Radio Debut!

MARS IN GEMINI
Gemini, the sign of communication, is playing host to Mars, planet of ambition. People will be developing a stronger and more passionate method of communication. Arguments may develop (Mars was the Roman god of war), so be careful.

I have the distinct honor and privilege of being Mark David Gerson's guest on his blogtalkradio show: The Muse and You. Details are as follows:

Show time: 12 Central (1pm ET / 10am PT)

Call-in #: 646-595-4478

All friends are welcome to call in (same number as you'll be using) with questions. If you have a blogtalk radio account, you can also log in and ask questions through the chat room. Listeners can also tweet their questions (@markdavidgerson.com); he will be monitoring his feed throughout the show.

Information on Mark David:

Mark David Gerson is an internationally recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach whose inspirational writings are read in more than two dozen countries.

Through more than 15 years of classes, workshops, coaching and consulting, Mark David has guided groups and individuals to connect with their innate wisdom, open to their creative power and express themselves with ease.

Poets and playwrights, novelists and educators, amateurs and professionals, people who don't believe they can write and people with a compelling call to write — all have benefited from working with him, as have nonwriters seeking to move through life's challenges and awaken to their highest potential.

Mark David is author of the award-winning novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy, and of The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, a book and companion 2-CD set of writing inspiration, instruction and practice.

He recently completed a screenplay adaptation of The MoonQuest and is at work on the first of two projected sequels to the book.

Hope you tune in! Looking forward to hearing from you!

A Matter Of Trust

SUN AND GEMINI IN CANCER
As these two planets traverse the sign of nurturing and home (Cancer), we'll see a lot more communication with our "home" groups, whether that be family, friends, coworkers, etc. We turn especially to the mother figures in our lives to find a trusting soul who understand us.

This week, I began my class in Child Development. Stop groaning; it's actually fairly interesting, especially to me since I originally went to school for psychology. For those of you who were just tempted to stop reading, consider that each of you was a child at one point and this applies to you. I'm also highly intrigued by this subject because of the psychological aspect of astrology. From the first day of class, the comparison between these two subjects was setting off bells inside of my brain. The teacher, on the first day, asked us to think about the question, "Who am I?" as we read the eight stages of development by Erickson. (If you're unfamiliar with Erickson, do not fret.) Who am I? There are so many ways to answer that question, including, on an astrological level, Libra sun, Pisces moon, and Gemini rising. I'm also a firstborn and the only boy among four grandchildren.

However, this question was asked in specific respect to Erickson's article. Erickson defines the development of the human being as a series of crises. The first crisis (and I'm sure I will be working through each of them here over the course of the...well, course) occurs between a person's birth and 18 months of age. The crisis is called trust vs. mistrust. It's when we either learn to trust the world around us or we learn to to distrust it. Who is to blame for all of this? Why, our parents, of course. If they are inconsistent in their ministrations to us as babies, we do not develop that sense of trust that we so desperately need throughout life. Without this, we will be unable to to form relationships or even know that there are things we can depend upon.

That's an awful lot of pressure to put on a new parent! Fortunately, there are ways to overcome this crisis, should we fail to develop the proper sense of trust. Therapists love this, of course. Babies must feel that they will be taken care of. There is no better sign for this than the nurturing sign of Cancer, the sign of the mother. Additionally, it's probable that a strong Piscean influence will produce a desire to escape, which Erickson may say stems from the infant's learned mistrust. While I am fairly certain that my teacher will not accept a strong planet in Cancer as a compensation or a Piscean excuse, I have to admit to strong curiosity regarding these stages and what other influences may be involved, and not just the astrological ones.

My teacher, so far, seems pretty hardcore about the Ericksonian developments, but then, I suppose it's her job. I certainly enjoy having a professor who is passionate about her subject. I am not likely to broach the star route in class, but I will certainly be keeping track of any parallels between them.

On a personal note (as if there isn't a part of this blog that isn't personal), I do not think that trust vs. mistrust is a crisis that I have carried on. I believe my parents did a very nice job helping me to trust the world around me. I learned my mistrust later, but not from them (or maybe it's my moon in Pisces influence).

And so the Erickson blogs are in their infancy. You can trust me on that.

Idiomatic

MERCURY IN GEMINI IN THE 3RD HOUSE
Triple threat. Mercury, planet of the mind, sits in its naturally ruled sign, Gemini. Both are in their natural house, the 3rd House, house of communication. We'll see a sharp peak in communication while this alignment exists.

Communication is a funny concept. We discussed some of it back in Tact: A Lost Art. There are always certain phrases that are innate to a language. Vernacular is powerful. Phrases such as "It's raining cats and dogs" or even "What's up?" are ingrained to mean things other than their literal interpretation. We all accept that these are known.

I had an interesting incident today at work. One of my supervisors sent me an instant message. Now, I know that instant messages have their own versions of language and their own rules regarding response time.

Sidebar: Apparently, if there is romantic interest, not responding within four hours to a text message is considered rude. (Keep that in mind.)

So, I was in a meeting and I get back to my desk and there's an IM on my screen asking for a username and a password for one of our sites. It had been sent, I saw, some seven minutes prior. As I laid my fingers on the keyboard to tap out a response, a new message popped up on the screen: "Nevermind." Shrugging, I went back to my work. Not three minutes later, another message pops up. "Are you going to respond to my IMs? It's been like, 10 minutes." I blinked. Um, did I miss a social cue? Does not "nevermind" mean "forget about it; don't bother responding?" Who responds to "nevermind?" I wouldn't even know what to say to that.

Seriously, let's get with the program people! Learn the words and know what they mean! I mean, am I alone on this? Anyone? Anyone?!

Nevermind...

There Will Be Blood

1RST HALF
All of the planets, save Saturn, rest in the first houses of the zodiac, commonly ruled by Aries through Virgo. Currently, Capricorn through Gemini have usurped the usual rulers and taken over. The first half of the zodiac is commonly associated with the self, the individual's world. The 1rst House is especially self-associated. Yet, the planets in the first two houses are in retrograde. This would suggest that there's a warped sense of self going on and I can honestly say that I'm experiencing that today. Especially when it's the farther planet, Pluto, sitting in the 1rst House. Saturn, meanwhile, sits in the 8th House, the house of death, while traversing Virgo, the sign of health. An interesting combination. Perhaps that twist is what is affecting the introspection that accompanies a full first half.

Warning: Oddly dark thoughts ahead.

Blood. It's so powerful. So primal. So frightening. There is something about blood that is hypnotic and repulsive at the same time. The deep maroon river, coursing through our bodies to the heart current. It carries nutrients, drugs, disease, DNA. It oozes, pools, spurts, streams. It pulses and engorges. And it lightens to scarlet at the first taste of air. It is animalistic. Its presence may signify salvation or destruction.

Creatures are associated with blood: the hematophagytes. Leech, bat, mosquito. They feed on it. Vampire, of myth, is most easily identified as one who drinks blood. As Spike (vampire) says in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, "Blood is life [...] Why d'you think we eat it?"

It is the wine to accompany a carnivore's meal of choice.

Blood has religious significance. The Red Sea turned to blood. The transubstantiation of Jesus Christ. It has been used for decoration in Aboriginal rituals. It is a vital part of sacrifices from many religions.

The blood thundering in your ears. First blood of a fight. First blood of a maiden. Blood-ties. Blood-relatives. Signing a contract in blood. The significance of blood shows up in many ways throughout our lives.

I can't honestly say what prompted me to write this particular blog, unless one considers that I watched the season premiere of True Blood last evening and took a class examining child abuse and school violence this afternoon. There is so much hurting that happens in this world. People just seem so eager for it. Are we, at our basest natures, such fighters that when angered, we crave a way to affect the blood in someone else the way ours has been heated? To cause their blood to boil, to pool, and in extreme cases, to splatter. "Spilling blood" makes it sound like an accident, doesn't it? "Oops, I spilled your blood. Well, no use crying over spilled blood..." I wonder what it is within us that creates such an impulse. Is it instinct? Is it survival? I choose to think that we have evolved beyond that. Then why have we created such weaponry as to spill the blood of not just one person, but many within a very short time? There is such capacity for harm, for hurt, for hatred. Is this part of what it means to be human?

Is the killing instinct really an instinct anymore? Animals kill to survive. Humans rarely do. We kill for sport, for game, for fun. We kill in the name of our country, our god, our people. And the blood spills. To what end? What good is it to have the intelligence that we profess to have when it seems that animals cherish life far more than we do? I do not understand.

Perhaps the British phrase "Bloody Hell" is more literal than we thought.

The 31rst Day

SUN IN GEMINI
The sun is just over a week into its transit through the communicative sign of Gemini. Currently, this is taking place in the 11th House, the house of friends and originality. We'll see interesting subjects brought up in conversation and some new ways of reaching out.

The blog is one of the most original ways of communicating with friends. I know, I know, it seems like everyone's doing it, but still, all bloggers have to find their niche. As Sondheim wrote, "You gotta get a gimmick."

My blog is just about a month and a half old. For 31 days, I've been participating in the May Blogathon created by Michelle Rafter. I found out about the blogathon from following another blog, Write Beyond The Cubicle, by KT Hinderer. I saw that she was participating and, in an effort to challenge myself, I signed up. I thought it would be fun to try blogging every day. And it's been quite an adventure. It introduced me to a number of other bloggers, including Sara Lancaster, who was kind enough to blog with me for guest blog day!

Part of the goal was to get more followers, but instead of working towards the goal of more followers, I ended up stretching myself as a writer. I took on some subjects I might not have covered otherwise. Blogging is also forcing me to test my boundaries as an astrologer. I know that most of you skip the first paragraph, jumping right to the "meat" of the blog, but I still enjoy writing that introduction from the stars. It helps me to connect to quotidian astrology.

I'm really enjoying seeing some of the comments that people are leaving; on here, on Facebook, etc. It's great to know that at least someone is reading my blog! Writing every day is a wonderful practice to keep your mind active and your skills honed. Additionally, for someone who usually avoids the news (it's always SO depressing!), it's pushed me to branch out and read more of what's going on in the world, sometimes in a desperate attempt to find something to blog about!

Writing all month has been a wonderful experience and I hope that it's instilled in me the discipline to write on a regular basis from here on out. It's great catharsis - who needs therapy when you're writing out your feelings on a daily basis? I get to write out frustrations, joys, and even just silliness. Though the blogathon is ending, Sign In Ink has used it as a jumping off point and will continue to bring you a myriad of topics, always with an astrological base.

Thank you, Michelle Rafter, for the 2nd Annual May Blogathon! Sign In Ink will be there for the 3rd!

Commitment

MAY 27, 6PM
The sun is in Gemini, as are the moon and Mercury. Venus and Mars share Taurus. Those of you who read charts are looking at the chart on this page and thinking, that's not right at all. The moon is in Cancer, Mercury's in Taurus, and Venus and Mars share Aries. I'm using a chart from thirty years ago. Saturn is back in Virgo in the 10th House, having returned.

Thirty years is quite a long time. I still haven't lived that long. However, it was on this day, thirty years ago, that my parents declared their love before friends and family. They committed themselves to each other and have remained committed for all these years.

Commit. Such an interesting and multifaceted word. Forgive the digression, but it must be explored for a moment. Interesting that we use the same word in reference to marriage as we do for battle (commit troops), insanity (commit to a mental institution), faith (commit to God), destruction (commit to the flames), politics (commit to an issue), and crime (commit murder).

Marriage is such a huge issue nowadays and has been for quite awhile now. Yesterday, California upheld Prop 8, a law that marginalizes a group of people and denies them the right to declare their love in a lawful ceremony. Perfect timing, California. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the day Dan White was convicted for the assassination of Harvey Milk. Milk was committed to the cause of making sure that a group of people weren't marginalized for being who they are. Yet, today, the fight is still going on today. Strange to think that in thirty years, we haven't progressed as much as we might have thought. The battles that were being fought at the time are similar, if not the same as, the battles that are being fought today and on the same basis, one of which is religion.

It's been said that fashion goes through a thirty year cycle. Well, we can see that happening around us. Moving from flared jeans and peasant-y shirts to long, tunic-y shirts with wide belts around them in neon colors and skinny jeans? Oh, the 80's are back, dear friends. Is it the same with politics? Granted, it's pretty difficult to find an offense worse than skinny jeans, but I'd say that the marginalization of an entire group of people takes precedence. California, dear state, did any of you see Milk? Have you noticed the progression that has been made? Basic, human, unalienable rights. Does the right actually care about rights? We came here for freedoms and wouldn't the freedom to love be a basic, human, unalienable right? One would hope so. With the right trying to secure rights only for a select group of people, and the left fighting for who is left, then we're choosing security over freedom, and as Ben Franklin said, "Those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither."

Thirty years ago, my parents made a decision to entwine their lives in public fashion, a decision that has kept them happily together for three decades. Marriage was an option open to them. Denial of choice to those whose lifestyle is not a choice seems inane to me. And before you argue that marriage is a sacred practice, let's look at some reasons that people get married. There are people who get married because the girl is pregnant. Some people do it for the benefits of law. Some to keep certain people in the country. Some are lonely. Some want to escape their parents. Some to have sex. There are so many reasons and not all of them adhere to the sacredness of this strictly sanctioned ceremony. For something that's held up on a pedestal, we seem to do a lot of chipping away in our attempt to reach it.

And of course, there's love. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.

Perhaps we should all be committed.

Reworking Rene

SUN IN GEMINI/MOON IN CANCER
The sun is in the 10th House, the house of ambition, in the sign of mental activity, Gemini. The moon is in the 11th House, the house of hopes, in the emotional sign of Cancer. Both are strong influences. When used in harmony, this combination can yield very positive outcomes. Else, there will be confusion and indecision.


Rene Descartes was a philosopher who considered the dichotomy between mind and body. This dualism in philosophy states that either one could exist without the other. Of course, the way that our world is currently perceived, this is a complete hypothetical. Unless, of course, we're in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but that's more head/body separation...(digression alert! you really shouldn't let me get off track so easily.) Descartes's reason for separating these two important parts of the human condition were two-fold: religious and scientific.

With all due respect to 17th century philosophers, I propose that the more widely used dualism is actually mind/heart. This seems to be a powerful conflict among many people around me. Recently, I had two people, almost simultaneously, say to me, "I don't know whether to follow my head or my heart." When the head is filled ambition in a house naturally ruled by an earth sign, it forces the person to "face reality." Counteracting this is the heart in the house of hopes and wishes. Head is traditionally associated with logic and practicality while the heart much more commonly corresponds to desires. Are these two motivations always so diametrically opposed? Most of the time, I would say no. The hardest moments of life are when they disagree with each other. Aligning heart and mind is a difficult but rewarding exercise, and unfortunately, most of the time, it seems to b the heart that must succumb to the mind's practicality.

Why is this? Why must we give up our desires? There are many songs, movies, books that urge us to listen to our hearts and believe that they will never steer us wrong, whether the goal be romantic love or other desires. Such a strong conflict we set up for ourselves. Do we dare to dream of more than the harsh reality we accept is willing to offer us? And is reality always in the wrong? "Follow your heart" is just as easily rattled off as "Use your head." So which is the right advice? Both are malleable facets of life. After all, you can "change your mind" or you can have a "change of heart." Which one needs to change so that I can be happy? I mean, that's he goal, right? Happiness. We've been pursuing it here in America for more than 200 years.

The lawmakers even wrote it into the American Constitution: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The first is fairly easily defined. We know what's living and what's not. Although, quality of life muddies the water, but for now, let's stick to living and non-living (leave the undead out of this.). Liberty; we nail that down as freedom or independence (the whole reason we established the country.). Pursuit of happiness...ah, here's where it becomes tricky. What is happiness? I checked with dictonary.com:

hap⋅pi⋅ness

1.	the quality or state of being happy.

2.	good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

Great. Thanks, dictionary.com. Very helpful, there. That doesn't help me settle my mind/heart conflict. How am I going to have a happy ending if I don't even know what it is? If only I could define it and say, "Okay, in this instance, my mind has the right idea and that's going to end in happiness. Perfect." It's not quite so easy, is it? That's part of what makes life so interesting, and highly frustrating at times.

Since life is all about compromise, perhaps we need to reconcile ourselves to the fact that heart and mind must work together in order to achieve any shred of happiness, whatever that is. Until they come up with a mathematical formula for happiness, I guess we'll all have to struggle through with the advice from our friends and therapists.

I wonder how Descartes would handle this.

Writing With The No. 2 Pen

SUN ENTERS GEMINI
The Sun officially enters Gemini today, so all of you who are born under the Twins, cheer! Gemini is the sign of communication, writing, and mental activities. It's also the sign of two-facedness, superficiality, and flightiness. As always, there are positive and negative aspects of each sign, but when you're a twin in your own body, it can get complicated! Get ready for verbosity, pranks, and a lot of fun.

With Gemini being the sign of writing, I am thrilled to introduce my guest blogger for today, a fellow Blogathoner, Sara Lancaster! Sara Lancaster is the primary writer and company owner of the No. 2 Pen, a Denver-based freelance writing company that specializes in writing Web content and other marketing materials for small businesses. Take it away, Sara!

I have to be honest, when Jared and I first discussed our blog post trade I thought to myself: What in the world do I have to say about astrological signs?

At the start he mentioned that today is the day the Sun enters Gemini so I could try to incorporate that into my post. And again I thought to myself: I am going to be so embarrassed after this show of my ignorance is put on display.

Finally, Jared said the one thing that changed it all. He told me that Gemini is the sign of communication and writing, and then I was all … Astrology rocks and I can’t wait to blog about it.

Funny how all I needed was one small connection to relate to and I was excited to write again. I think this concept is true of so many areas of life.

As a full-time writer I find that some days are tougher to write than others and some topics are harder to write about than others. It all comes down to energy, mood, and motivation, which I think we can all agree has everything to do with the state of the universe. I may not know much about astrology, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the truth in it.

In times when I feel stuck or lack that motivation, the easy fix (besides a cup of coffee and a stern pep talk) is to focus on how the task at hand relates to me personally. My clients come from all walks of life—from graduate students to car sales people to lawyers—and obviously I can’t say I understand where each of them is coming from every time.

The solution is to communicate with the client and ask for one thing: How does your business impact me? “Me” being the proverbial “reader.” Once I understand where he or she is coming from and I find a way to relate to it personally, the words seem to flow much easier.

Couldn't agree more, Sara. Communication and connection are key! Connect to Sara's blog at No 2. Pen, where you can find more tidbits about writing and my guest post for today.

Stupid Pervasive Annoying Mischief

RETROGRADE MERCURY TAURUS/GEMINI
Mercury, perceived to be spinning backwards, straddles the fence between Taurus and Gemini, creating an odd energy across the monetary/technology cusp. Ebay, Amazon...all shopping online should be carefully considered for there is a great possibility for mixup and mayhem. Mercury is, after all, a trickster planet and when retrograde, anything can happen.

Today, I opened my email to see that a new person had commented on the Guestbook on my website: www.starchildtrilogy.com. Imagine my surprise to see the following message:

Interested in Brunette celebritys? Right place for it! [and proceeded to list a website]

Besides the obvious spelling error (shudder), who in the world thought to spam a guestbook? I had no idea that this spamdemic had reached the guestbook world. Can you imagine if this happened in the physical world? You're at a wedding and you look down at the guestbook to see that someone had written a note inviting the bride and groom to visit a site that boasts shemale pornography. Unless that's a theme of the wedding (and seriously, what flowers would go with that theme?), most would consider it highly inappropriate.

"But Jared," you say, "your website is hardly a wedding. It's barely an event, let alone a formalized black-tie affair." Well, reader, you're right. Though hardly the momentous occasion that heralds the incipience of matrimonial bliss (can you think of a more cumbersome way to describe a wedding ceremony?), my website is dear to me and holds great importance in my mind. After all, it's a way for me to communicate an aspect of my being in the form of a novel, which, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with brunette women with extra appendages (just in case you were wondering).

Curious, I decided to take a look at that infamous "spam" folder in my various email accounts. Within one email, I had pharmacy news (i don't take any medication, although those of you reading my blog probably think i should; member enlargement pills (yeah, thanks for the self-esteem blow) that brag about the pleasure I'll be able to give a woman (check the demographic); an ad to lose weight (again, thanks for the therapy session); and the offer of a relationship from someone named Wendy who claims to be the best thing that could ever happen to me.

It pervades other areas. Twitter has it (in fact, spam has its own profile - www.twitter.com/spam). Myspace has it. Some would consider the numerous quizzes that are found on Facebook to be spam. Even cell phones have spam nowadays. I've received calls from phone numbers that I didn't know and I let them go to voicemail and it's just gibberish. It's amazing to think that spam has moved in and shares a common law marriage with technology.

Ah, but it started long before that. Remember chain letters? That's old school spam. Not even emailed chain letters (although those are a high annoyance as well); snail mail chains. "Count the number of letters in your last name. You must send this letter to that many people within the number of days that equals number of letters in your first name or else you will ripped apart by a purple bear in an overcoat." Oh, please. Like the real chain letters were any less ridiculous? At least Internet spam is ecofriendly.

Bottom line: Spam is annoyingly pervasive and seems unavoidable.

Or perhaps it's just Mercury's sense of humor.

Omens and Portents and Subways! Oh my!

MERCURY IN RETROGRADE
Mercury, planet of the mind, entered retrograde today. It's sitting in Gemini, the sign which it rules, the sign of communication. It's going to be an interesting time for introspection and expression. There will be an overhaul in the way we think through things, which could be a refreshing change from quotidian mentalities. I just wouldn't enter any contracts for a few weeks if I were you.

With communication being reevaluated, it sparked a new line of thinking (thanks, retrograde!): how do we communicate with the world around us? More importantly, how does the universe communicate with us? There are many "signs" (both literal and figurative) that we experience on a daily basis. Advertisements are the most obvious signs that we see, being actual signs. Standing on the very crowded subway this morning, I couldn't look right in front of me (into the hair of a woman who would have slapped me for such contact in any other context). Nor could I look to either side of me where I was bracketed by two very large men in suits. There was really only one place to look: up. Whoever thought to put advertisements at the top of the subway car was brilliant. When you're stuck on a crowded subway, or even on an empty subway and bored, you tend to look for some kind of stimulation. For a small amount of time, you're entertained (or, in some cases, slightly nauseated) by the colorful pictures on display. On the subway this morning, I saw ads that helped me if I was bankrupt, pregnant, had a hammer toe, or even bad skin. I also so ads that recommended the best new book, alcohol, and English-learning language center. How convenient!

Were these mere signs or were they "signs?" When I was in college and agonizing over the decision of whether to transfer schools, a friend of mine suggested that I go on a "vision quest," a practice commonly traced back to Native American culture. She said that you walk around wherever your feet decide to go (obviously, not into traffic or anything) and look around and notice what's happening around you. That will give you your answer. So I did. I walked all over the campus and saw numerous things, but were these signs? The bird that took flight when I came near - was that a sign to leave? The leaves changing colors - was that a sign to change schools? While this was a valid suggestion, I think this was closer to a Rorschach test for me than actual signs of what to do. It brought out my deeper desire to leave and I began to look for validation in the world around me. While the vision quest may not have worked the way it was meant to, it certainly worked. I had my answer. If I was looking for a reason to leave, then obviously, that was the right thing to do. Turns out, it was.

I still have to wonder, are there signs that occur in our lives that might change the way that we live if we saw them? I've often heard that illness is a sign that you need to slow down. Or a missed connection means that you just weren't meant to get that job or meet that person. Everything happens for a reason, right? We've all heard that at one time or another. Should we have read the signs beforehand? Would that have given us a clue as to what was coming up? And if we did read the signs, could we have changed our destiny?

If I'm feeling down and I look up and see the words "Yes, you can!" on a subway car, was I meant to see them and feel better about myself, even though the ad is about losing weight? How much of this applies? Do we see signs because we want to see them? Is there harm in seeing signs? I don't think so, but I certainly don't think you should always wait for a sign before you take action. That's a "speak when you're spoken to" rule and as Alice (that crazy girl from Wonderland) pointed out, if everyone followed that rule, nobody would ever speak at all!

One of the major areas that I think signs might be a possibility is the iPod. Strange as it sounds, that "shuffle" option can be awfully oracular, can't it? You're thinking of a song and it starts to play. Or the song that reminds you of your friend starts to play and two minutes later, they call you. Does the iPod know? Is music a conductor of universal communication? I mean, it's a universal language. Maybe that phrase has more meaning than we think. I wonder what a vision quest would be like with an iPod shuffle soundtrack. Would that change our perception of signs?

Everything is symbolic. That's part of what gives our dreams such meaning. And dreams are personal, so the symbols mean different things. My dream of a snake may be a sign of danger, but your dream may be a sign of wisdom, and another's dream may be phallic and sexual. It all depends on the context and the person. So that "Yes, you can!" ad that gives me so much hope may be pushing another person towards suicide. Extreme example, of course, but you get the point. A symbol is a sign only if you see it as such.

It might be time to discover our modern-day oracles. It's not such a crazy thought. After all, people still read their horoscopes and astrology is an ancient art/science dating back to before 2000 B.C.E. People are still interested in getting their Tarot cards read (said to go back to at least the 14th Century). There are so many ways that people read life around them: numerology, rune-casting, I-Ching, graphology (handwriting analysis), etc. It's not really so far-fetched to think that subway ads and iPods are the wave of the future. It is the Age of Aquarius (technology), after all.

Plus, it beats the hell out of studying sheep entrails.

Retro Virus

RETROGRADE SATURN IN VIRGO
Saturn, the planet of limitations and health, is floating around in Virgo, the sign of health. Royal pairing, right? Perhaps, except for Saturn being retrograde; meaning, it appears to be going backwards from Earth's point of view. Unexpected results can happen when a planet is in retrograde and in this case, it's health related. Swine flu, anyone?

Virgo qualities can be found here.

Yes, I'm caving in and talking about the porcine pandemic that's sweeping the world just like the Furbies did in the late '90s. (I think they were bigger than the Y2K scare.) Today, the illness-du-jour is pork. Kosher diet's looking better and better, huh? For those who just became alarmed, you can't get it from eating pork, so don't worry. Ham sandwiches and crispy bacon are a go. Thank goodness I didn't know about swine flu until after I got over being sick. Of course, now everyone's asking me, "Oh, did you have the swine flu?" Yes, it was delicious, thank you. No, of course not.

The terror that erupts when a new illness hits the streets is almost as infectious as the illness itself. It's all over the papers, in the news, on TV...even on that infamous source of important knowledge, Facebook. Everyone is convinced that the tiniest sore throat or cough is a symptom of the new disease and quarantine must happen immediately. It didn't really hit me how frightened people get until I saw someone walking down the street wearing a face mask to prevent germs. Is this person smarter than others or paranoid? There's a fine line there. (In case you hadn't noticed from previous blogs, I have a major curiosity when it comes to drawing lines.) People have died from this illness and others have been afflicted throughout the world. So at what point do we panic?

In other health news, the weather is changing. Stop rolling your eyes. Of course you knew that. With the weather unable to make up its mind (it must be a Libra), our bodies are left to fend for themselves and we don't have a great arsenal when it comes to meteorological indecision. Especially with the onset of spring, which last weekend was somehow bypassed for the 90 degree weather of summer. Pollen count jumps up and the air mischievously delivers all kinds of allergens to cause itchy eyes, sneezing, and other fun activities as our bodies try to defend themselves. With our bodies fighting so hard to stave off allergies and weather attacks, is it any wonder that so many people are getting sick, pig-oriented or not?

Add to that the fact that Mercury, the mind-planet, is in Gemini, the multitasker, which is going to have our minds moving faster and concentrating on a lot at once. That's not going to be the best for resting, which adds to the weakened body state. Hopefully, with the weekend coming up, everyone will get a chance to calm down a bit. Try to use the grounded energy of Taurus and make lists of things that you want to remember or explore later. It might help your mind quiet down if it knows that there is something to refer to at another time.

As for swine flu, be careful, but don't panic. Do everything you can to keep yourself in good health, including mental. Meditate if you have to. Do yoga. Wash your hands. Take your vitamins - pills before swine. And of course, if you're feeling sick, unless you're heading out to see a doctor, stay home. It's better for you; it's better for everyone else. Your immune system is down and opening yourself up to all the bacteria and other lovely bugs out there is probably not the best idea. So stay home. Others will probably thank you for it.

Just be glad it's not bird flu. At least pigs don't fly.