The Astrology of Star Wars and the Last Jedi: The Planets as Characters
Have you adventured into what some call the best, and most intellectual of Star Wars films—The Last Jedi? In light of 2017’s The Last Jedi, 2015’s The Force Awakens, a Han Solo film, and many others in the works, I would like to offer a really elegant example of how the Astrological Archetypes knows as […]
“Mars, Shut up and Kiss Me,”—Venus: The God and Goddess in Detriment
Venus in Scorpio. Mars in Libra. Are these two planets in “detriment?” What do you mean “detriment?” Misusing their power, weakening their energies through negativity, trying to be who they are not? Us modern folk hate this kind of psychologically invasive vocabulary. But Planets—teachers of soul lessons—do best offering certain courses, and not others, where […]
SEPTEMBER ASTROLOGY: MERCURY goes DIRECT and FULL MOON PISCES
FINALLY, Tuesday September 5th, mischief maker Mercury goes direct at 28 Leo, near the Solar Eclipse point, focusing are mind on all the events, awareness, and connections that occurred around the Solar Eclipse. This was one of the most challenging Retrogrades for me personally, with my phone getting stolen in Amsterdam, lost luggage for many […]
AUGUST STAR-Shadows: Mercury Retrograde, Lunar Eclipse, Perseid Meteors
Before August 21’s massive, highly anticipated Total Solar Eclipse at the last degree of Leo, visible throughout much of the U.S., we confront our next Lunar Eclipse and Mercury Retrograde cycles of initiation + the glory of the annual Perseid Meteor Showers. August 7th’s Aquarius 15 degree Lunar Eclipse can be just as or more intense than the […]
Love Lines Part 2 – Astro-Locality
In this Facebook Live, you’ll see famous, personal, and client examples of Locational Astrology’s Love Lines in action. Where are your Love, Sex, and Relationship hot spots? Click here for your AstroLocality Consultation!
AstroLocality Power Places for Digital Nomads and Entrepreneurs
In this video, we explore the empowering tool of Locational Astrology for Entrepreneurs and Digital Nomads – check out these ares: Where are the locations where you can achieve the greatest financial success? Where should you call your home base? Where can you find more of your ideal clients? Where is your “paradise location?” Where […]
AstroCartography Anecdotes: Where Will You Grow in 2018?
AstroLocality also known as AstroCartography, has been my astrological area of focus and research for 12 years now. Once I discovered AstroCartography at the beginning of my Astrology career, I was both impressed and inspired by the accuracy this tool had to describe my life experiences, relationships, and events living and traveling in different parts of the world.
At the beginning of the year, we start to ask WHERE can I grow the most this year? Perhaps we don’t feel quite so at home where we live, or maybe we cant’ seem to find the kind of work that fulfills our soul, or the community that inspires us, or the relationship that opens our heart.
Once we relocate your birth chart to different regions of the world, we can discover the various potential life circumstance there. The different planets, or intelligences inside of you, can grow in different capacities depending on our location. Also, certain places ‘call’ to us at certain times—the planets invite a particular kind of evolution depending on their cycles over regions of the earth. This Relocating Forecasting is called Cyclocartography, an important and often overlooked element of AstroCartography, and a big part of my work.
This last September I journeyed to my Venus line again, very strong in Lisbon, Portugal. (I posted a video about Venus lines, both famous and personal examples here) I had asked to offer some music at the Digital Nomad Conference, since their speaker line-up was full. But just a few weeks before the conference, I inquired if there was any space to give a quick download about my favorite astrology topic, AstroLocality, and surprisingly I was invited to give a full 90 minute workshop on the topic + play music.
The presentation + music resulted in a number of new clients and new friends. (Venus rules both social contacts and money, in addition to the arts). I even met someone in which there was a strong mutual attraction and she literally had 4 planets close to my Venus!! I also found the city of Lisbon and the extended region along the coast and in the fairy tale castle vortex of Sintra to be extremely beautiful—Venus/Aphrodite was of course, the goddess of beauty.
Just this last week, I was invited to be part of the House Band as well as offer personal consultations in Astrology and Human Design at a Tantra Festival in Portugal this coming Summer. Once again, my Venus is asked to shine in this area of the world, especially in her particular costume, Gemini, in my chart. I am speaking, teaching, performing, doing consultations (all Gemini traits). This also occurred in 2010, my first trip to Portugal, when I taught and read charts at the Boom Festival, and when I also began a significant relationship in my life.
Venus rules my 5th house as well, an area associated with romance, good luck, recreation, and creative self-expression—all of which have been quite strong themes along this line for me.
Where will you grow in 2018?
Book your AstroCartography 2018 Consultation here.
Oprah’s HUMAN DESIGN: and Mastering Your Genetic Definition
With my upcoming Conscious Relating with Human Design webinar training, and Cecil B. Demille lifetime achievement award recipient Oprah’s recent inspiring speech at the Golden Globes, and rumors of her running for office in 2020 – I wanted to share in this essay one of the core concepts of Human Design – the 9 Energy Centers and their status as Defined or Undefined in us. The focus is on Oprah’s open throat center.
The throat is one of 9 “energy centers” in the Human Design bodygraph, which function similar to chakras. An understanding of the Nine Centers is essential to interpretation of a Human Design bodygraph. Similar to the chakras, these nine centers represent primary energetic matrices, which also include specific biological associations such as glands and organs, in addition to their more purely energetic symbolism.
Knowing which centers are Defined or Undefined in you and how to navigate this definition most consciously, is the real crux of Human Design’s empowering wisdom. Definition also shows us our Inner Authority for making key decisions in life, as well as gives us our energy type, such as Generator, Manifestor, or Projector. But the foundation rests in the the definition of the 9 centers.
Defined Centers represent areas which have reliable and consistent energetic flow for us. In essence, we strongly identify with these centers. They are how we condition the world around us. They are the filters through which we perceive and we cannot remove these filters. Thus, even though we may be empowered, we may also be limited by that which defines us.
On the other hand, Undefined Centers are a foreign land for us. They represent areas of fascination, discovery, and education in this life, without an attachment to a specific expression. The challenge with Undefined Centers is our intrinsic insecurity in these areas. Since we do not have reliable energetic flow through these centers, we are not quite certain how to function with them. Thus we may compensate by trying to become like those in our environment who have these centers defined. Subsequently, these undefined centers become prominent sources of conditioning in our lives, often occurring in our early upbringing through parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and extended family.
Just as in astrology, a planet in a sign, house, or aspect can be navigated with intention and consciousness or in reaction, defense, or ignorance, I like to think of the potential expressions of energy in Human Design as a frequency of possibility. I use the terms Shadow, Neutral, and Luminessence to describe the frequency spectrum which one can apply to any aspect of their Human Design bodygraph.
In the chart of Oprah Winfrey, we see that she is a very “defined” individual. She has a strong sense of who she is and she will very much define the ambience of the room with her presence. But her throat is undefined. We wonder, how can a talk show host have an undefined throat center?
In her shadow expression, Oprah talked over guests and did not allow them to finish, which is the compensations of the undefined throat, tying to force words where they aren’t invited. But in her higher expression of her undefined throat, she patiently waited, and probed her guests with the right question. Active listening and accurately reflecting what the other is saying is the real gift of the undefined throat center. Oprah amplifies a guest’s statement in a loud, boisterous, passionate commentary to the audience, and thus, does not offer her own opinion, but rather enlarges what the other has said. Undefined Centers can always amplify the Defined Centers in their environment, for better or worse.
Where are you Genetically Defined or Undefined? Receive the liberating and empowering insights of your Human Design consultation here.
The Astrology of Star Wars and the Last Jedi: The Planets as Characters
Have you adventured into what some call the best, and most intellectual of Star Wars films—The Last Jedi?
In light of 2017’s The Last Jedi, 2015’s The Force Awakens, a Han Solo film, and many others in the works, I would like to offer a really elegant example of how the Astrological Archetypes knows as the Planets—those evolutionary forces, psychological urges, and motivational impulses—play out as characters in one of everybody’s favorite heroic myths, Star Wars.
It is easy to understand that Luke Skywalker is the Sun, the Solar Hero, akin to all other heroes we find especially prevalent in western mythology. Even his name— Luke, which means “light,” and Skywalker, which is what the Sun does (walk across the sky)—are related to the Sun. We also know that George Lucas’ writing was inspired by Joseph Campbell’s mythic explorations in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Early on, Luke meets Han Solo, the reckless mercenary. Han is the symbol of Mars, a renegade figure who does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. The first time we see Han in the bar on Tattoine, he fires his weapon, a Martian symbol, at Gredo, who is trying to collect money from Han. Solo is the captain of the Millennium Falcon, which can travel at light-speed, and like Mars, Han is constantly on the move. Also, Mars is that part of us which fearlessly acts, and ultimately can help fulfill the life purpose of the Sun, like the knights of old. In Star Wars, Han assists Luke in his quest to defeat the Empire.
The Empire is a Saturnian force, with its concentration of rule, its strict hierarchies, and its cold detachment from the common people of the various planetary systems. The Empire is an all-encompassing system trying to control the galaxy, just as Saturn shows us how we must fit into society and fulfill a role, and if not, suffer the consequences of law and order. At the head of the Empire is the power hungry Darth Vader who lurks behind his black mask, steeped in his unconscious shadow. This is the underworld territory of Pluto, where repressed emotions, secrets, and taboos, can percolate to the surface in an intense desire to dominate, control, and wield negative influence over others.
The Uranian force of the Rebel Alliance battles against the Saturnian Empire and the Plutonian Darth Vader. The Alliance even carries the Uranian keyword, “rebellion” in its name. They desire the primal Uranian urges—freedom and liberation for all. It is through their inventive teamwork and innovative strategizing, Uranian concepts, that the Rebel Alliance eventually defeats the Empire.
Luke learns of the force from his first teacher, Obi-wan, the embodiment of Jupiter in the film. Obi-wan represents the guru figure, teaching Luke a moral code while expanding his perceptions of the cosmos, introducing Luke to the philosophy of the Force. Obi-wan instills a Jupiterian sense of faith and optimistic yearning to grow in Luke, allowing him to become “A New Hope,” the subtitle of the first Star Wars film.
Both Obi-Wan and Yoda act as Chiron figures––mentors and guides toward Luke. They fulfill the same role as Chiron in our birth chart, revealing to Luke where his pain, wounds, and weaknesses are, especially regarding his family of origin, his lack of faith, and his physical training. In the myths, Chiron, the wise centaur, taught Achilles and Heracles, the great heroes, as Yoda teaches Luke, Obi- wan, and Darth Vader. Also, Chiron is the wounded healer, taking his shortcomings and transmuting them into his sacred gifts—reminiscent of Yoda, a small runt like figure, who has size does not hinder his ability to maste the Force. As he says, “Judge me by my size? Size matters not.”
Chiron also taught the healing power of herbs and astrology—the more subtle forces of the universe. This links Chiron’s teachings to Yoda’s instructions to Luke about the Force—the symbol of Neptune in the film. Neptune reminds us of our Source. It is the seed of our divine imagination and our mystical union with all. In describing the Force, Yoda says, “It is the energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the universe together…It cannot be fully described with words. You must feel the Force to understand it.” It is often impossible to describe the spiritual dimension of our Neptunian experiences. Neptune can cloud or fog up our words in its attempt to dissolve our ego and allow us to merge with the universal field of energy. Where Neptune is in our charts is an area we have telepathic and psychic links, where we must feel things to understand them.
R2D2, C3PO, and Chewbacca combine the planetary forces of the Moon and Mercury in their archetypal energy. Throughout his adventures, Luke is ac- companied by R2D2, his loyal friend. R2 often asks about the welfare of the others. In a sense, R2 and C3PO, as Luke’s droids, function as his pets and recall the energy of the Moon as family and the source that cares for him and for which Luke cares deeply. In fact C3PO’s original purpose was to help Luke’s mother with farming. C3PO often worries, like a mother whose child hasn’t called home. He is highly reactive, like the Moon part of us which is always concerned about feeling safe and secure. Chewbacca is also a Moon force in the films. Though he can be a warrior, Chewy is much more of a protective maternal figure, especially over his longtime friend Han Solo.
As machine intelligence, both R2D2 and C3PO function as Mercurial figures, consistently utilizing their enhanced mental, perceptual, and translating abilities, the realm of Mercury. On multiple occasions, R2’s skills in deciphering codes save the lives of Luke, Han, and the others. Likewise, C3PO is versed in millions of languages, (Mercury rules communication and speech), which allows him to infer that an intercepted signal was in fact an Imperial code, alerting the Rebels to the presence of a probe droid dangerously close to their base.
Lastly, the goddess Venus is of course Princess Leia. She is the exclusive feminine figure throughout the initial trilogy, and is portrayed in Venus’ various costumes. In Return of the Jedi, she is a scantily clad object of beauty, adornment, and lust—Venus in Taurus, Libra, and Scorpio. She is also a princess and in charge of making key decisions—Venus in Leo and Capricorn. She is an intrepid traveler and feisty warrior—Venus in fire signs. She is also Venus in her air signs, highly intelligent and a messenger, delivering an important message to R2 to give to Obi-Wan. She shows sensitivity and a telepathic link with her brother Luke, displaying Venus in her empathic water element. Lastly, Leia is constantly pursued as “Her Highness” by Mars— Han Solo. In the Greek myths, Mars and Venus were lovers.
May the Force, and all its Planets, be with You.
“Mars, Shut up and Kiss Me,”—Venus: The God and Goddess in Detriment
Venus in Scorpio. Mars in Libra.
Are these two planets in “detriment?”
What do you mean “detriment?”
Misusing their power, weakening their energies through negativity, trying to be who they are not?
Us modern folk hate this kind of psychologically invasive vocabulary. But Planets—teachers of soul lessons—do best offering certain courses, and not others, where the message just isn’t getting through. Rather than Scorpionic paranoia, shadow-processing, and control, the goddess Venus would rather be a harmonious diplomat, a pleasant partner in love with both her senses and her beloved. And rather than throwing his energy into a million relationships and uncertain directions in choosing not your own adventure, but everyone else’s distracted, parallel universe plotlines, Warrior Mars would be on his own quest, doing his thing rising to the top of society or riding the wild and primal machine of his beast wherever it lead.
Even though the God and Goddess are in ‘detriment’ during this Saturday’s New Moon at 26 Scorpio, whose sabian symbol speaks to the dangerous, but voluptuous potential between the Masculine, the Feminine, and the 50 Shades of Grey between: A MILITARY BAND MARCHES NOISILY ON THROUGH THE CITY STREETS
Enraptured, what clamor will you use now to reveal and ravage your soul contracts?
God Mars occupies Goddess Venus’ sign of rulership Libra, and Venus travels Mars’ sign of rulership, Scorpio. We call this unique alignment “mutual reception,” and it means the planets reinforce each other and blend their themes together, sharing a common goal, a unified purpose, which seem to be question gender, identity, and the medicine weapon we call sexuality.
Will the God and Goddess rescue each other now, or will they sabotage attempts at transcending duality, or will they collapses together as they make love, only to rise and grind again into that greater understanding?
Mars in Libra: Why didn’t you text me back? I mean especially after the way you kissed me – that wasn’t a surface, ‘let me get to know you’ kiss, that was a kiss you wished you would have said yes to in another lifetime, in hindsight, end of life review, because a different life, a deeper love, a meaning, would have erupted into being.
Venus in Scorpio: You don’t have to be so dramatic.
Mars in Libra: Dramatic?!!
I prefer being romantic, but you love that sort of underworld drama queen thing, creating stories about me before you even think to ask a question, I’m a make-believe-image inside your projection. And How many Arrows have you unleashed into my breath – what I “should have our could have been?”
Venus in Scorpio: How many Hooks have you used to shape me into your manipulation? I can’t just wear some mask of happy-go-lucky couple when we’re working shit out!
Mars in Libra: And what about all those Suckers you used to feed off me?! You’ve grown in so much influence and power because of connecting with my friends!
Venus in Scorpio: You’re right, I have. I forget to express my gratitude for that.
Mars in Libra: Because you’re so busy being suspicious. We can’t even go out and have a chill time because there’s always some hidden layer, some crime investigation you have to make into your mission.
Venus in Scorpio: Look, you wanted the open relationship. I did not sign up for that.
Mars in Libra: You did. You wanted us to do the handfasting for 6 months, even though you knew you wanted a monogamous relationship, and I wanted freedom to appreciate whatever love blossomed in my presence.
Venus in Scorpio: You handfasted because you wanted to make promises you ‘thought’ you could keep, and I handfasted because I let you sleep in my bed. Again. And Again.
Mars in Libra: Between your legs
Venus in Scorpio: Into my head.
Mars in Libra: We’re talking about the Heart here.
Venus in Scorpio: We’re talking about why it’s ok for you to have so many lovers, and how, somehow, that does not take away from the depth of our connection, and our possibilities to really make some impact in the world together. We’re so much stronger together than on our own, but then you’re flirting over here, or on this trip over there, and making this excuse over there, but as long as it all ‘looks good,’ to everyone, then that’s enough.
Mars in Libra: I’m really attracted to the genius and beauty of many different people.
Venus in Scorpio: That sounds nice. Can’t you just make a decision, about anything, like choosing to be just with me?
Mars in Libra: I’m choosing to be in this conversation, although I feel like you’re setting a trap for me.
Venus in Scorpio: You don’t have to get upset.
Mars in Libra: “I’m not getting upset! I’m trying to keep the peace around here! Why do we have to process everything all the time? Can’t we just have fun and enjoy sharing our companionship without so much drama?
Venus in Scorpio: I’m feeling harassed.
I told you when Jupiter was in Scorpio, all these ego-inflated jerks in politics and Hollywood, like Harvey Weinstein, were going to be exposed, all the skeletons come out of the closet. There’s no more hiding and no more shame now. And I’m also going to stand up for my rights as a woman!
Mars in Libra: Yeah, but you don’t know what’s like to be constantly intimidated by every woman I approach
Venus in Scorpio: You don’t know what it’s like growing up being a woman? All the ways we have to hide our beauty to prevent attention we don’t want, while every media bombards us with more ways to look younger and sexier and ‘get the guy.’ Try traveling as a single woman in India and see what it feels like to be prey in the eyes of another. Try to be a female athlete in a man’s sport, or CFO in a world of corporate suits who make you feel like any slight mistake you make will be scrutinized by microscope and threaten any position of power you may have thought you had.
Mars in Libra: I really hear you. Don’t you feel that I support you?
Venus in Scorpio: You can’t just strip down the soul to all its naked vulnerability with everyone. I feel like you’re afraid, so I can’t trust, but you wanted to rush. Didn’t we talk about being twin flames, didn’t you say I was “the One?”
Mars in Libra: Maybe it’s just a quicksand dance to speak of ‘twin flames?’ There’s so much expectation in that.
Venus in Scorpio: Is every label a limitation or does it give us a structure to build our foundation?
Mars in Libra: I feel I’m supposed to be some version of “masculinity” that makes you feel so ‘feminine,’ when you don’t even know what that means. I’m not ‘macho enough,’ or muscular enough, or protective/providing enough? You can’t say you want all these things and then you want some gender equality. Why don’t you protect me, curl me into your womb, your bedtime spoon? Gender and sexual preference are both so hyper-conditioned growing up, from the clothes were given in the crib to the toys under the Christmas Tree to the sports we are or are not pushed to play. I’m sick of just being the product of my parent’s and my society’s conditioning. Couldn’t we just give our kids all the options without pushing our own agendas and our dystopian dreams?
Venus in Scorpio: I know. I’ve often thought that the most intense transformation we could have on this planet is to reinstate sexual rites of passage, like so many indigenous cultures have. Most of our screwed up relationship dynamics are because we get almost zero education on how to love and how to make love.
Mars in Libra: And our first sexual experiences are drunk or under pressure to be liked, and they lack any sacredness or real intentional heart-connection. The only education we get is about STD’s and its all fear based.
Mars in Libra: Could it be that: sexual harassment and predatory behavior comes form a lack of integration of one’s masculine and feminine….being able to experience the balance of that…so an Image an Ideal is projected outside of oneself, and then behavior towards that becomes distorted, becuz it’s the unprocessed feminine, the aenima in the man, or the unintegrated masculine in the woman, the aenima?
Venus in Scorpio: I wonder how much of this harassment of women would stop if more men would just allow themselves to be penetrated.
Mars in Libra: You mean….physically, down there…?
Venus in Scorpio: Of course. All men need a spicy dose of Kali right up their ass about now. Why haven’t we done that yet? You say you’re so open, but what are you afraid of? Didn’t you once tell me you gotta lose control to find freedom? Does it mean you’re gay if you like anal sex? No, it means you like a particular sensual experience.
Mars in Libra: I get what you’re saying. I mean the problem with Gender, Sexuality, all of it is that every label we put on it limits our freedom to just experience. It’s why I always hated the term “boyfriend” and “girlfriend,” so loaded with 6 trillion different meanings. Just be what we are, and if there’s someone else in the mix, then we better learn how to communicate transparently what our agreements are, and to be direct with our desires and our boundaries.
Venus in Scorpio: Easier said than done. It’s more complex when you start sharing resources with another, whether that’s finances, home, or bodily fluids.
Mars in Libra: I’m not co-dependent. I’m interdependent.
Venus in Scorpio: Yes, right. But I do often wonder about 20 years, 50 years from now…Will we look back at the Binary of Gender as a kind of dinosaur experience? A remnant of 20th century humans that lingered far too long into the 21st century?
Mars in Libra: I mean with wild revolutionary, surprise surprise innovative mad scientist Uranus in Taurus for the next 8 years, we’ll live so virtually that we can ‘wear’ whatever kind of body we want…including the opposite sex, both sexes, new hybrid sexes, animal bodies, mythical creatures….and we’ll be able to have these simulated lovemaking experiences through Virtual Reality – these already exist.
Venus in Scorpio: Mars, let’s stop all this process. Shut up and Kiss me
Mars in Libra: What took you so long, goddess?
Just let me in.
All the way.
In.
SEPTEMBER ASTROLOGY: MERCURY goes DIRECT and FULL MOON PISCES
FINALLY, Tuesday September 5th, mischief maker Mercury goes direct at 28 Leo, near the Solar Eclipse point, focusing are mind on all the events, awareness, and connections that occurred around the Solar Eclipse. This was one of the most challenging Retrogrades for me personally, with my phone getting stolen in Amsterdam, lost luggage for many days, and crazy amounts of back and forth with insurance companies. SURRENDER has been the big theme of this Retrograde, and also some overwhelm with all the many details to pay attention to. A lot of this Retrograde intensity was amplified by the Lunar and Solar Eclipses in August as well – some of us may feel we barely made it out alive, but what we’ve learned and who we’ve met has pivoted our entire existence, while showing us a better path towards daily sadhana–making all mundane tasks a spiritual practice.
Indeed a new cycle has begun—career, travel, relations, friendship, home environment–all are experiencing a seasonal shift, and we may feel our emotions like a prismatic circus of colors, cresting into tidal waves of highs, lows and everything in between. with Wednesday September 6th’s Full Moon in Pisces, in strong conjunction to modern ruler of Pisces, Neptune, and in a tense square to Saturn in Sagittarius. This Moon invites us to drink in the depths of our imagination, while acknowledging any unrealistic fantasies that keep us escaping the necessity of ambitious devotion.
Rather than harsh disappointments, Saturn wants us to get pragmatic, strategic, and realistically optimistic about setting our dream-visions afire with the discipline and structure of daily, monthly, and yearly goal-setting that inspires and catalyzes us to act, not just linger in the clouds of ‘what ifs?’ and nebulous possibilities. This Full Moon is the fruiting of the real meaning behind ‘dis-illusionment’ – detaching from the illusions that keep us swirling in the net of maya and samsara, of chasing desires or even of working, of busying ourselves, without a spiritual purpose behind it.
What dreams needs serious focus to actualize in your life? Why are you pushing so hard to achieve whatever is anchoring you into responsibility’s gravity? Perhaps a shamanic journey, an ego-dissolving meditation, or an encounter with you muse will help reveal the next stage of your work as a vessel for channeling Spirit into the flesh.