February 25th night sky

If you look at the night sky for February 25th you will see the crescent Moon lying on its back with Venus just below it.  At 9PM they are heading toward the horizon.  Jupiter moves above them along the eliptic.

—–

If you don’t know planets from stars…one easy way to tell them apart is that planets do not twinkle and stars do.  

—–

If you know Astrology and don’t know which planet you might be looking at:  If you know what sign the Moon is in(February 25, Moon is in Aries) and you see a planet very close…you can look in your ephemeris to see which planet is close to the Moon in sign.  Uranus is in Aries, but normally one can’t see Uranus too easily.  Venus is much closer to Earth and will show up well, so the planet close to the Moon by position is Venus.  The only other planet that is close in aspect is Jupiter in Taurus, which would be slightly higher up in the sky.

—–

Thus the photo below shows the crescent Moon with Venus just below it and Jupiter up on the left showing up as a slightly blue orb. [This photo is taken with my little Canon digital Powershot A590IS.]

The Gateway, Part 2

Many rune casters refer to the Gateway as a negative rune.  As it is affiliated with the god Thor, they connect it to chaos and destruction.  But as I see it chaos and destruction must be moved through – and understood – in order to achieve serenity and calm so we can step through the Gateway enlightened.  As Blum writes, we must look at ALL that has come before, look at it all laid out before us and observe it and bless it before we release it.  In doing so we can step through the Gateway free of past conditioning, of old habits, of connections with friends and family that may hinder growth.

—–

From January through July 4 of 2012 Mars is moving through the sign of Virgo.  Mars moves forward until January 23rd, then retrogrades(moves backward) until April 14th, at which time it returns to forward motion until it moves on into Libra in early July.

—–

Virgo likes NOTHING more than making order out of chaos.  As an Aries with Aries Ascending…the movement of Mars is of particular importance to me.  As one with Moon in Virgo(in the 6th house) and Jupiter in Virgo as well…Mars moving through Virgo really resonates. Making order out of chaos comes quite naturally. 

—–

Carlos Castaneda wrote that in order for the warrior to be completely unencumbered and free he must release his own personal history.  In the total encampment that sits in the valley below the hilltop where the Gateway is are also family history – connections to mother, father, grandparents.  In order to step through the Gateway in clarity those relationships must be evaluated, reevaluated, assessed, blessed, brought into the light of day and released.  Incorporate the essense, and what qualities are valued from those ancestors, but step through the Gateway with self knowledge and independence.

—–

Also in the valley below the Gateway are ties to the material world – to owning, to possesions…to fear – fear of life or fear of dying or fear of failure.  In the valley are self importance and clinging to a need to feel important.  Release.

—–

Returning to the subject of transiting Uranus conjuncting natal Sun:  In his book Astrology Karma, and Transformation, Stephen Arroyo writes of Uranus transits: “Uranus cuts away the old and revolutionizes one’s way of being in the area indicated.  It brings sweeping changes that have the effect of reorganizing(often disorganizing at first) one’s consciousness in order to permit new growth to come forth.”  The changes may be vast and outward or experienced completely on an inner level.  

—–

 All these considerations – mental attitudes, repostionings, planetary and personal development…are things that are going on at some level as we stand there under the Gateway, readying ourselves to step through into a new awareness.  

The Gateway

In April 2012 transiting Uranus will conjunct my natal Sun.  This is the first time in my life Uranus will have joined my Sun and it will be the only time.  

—–

Robert Hand writes in Planets in Transit about Uranus conjunct Sun:  ”This is an extremely significant transit in many ways, for it is a time when you will try to achieve new means of self-expression and to become more free than you have ever been.  This is one of the most revolutionary periods in your life.”

—–

Along with conjuncting my Sun, Uranus also will be squaring my Saturn and opposing my Neptune.  

—–

Of this Uranus and Neptune contact Hand writes:  …”if you have learned that the universe does not stop with what you can see and feel with your senses, this transit will allow you to experience profound revelations and understanding.”

—–

In a recent personal rune reading I drew the rune Thurisaz, the Gateway.  This rune indicates that there are deep transformational forces at work both inside and outside the self.  The inner forces must be brought forth into the light, recognized, and acknowledged.  The outer forces must be gathered and gently incorporated into this knowledge and this light. 

—–

Robert H. Blum writes of the Gateway rune in his book The Book of Runes:  

—–

“Visualize yourself standing before a gateway on a hilltop.  Your entire life lies out behind you and below.”  You are to review all the victories and sorrows that you have had, all the learning and the joy that it took to get to this point.  Then he writes:  ”Observe it all, bless it all, release it all.  For it is in letting go of the past that you reclaim your power.”

 

Dreaming: relating to left and right brain hemispheres

In several previous articles I have discussed my thoughts about something appearing on my left or right side in dreams and what I thought this might mean. (see Dreaming: left side or right side 3 and 4)  In continuing to look at this issue I am coming to the conclusion that in my dreams I have yet to reach a satisfactory analysis.  I don’t think it can be as simple as merely equating left and right with masculine or feminine.

—–

I have decided to look at brain hemispheres – left side and right side – and apply what researchers and psychologists have found the two sides of the brain are concerned with to my analysis of left and right in my own dreams.  

—–

Left side of the brain deals with concepts that are logical, linear, sequential, concrete, and based in reality.  The left side has to do with processing language and math.

—–

Right side of the brain deals with concepts that are intuitive, holistic, random, symbolic, and based more on fantasy.  The right side processes spatial ability, face recognition, visual imagery, music and artistic ability.

—–

With these attributes in mind, lets look at my most recent posted dream and give an analysis based on brain hemispheres and what they indicate.  (This dream is presented in the previous post from Sept 3 regarding “place” in dreams)

—–

The stage for this dream was an indoor hotel/motel hallway with doors and rooms going off the hallway.  As I viewed the dream from above, I was dealing with the doors and rooms on the left side of the hallway.  I started at the first door on the left, approaching it directly from the front, looked at what was going on in that room, interacted in that room, then moved to the door to the right and what was in that room and what it indicated. 

—–

Looking at this dream from a more multi-dimensional position I think I present the rooms on the left side because I am laying the scene out in an organized and logical manner.  So that later I can process the organized information I am presenting easily.  What I appear to be doing is laying out the scene logically, allowing myself to better intuitively understand what I have presented.  Thus, in the end, I am actually using *both* sides of the brain to understand this dream.  

—–

I’m not going to look at the symbols presented in this dream at this time; I wanted to simply take the brain hemisphere information and see if it might apply as an analytical tool.  I do think it does, and using what the left and right brain hemispheres are dominant for can be a very helpful tool in helping us understand our dreams more completely.  I’m looking forward to developing this idea further.

—–

Like Darlu Littledeer – Intuitive Counseling on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darlu-Littledeer-Intuitive-Counseling/219740924709458

  

Dreaming: The significance of “place” in dreams

Each of our dreams has a “setting” – a stage that we create where our dream can take place.  I believe this “stage” is something we can take note of when analyzing our dreams.

—–

The setting for several of my dreams lately is a place similar to the hallway of a hotel, or a motel where the rooms are accessed from an indoor hallway. I have never used this place as a stage for my dreams before.  My dreams take place in the rooms on the left side of the hallway as I view the hallway from above.  One of the most recent dreams in this setting took place in a small bathroom, then moved to the room more like a bedroom next door.

—–

Why would I be using this particular stage as a backdrop for my dream? What is the significance?

—–

Most important, I think, is that we use the rooms in a hotel/motel when traveling.  We are in a stage of movement or transition when we find ourselves in this setting.  Thus, my dreaming mind tells me that the comments I am making to myself can be understood in the context of using this stage as a backdrop.

—–

Movement, then.  A change of physical location.  A transiting home. And yes, these considerations are all part of my waking reality.

—–

Another most recent dream took place in a setting where many of my dreams have been placed – in the home where my parents lived for almost 40 years, and where I spent most of my formative years.  This house was also my center – regardless of where I was actually living. 

—–

The majority of my dreams using this place as a setting have taken place in the living room.  A few have been set in the room that was my bedroom, as a high schooler, as an adult with a small child, and later in adulthood.

—–

My most recent dream set in this house took place in the den.  This is a room I have never used as a dream setting.  Not one single time.  Thus, it would seem the setting for this dream is important. 

—–

The den was a small room.  Away and apart from the activity that took place in the rest of the house.  The door could be closed for privacy and people could still move from one end of the house to the other. The den could be a room to go to be quiet – a place for study, for reflection, for composition. I used the desk in this room for writing and I sat at the piano and composed music. 

—–

By using this room as a backdrop I believe I am continuing the statement to myself that I am going to be departing from my regular course.  Possibly I am going to be focusing on the kind of things that happened in that room.

=====================================

When analyzing your dreams, take note of the setting you have created for the dream.  What does the place signify to you?  Outdoors?  Indoors?  Past significance? What is your position in regard to the “place” where your dream is acted out?  I think understanding place can give greater insight into the  meaning of our dreams.

Astro notes. The Moon and Saturn. Part II: Saturn Cycles

In Part I we looked at Moon cycles.  The Moon passes through each Astrological sign(Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc) for about 2 1/2 days.  As the Moon moves closer to being full the time it spends in each sign grows slightly longer; as it moves toward the New Moon phase the time it spends in each sign grows slightly shorter.

——-

Moon cycles are easy to follow.  All a person has to do, really, is stand outside on a clear night to have an idea what phase the Moon is in.  A glance at a calendar gives concrete proof as well.

—–

Saturn cycles, though, are much more difficult to follow. Saturn’s movement is not going to appear on any calendar except those specifically designed to show planetary movement. Saturn is not really visible to the naked eye unless by a trained observer or someone with a fairly decent telescope.

—–

Saturn moves through each Astrological sign for about 2 1/2 years.  Thus, Saturn passes through Aries for 2 1/2 years, will pass on through the sign of Taurus in five years, will move on through Gemini in a little over seven years.

—–

Surely, you have heard of the concept of the “seven year itch”.  Do you know where this originates?

—–

Every seven years Saturn squares itself.  By transit, Saturn moves into a 90 degree angle to its position in the natal chart.  If in your natal chart Saturn is placed at 5 degrees Aries, for example, in seven years Saturn will move into a station at 5 degrees Cancer and will be in a square or tense aspect to its birth position. 

—–

These seven year times – times when Saturn moves into this 90 degree position in regard to itself – or is “transiting” itself at a 90 degree angle – can be times of difficulty and tension because the energies of the two signs involved do not combine together well.  Saturn transiting Cancer, then, in the above example, squaring natal Saturn in Aries, means that water energies try to group with fire energies.  While on the one hand water dampens fire and is used to put fires out, on the other hand the oxygen in water can actually cause fire to burn more explosively.

—–

Saturn transiting itself is one of the more notable transits in our lives.  It can be a period of identity crisis, and a time for soul searching.  Of a Saturn transit, Robert Hand writes(Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living):  ”Difficult transits test the way you have put your life together.”  This is not necessarily a negative time, but a time that causes you to go through a period where you must clear away the old and purge out aspects of yourself or your life that are not pertinent.  The difficulty in a difficult aspect is that not all of us desire to undergo a radical change, even though this is an obvious course that we must take.

—–

A concrete example of how the movement of Saturn can manifest is this:  I once knew a man who was born under the sign of Capricorn.  Thus his planetary ruler was Saturn.  To this particular person, then, the movement of Saturn through his own personal sphere was of special importance.  As this man moved into adulthood, he married.  He was married to his first wife for seven years.  Divorced from that wife…he remarried. And was married to the second wife for seven years.  Divorced from that wife, he remarried.  And was married to the third wife for seven years.  This cycle went on for two additional seven year marriages and two additional divorces.  Seven years.  The Saturn ruled person experiencing the “seven year itch” of Saturn squaring itself every seven years.   Apparently, the necessary changes that were dictated by Saturn’s movement through the difficult aspect to itself were never heeded, so this person repeated the same actions over and over and over again.

—–

While I have focused here on the transiting aspect of Saturn squaring Saturn…you can see that as Saturn moves onward it will be in a 180 degree aspect to itself in 14 years, and will square itself from another position in another sign in 21 years, will conjunct itself in 28-30 years.

—–

Becoming aware of Saturn cycles can give us a more informed view of our individual lives.  If you are undergoing a difficult Saturn transit – a square(90 degree), opposition(180 degree), or conjunction(0 degrees) these are times for you to look closer at your life and make a realistic assessment.  If you can step back and get an overview of where you are and where you have been you can determine whether you need to change course, whether you need to discard some qualities of yourself, some behaviors, some aspect of yourself that is no longer pertinent to the person you are becoming.  Our lives are not static like the scenes inside a snow globe that remain stationary while the snow moves.  Our lives are constantly growing and evolving and for us to get the most out of life we may need to undergo radical changes from time to time.  Become aware of Saturn, study how Saturn’s movement relates to you individually, and to all of us collectively. 

—–

Saturn is currently moving through the sign of Libra.  Its motion until the 13th of June was retrograde(moving backward). As a general rule of thumb: Saturn in retrograde motion is a time to reassess plans and activities from the past 6 months.  Finish up old tasks; tie up loose ends.  Saturn moving in direct motion:  plans can move forward.  Projects begun earlier can be completed.

—–

Those with important planetary or angular placements at 12-15 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn will be particularly involved in this most recent Saturn cycle(for August 2011).  Saturn has been in tense aspect with the transiting square between the slow-moving planets Uranus and Pluto(see my earlier post re Uranus and Pluto square) but is moving away from this position now.  On the individual level, this might at least indicate some degree of lessening of tension and the ability to move forward with new plans.

—–

Further reading:  Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living by Robert Hand

Uranus in Aries – A Personal Commentary

I want to begin by stating that I have personally experienced what I believe are physical manifestations due to Uranus transits. I had never had problems sleeping in my entire life – ever – and yet when Uranus began its long transit through Pisces making station after station first to a sensitive midpoint area for me in late Aquarius, then to my natal Pisces Mars, then natal Uranus, and then natal Moon I began not being able to sleep at night.

*****

For the first year this manifestation was a bit of a novelty actually, and I kind of enjoyed it. Up all night doing things on the computer, writing, reading. When this situation continued, though, on into the second, third, and fourth year it became something increasingly difficult for me to deal with. The fact that this transit also was taking place in my 12th house…it felt like everything was taking place under water, where I was swimming heavily and not able to either make much progress or to see well the path ahead – or even things around me.

*****

Through this time I continued my normal physical pattern of pushing myself to the limit and I came to the point where I actually broke down completely. After five years of understanding and addressing my body’s needs through this period I recently, finally, came up out of the water into the light. However…

*****

Uranus has moved out of Pisces into Aries. If you read my commentary here “Uranus from Pisces to Aries” you can get a feel for the different energies. There are obvious differences. The energy generated by a Uranus transit through Aries is going to be much more direct with much more clarity and more force. Yet, the same electric impulses generated by the Uranus transit will still be taking place.

*****

At this time…Uranus is aspecting my natal Sun in Aries and I am back to the land of insomnia. While I do feel like I am out of the water and on to land in the light…I am still experiencing a difficult and testing time.

*****

I write this as an example to show my own personal experience on the Astrological level with transiting Uranus in the hope that it will offer some insight to others. I also want to post here brief excerpts from Stephen Arroyo’s book Relationships and Life Cycles: Modern Dimensions of Astrology(three paragraphs follow)

*****

                     You know Uranus is the “awakening” planet and when you have a real strong Uranian thing happening to it’s very hard to sleep.  It speeds you up so much; it speeds up your nervous system so much that it’s really hard to get enough sleep. Your nervous system is being overwhelmed with Uranus energy so intensely that you really need sleep to recuperate, and yet it’s just vibrating you so much that you can’t get it.

                     Uranus speeds up the rhythm of life. It speeds up the usual pace of your development and growth. It hastens change. And by “speeding up”, I   don’t mean like 2 or 3% but about 500%! It really goes fast. Oftentimes, things will happen so hot and heavy when Uranus is aspecting personal planets   or the Ascendant or sometimes also when it’s hitting Saturn or natal Uranus, things will be going so fast and developing so quickly and you’ll go through so many changes that you’ll feel like you’re just spinning. You’ll often have insomnia too, under Uranus transits, because Uranus energy is too much for the nervous system. Your body cannot handle Uranus in concentrated doses for very long.

                     …physically, a Uranus transit is a very hard energy for your body to handle. It really tests your nervous system, and it will often be a time when  there will be nervous ailments, twitches, skin rashes, insomnia, and all kinds of weird things that can hardly ever be treated effectively. But when the transit passes, the symptoms often pass or at least decrease in severity.

*****

This information should be particularly pertinent to those especially with early Aries Sun or Ascendant, also those with early Libra/Cancer/Capricorn Sun or Ascendant, or with Uranus in early Cancer.

*****

That’s all for now. I’m going to try to get some sleep.