speaking, Mercury's retrograde period is best spent going back over things, thoughts and plans, reviewing, revisiting, and perhaps revising. You may find yourself daydreaming more then usual- which is not necessarily a bad thing.

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Monday Monday

Monday holds a lot of planetary potency with Saturn stationing and turning in retrograde motion, heightening the themes of Saturn: duty, responsibility, limitation, and work. At the same time the Sun moves into soft and dreamy Pisces, adding vision and inspiration to the seriousness of the Saturn station. With this combination work can be inspired; dreams can be turned into realities. A Moon-Mars square can bring testy interpersonal interactions. Stay in tune with your higher self and steer away from conflict. ~Cathy Coleman

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Yes- the Sun entered watery, mystical Pisces this morning at 4:02 am, PST. And with Mercury, Mars, Chiron, and Neptune already located in the sign of the Fishes- we have a major emphasis here until the Spring/Vernal Equinox on Mar. 20, when the actual astrological new year begins. Pisces the Fish, by Deborah Houlding

This article posted yesterday on BBC News is clearly reflective of the current Piscean theme: US manned deep-submersible Alvin prepares to resume work

And on Feb. 16, France24 featured a story about Jupiter's Europa moon 'likeliest to have life' Jupiter is the traditional ruler of both Pisces and Sagittarius. While Europa is one of the 4 Galilean Moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in January 1610. The others are Io, Ganymede, and Callisto- lovers of Zeus/Jupiter in Greek mythology.

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Meteor Fall #2

Here is the correct chart for Friday's meteor fall over Russia. The software used to cast the earlier chart had incorrect time zone data for Chelyabinsk, RUS.

Meteor event Ascendant = 24.23 Aquarius = Uranus/Pluto 23.30 Aquarius. The Uranus-Pluto square is the most important world transit of our times- and therefore their midpoint is critical. Reinhold Ebertin has for the complex, Ascendant = Uranus/Pluto: "Being placed in an unusual or restless environment. Applications of force, an accident."

From Mundane Charts

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Mercury at Greatest Elongation

From Images 108

Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet, orbits the Sun inside of Earth’s orbit. Therefore, Mercury always stays close to the Sun in Earth’s sky and is often lost in the Sun’s glare. But Mercury reaches its greatest elongation – greatest angular distance – east of the Sun today, on February 16, so this world can now be spotted low in the west as dusk ebbs into darkness. ~EarthSky
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Meteor strike injures hundreds in Russia

BBC News:
"A meteor crashing in Russia's Ural mountains has injured at least 950 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings. Most of those hurt, in the Chelyabinsk region where the meteor fell, suffered cuts and bruises but at least 46 remain in hospital. A fireball streaked through the clear morning sky, followed by loud bangs.

A large meteor fragment landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in Chelyabinsk region. The meteor's dramatic passing was witnessed in Yekaterinburg, 200km (125 miles) to the north, and in Kazakhstan, to the south.

"It was quite extraordinary," Chelyabinsk resident Polina Zolotarevskaya told BBC News. "We saw a very bright light and then there was a kind of a track, white and yellow in the sky."

"The explosion was so strong that some windows in our building and in the buildings that are across the road and in the city in general, the windows broke."

Officials say a large meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards."
Read More

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The sudden, erratic, and shockingly explosive nature of today's meteor fall is perfectly reflected by Uranus rising at 9:20 am local time, in the Chelyabinsk region where the meteor had greatest impact. Or perhaps Uranus was simply announcing the meteor's startling arrival.

From Mundane Charts

A mundane horoscope that is resonant with this dramatic event, is the one for the Nov. 14, 2012 total solar eclipse cast for Chelyabinsk, Russia, where Mars- lord of Scorpio eclipse, was critically placed. Eclipse Midheaven = 27.04 Gemini = Mars 27.35 Sagittarius = Ascendant 27.51 Virgo. (Most of the injuries suffered from todays meteor involved cuts, and Mars is naturally related with cuts and cutting.) The transiting N.Node of the Moon exactly triggered the solar eclipse degree (21.57 Scorpio) on Feb. 7.

From Mundane Charts

VIDEO: Meteor Falls in Russia's Chelyabinsk Region
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C.G. Jung's Crisis and Renewal

Excellent article from astrologer Greg Bogart:
Dawn Mountain Press

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Located in South Africa, Adam's Calendar is probably the first archaeoastronomy site in human history.

Michael Tellinger ~ Adams Calendar
The discovery of the ancient stone calendar site by Johan Heine (Adam's Calendar) in among all these stone dwellings and temples, would suggest that some of the structures would date back to the same era as the calendar some 75,000 years ago. It shows us with a certain level of clarity that these lost civilizations have been around for much longer than anyone could ever have imagined. It would not be absurd to then suggest that we may be staring at the very first concentrated human settlements inhabited by the early Homo sapiens.

Gold
Human history on Earth cannot be separated from gold. Since the earliest of times, humans have been obsessed with gold and have been mining it in all kinds of ways. Even God, as early as Genesis 2, displays his own obsession with gold when he talks about the garden of Eden where there was gold.

There are at least 2000 ancient gold mines scattered throughout Southern Africa, in close proximity to the ruins. Many speculations have been thrown about by all and sundry about the Land of Ophir, its location and the whereabouts of Queen Sheba. Most of these speculations tend to point to southern Africa as its most likely location.

And why not? This is after all the place where most of the gold in the world has been mined in modern history, and it was no different in ancient times. Is it a coincidence that the richest gold mine in the world today, Sheba Gold Mine, is located right here in Mpumalanga, South Africa?

Could these ancient settlements actually be the lost kingdom of Queen Sheba and the mines that provided King Solomon with all his riches? YouTube
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N11: Star Clouds of the LMC

From Images 108

Massive stars, abrasive winds, mountains of dust, and energetic light sculpt one of the largest and most picturesque regions of star formation in the Local Group of Galaxies. Known as N11, the region is visible on the upper right of many images of its home galaxy, the Milky Way neighbor known as the Large Magellanic Clouds (LMC). The above image was taken for scientific purposes by the Hubble Space Telescope and reprocessed for artistry by an amateur to win the Hubble's Hidden Treasures competition. Although the section imaged above is known as NGC 1763, the entire N11 emission nebula is second in LMC size only to 30 Doradus. Studying the stars in N11 has shown that it actually houses three successive generations of star formation. Compact globules of dark dust housing emerging young stars are also visible around the image. (APOD)

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February brings a renewed optimism as Jupiter rectifies its retrograde, but mixed fortunes play out as Saturn and Mercury's retrogrades start on the 18th and 23rd of February. Plan the first half of the year ahead carefully, otherwise delusions and deception plague one for months to come... ~VirginAstrology

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Tweet: 2013 = year of snake. The snake has a mixed reputation in China. It is associated with wisdom, beauty & intelligence but also pride & anger.

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Article from The Times of India:
‘Mahakumbh is the festival of astrology’

ALLAHABAD: "The science of astrology needs to be established at the global level, claimed Mahamadaleshwar Pilot Baba on Thursday. He was speaking at the Jyotish MahaKumbh, the international astrological conference being organised at the MahaKumbh.

"It is high time we took this science to the global platform so that more people benefit from it," he said and went on to add that astrology exists from the times of 'Kaal Gadna' which adds strength to the argument that astrology came even before the mythical Kumbh.

His argument also found support from Shankaracharya Sumerupeeth Narendrananad Saraswati, who was also present as guest of honor at the event and went on to add that apart from explaining the importance of astro-science, people should also be explained the relation between Kumbh and astrology and how it is actually the festival of astrology. He urged people to support the cause of restoring the purity of Ganga river.

Detailing the proceedings of the day, organiser Dr Ram Naresh Tripathi said a number of noted astrologers from different parts of the country spoke at the occasion and highlighted the importance of astrology quoting from their research. Dr Alaknanda Sharma from Rajasthan talked about the existence of Kumbh, while Dr Bhagwat Sharan Shukla from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) discussed its history. Vinay Jha and Dr Vipin Pandey and Preeti from Jaipur presented their papers on traditional astrology and mental power respectively.

Over 25 research scholars from BHU's astrology department participated in the event conducted by Avinash Rai and Brajendra Mishra. On Februray 8, the last day of the conference, Mahant Gyandas, president of the Akhada Parishad will grace the occasion with his presence, where the remaining discussion on Tantra, Yog and Jyotish will take place. Astrologers participating in the mega event have been offering free consultancy to the pilgrims for the past four days and have so far met over 1,000 visitors, including foreigners who find the science interesting."
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India's Kumbh Mela festival set for most auspicious day

"More than 30 million people are expected to take a dip at the confluence of India's Ganges and Yamuna rivers on Sunday to mark the main bathing day at the Kumbh Mela festival.

This is the most auspicious of six bathing days at the event, billed as the biggest human gathering on Earth.

More than eight million took to the waters on the opening day, 14 January.

Hindus believe a festival dip at Sangam - where the rivers meet - will cleanse sins and help bring salvation.

In all, up to 100 million pilgrims are expected to bathe in the holy waters in January and February at the 55-day Kumbh Mela, which is held every 12 years.

This occasion is also a Maha Kumbh Mela, which comes round only once every 144 years." Read More-> BBC News
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Millions prepare to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year

"Millions of people are preparing to celebrate Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, the most important annual holiday in much of Asia.

The new year begins on Sunday, when the new moon is seen in the sky.

In the Chinese zodiac, this year will be the year of the snake, taking over from the dragon of 2012.

In China, an estimated 200 million people are travelling to be with their families in what is considered the biggest mass human migration on Earth.

Vast crowds of people have passed through railway stations, airports and bus stations onto crowded transport, many of them making journeys of thousands of miles, sometimes lasting several days.

Migrant workers in China often only have one holiday a year in which to visit their home towns, and will be taking the money they have saved back to their families.

"For Chinese, the most important thing is to be with family. Family always comes first," Jin Yuan, a 34-year-old worker in Beijing told Reuters.

"No matter how busy I am, I must go home. That is why so many people in Beijing are travelling home for the Lunar New Year."

Vietnamese media said tens of thousands of people were also on the move there.

Lucky foods

Markets and shops across the region have been selling red and gold decorations - colours considered lucky - for the past few weeks, bearing messages wishing good fortune and prosperity. [Gold and red are seen as lucky colours in Chinese culture]

"Tet is an important event and the house must be decorated," said Dam Duc Thong, a shopper in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, using the Vietnamese name for the holiday.

"I buy these ornaments with hope to bring good luck to my family."

Traditional foods associated with long life or good luck are a key part of lunar new year festivities.

"I'm slicing the rice cake so that people can make rice noodle soup during the holidays," said Oh Jung-sook, a 72-year-old rice cake seller in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

"People say that eating rice noodle soup can keep them healthy, age one more year and have no unfortunate events for the family throughout the year."

The new year is traditionally brought in with fireworks and firecrackers, but residents of Beijing have been asked to set off fewer this year, in an attempt to minimise additional pollution in the frequently smog-bound city." (BBC News)
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Asian astrologers warn of stormy Year of Snake

AFP - A stock market slide, escalated conflict between Japan and China and more Gangnam-styled success for South Korean singer Psy will shape the incoming Year of the Snake, say Asian soothsayers.

Those who make predictions according to the study of feng shui -- or literally "wind-water" -- are influential in many parts of Asia, where people adjust their lives or renovate houses and offices based on the advice.

As they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon, the fortune tellers warn that the "black water snake" that emerges to replace it on February 10 -- the first day of the Lunar New Year -- could be a venomous one that brings disaster.

Previous Snake years have been marked by the September 11, 2001 terror strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people, the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The 1929 stock market plunge that heralded the Great Depression also occurred in a snake year.

Hong Kong's celebrity feng shui master Mak Ling-ling predicts the stock markets will enjoy a smooth first-half before becoming turbulent in the second half of the year, which she links to the characteristics of the reptile.

"It's just like the movement of snakes -- fast, aggressive and sharp, but cunning and tricky at the same time," she tells AFP.

Mak warned that despite early market optimism there would be no full recovery in the crisis-hit eurozone, while the economy of the United States would not gather a strong pace until 2014.

She added that President Barack Obama needed to "be less conservative" in his attempts to revive the economy.

Astrologers say this year's snake is identified with the element of water -- symbolising fear -- that sits on top of the fire element, representing joy and optimism. They say conflict between the two will bring turbulence in May.

"This is a disaster year... a lot of things will not go smoothly," said Singapore's "Grand Master" Tan Khoon Yong of geomancy consultancy Way OnNet Group.

"The European Union may split, the euro may be in trouble," the 59-year-old said, adding that the bloc would be threatened by division in May.

Hong Kong astrologer Chow Hon-ming said a disharmonious May would see an ongoing dispute between Japan and China possibly escalate into a "brief" war, as two "snakes" are going to clash according to his reading of the Chinese almanac.

"May is known as the 'snake month' and it's the Year of the Snake so between May 5 and June 6, these two snakes will meet.

"This is why things will be very intense between Japan and China. Tensions will rise to a peak and they will possibly go to war."

Chinese fortune telling is based on ancient philosophy and belief dating back thousands of years that events are dictated by the different balances in the five elements that make up the universe: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

A person's fortune can be calculated by using the exact time and date of his birth, with the relationship of each of the elements.

The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and associates each of the 12 years forming a rotating cycle with an animal -- with the snake assuming the sixth position out of the 12 animal signs.

China's new leader Xi Jinping and "Gangnam Style" singer Psy, two of the most famous people born in the Year of the Snake, will see success despite entering a year matching their Chinese zodiac, usually considered to be a bad thing.

But China's Xi, born in 1953, and 36-year-old South Korean pop sensation 'Psy' Park Jae-Sang will be spared, due to their favourable birth dates and elements.

While the 60-year-old Chinese leader is set to see a smooth leadership transition in March from predecessor President Hu Jintao, there may however be the odd bump in the road.

"He needs to watch out for his health. He might suffer a fall in November if he travels," Chow said, recommending Xi avoids "Europe or Russia" that month.

CLSA, one of Asia's leading brokerages, creates its own tongue-in-cheek annual "feng shui index". This year it states that while stock markets will be volatile in the second-half, the presence of the market-driving "fire" element gave reason for optimism.

"We've got the fire element so we're pretty hopeful," CLSA analyst Mariana Kou said, predicting this year markets will have a "decent finish" this year.

Past Snake years give little encouragement, with the three most recent ones seeing Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finish down, falling 33.5 percent in 2001.

"As befits "skin-shedders", Snake years are marked by major transformation and change -- and sometimes great upheaval," CLSA said.

The Chaotic Arab Spring

Mohammed Bouazizi inspired uprisings across the Arab world when he set himself on fire. Bouazizi was an unlicensed fruit and vegetable seller trying to make a living amid desperate economic times in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. When police tried to stop him trading he turned his despair into protest by setting himself on fire. And if we take his self-immolation of Dec. 17, 2010 (11:30 am) as the spark that set off the Arab Spring- then transiting Neptune conjunct the Arab Spring Ascendant at 4 Pisces reflects the developing chaos in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, etc.

Of course- the current collective impulse for revolutionary change and upheaval is informed by the epic Uranus-Pluto square that marks a crisis phase in the 138 year cycle seeded with the Uranus-Pluto conjunctions of 1965-66. The first of these three conjunctions was Oct. 9, 1965 (17 Virgo), with the Moon at 7.29 Aries. The Moon signifies the common people in mundane astrology. And if we progressed this Uranus-Pluto conjunction chart to Dec. 17, 2010 we see progressed Mars at 7.22 Capricorn almost exactly square the radix (UR-0-PL) Moon at 7.29 Aries, which it rules (Mars rules Aries). While transiting Mars (7.10 Capricorn) set-off this progressed Mars -90- radix Moon, when Mr. Bouazizi lit himself on fire (Mars) and ignited public anger (Mars) across the region, which in time led to mass protests and revolutions toppling corrupt rulers and their corrupt governments.

From Asia & Mideast

But now 2 years later- the Arab Spring seems to be mired in chaos, confusion, and disillusionment- which fits the qualities of a major Neptune transit. Whatever provided a sense of stability and security previously, is no longer reliable during such a bewildering period. And a conspicuous lack of clarity can be problematic when dealing with real world, political affairs.

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Aquarius New Moon

Saturday's New Moon in Aquarius is activating the sensitive midpoint of the Uranus-Pluto world transit (Uranus-90-Pluto) which reflects the current zeitgeist of revolutionary change and upheavals. This New Moon is rising in Madrid, Spain: New Moon Ascendant = 22.08 Aquarius = New Moon 21.43 Aquarius = Uranus/Pluto 23.20 Aquarius.

From Mundane Charts

On a personal level- note the house in your birth chart where the sign of Aquarius falls, and this is where you are primed for new developments over the next few weeks.

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M8.0 - Soloman Islands

"Homes were damaged and at least five people have been reported dead after a tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake hit the Solomon Islands. The quake, with a magnitude 8.0, struck at 01:12 GMT near the Santa Cruz islands, the US Geological Survey said.

A tsunami measuring 0.9m (3ft) then hit Lata on eastern Santa Cruz island, swamping the island's airport." (BBC News)

The transiting North Node of the Moon (22 Scorpio) is now activating the Nov. 13, 2012 total solar eclipse degree (22 Scorpio) by conjunction. Not only was this powerful eclipse linked to the Soloman Islands by falling directly on the Ascendant/Midheaven (eclipse Ascendant/Midheaven = 22.15 Scorpio = Solar Eclipse 21.56 Scorpio), but Uranus and Pluto were in paran at the capital city of Honiara. In other words- the Uranus-Pluto global square of revolutionary upheavals was precisely on the local angles when the New Moon Solar Eclipse went exact.

From Mundane Charts 2

This case is one for the books, as we would be hard-pressed to find an eclipse chart more evocative of foreshadowing sudden and extreme events at a particular location. And the activation of the latent potency of the eclipse (focussed at 'this time and place') by the transiting Nodes is a classic example of a timing/triggering factor.

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The transiting North Node of the Moon is now at 21.59 Scorpio triggering the Nov. 13, 2012 solar eclipse degree 21.56 Scorpio. So if that eclipse hit a planet or angle in one's natal chart, you may see some actual manifestation this week.
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Michael Tellinger - Ancient Ruins Slideshow Presentation 2009
A short slideshow presentation by Michael Tellinger outlining some of the discoveries of ancient vanished civilisations of southern Africa which includes the 75,000 years old Adam's Calendar.
YouTube

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3rd Quarter Moon and Imbolc

Today is both 3rd Quarter Moon and the Cross Quarter day known as Imbolc (Irish) or Candlemas (Scottish)- halfway between the Winter Solstice and Vernal/Spring Equinox. 3rd Quarter Moon chart

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Posted Feb. 2

A Coronal Mass Ejection will shower earth with high speed solar particles in a few days.
NASA Videos Solar Eruption Aimed at Earth
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LL Ori and the Orion Nebula

From Images 108

This esthetic close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic than the wind from our own middle-aged Sun. As the fast stellar wind runs into slow moving gas a shock front is formed, analogous to the bow wave of a boat moving through water or a plane traveling at supersonic speed. The small, arcing, graceful structure just above and left of center is LL Ori's cosmic bow shock, measuring about half a light-year across. The slower gas is flowing away from the Orion Nebula's hot central star cluster, the Trapezium, located off the upper left corner of the picture. In three dimensions, LL Ori's wrap-around shock front is shaped like a bowl that appears brightest when viewed along the "bottom" edge. The beautiful picture is part of a large mosaic view of the complex stellar nursery in Orion, filled with a myriad of fluid shapes associated with star formation. [APOD]

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Andromeda

From Images 108

This infrared view from the Herschel Space Observatory explores the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way. Only 2.5 million light-years distant, the famous island universe is also known to astronomers as M31. Andromeda spans over 200,000 light-years making it more than twice the size of the Milky Way. Shown in false color, the image data reveal the cool dust lanes and clouds that still shine in the infrared but are otherwise dark and opaque at visual wavelengths. Red hues near the galaxy's outskirts represent the glow of dust heated by starlight to a few tens of degrees above absolute zero. Blue colors correspond to hotter dust warmed by stars in the more crowded central core. Also a tracer of molecular gas, the dust highlights Andromeda's prodigious reservoir of raw material for future star formation. [APOD]

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Atlas V Launches TDRS-K

From Images 108

Beyond a fertile field of satellite communication antennas at Kennedy Space Center, an Atlas V rocket streaks into orbit in this long exposure photograph. In the thoughtfully composed image recorded on the evening of January 30, the antennas in the foreground bring to mind the rocket's payload, a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS; sounds like TEE-dress). This TDRS-K is the first in a next-generation series adding to the constellation of NASA's communication satellites. Operating from geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above planet Earth, the network of TDRS satellites relays communications, data, and commands between spacecraft and ground stations. Formerly the TDRS network provided communications for space shuttle missions. In fact, many TDRS satellites were ferried as far as low Earth orbit on space shuttles. The TDRS network continues to support major spacecraft like the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. [APOD - Image: Ben Cooper]
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