Word Of Mouth

PLUTO IN THE THIRD HOUSE
Pluto, planet of power, rests in the 3rd House, the house of communication and humanity. People will find great importance in what they and others say, write, and other media of conveyance. Pay close attention to what your friends are saying or telling you through their body language. You might find some hidden tidbits.

In the vein of communication (or lack thereof), I realize I am way overdue for a new blog post and I beg the forgiveness of my readers. However, with power rooted in communication, especially with the influence of Capricorn, there is great potential for growth, especially with regard to career and recently, there have been many developments in my literary world. Since that has been an enormous influence in my life, I can't help writing about it, so I am excited to make the following announcements.

Firstly, I have just been introduced to blogtalkradio, which is an online radio talk show website, where you can tune in to shows of varying topics. I've been exploring some of the shows and in fact, one of my newest friends just began a wonderful show, called "The Muse & You." His name is Mark David Gerson and he is an award winning author who helps people with their creativity. I have the pleasure to say that I will be his guest on August 20th at 1pm EST, talking about the writing process. Please feel free to tune in and check it out!

In other book news, Rising Sign was just entered into the Wake Up Celebrity Author Contest, where votes from all around the world count to rate it as far as cover, title, and summary are concerned. The more votes and the higher rating, the better the book does and the winner of the contest will be pushed to the top of the Barnes and Noble bestseller list; a coveted position among writers. As many of you are readers in your own right, I would be honored to have you stop by and cast your vote for Rising Sign.

Tell all friends. As Pluto in the 3rd House demonstrates, word of mouth can be a powerful influence.

Thank you to everyone who has been steadily reading for their continued support and I promise that the next blog will be much more entertaining.

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.

Rising Sign!

NEPTUNE/JUPITER CONJUNCTION IN THE 3rd HOUSE
Neptune, the planet of escape, and the Jupiter, planet of expansion, are together in the 3rd House, the house of communication and writing. People may be returning to reading and writing for entertainment. There may be a renewed dedication to blogging or maybe folks will pick up that book they haven't been able to get through.

Speaking of books, I have a bit of an announcement, if you'll forgive the shameless plug. My first novel, Rising Sign, is now available for purchase. If you're looking for that great summer read, this is a great choice, if I do say so myself (and I do).

"What's it about?" you ask. Well, imagine if the astrological signs were made human. What if they had special abilities on top of that? Now, throw in a deadly enemy and an child who can save the world. Sound interesting? If that doesn't sell you, head over to the Star Child Trilogy website and read the first two chapters. Here are a few of the reviews from folks who have read the novel:

"This novel kept me enthralled from start to finish."

"[...]it consumed my lunch, my train ride, and into the wee hours of the night."

"The development of each character in conjunction with his/her astrology is a remarkably intriguing twist on the sci-fi adventure epic[...]"

"This is a great book for both teens and adults who love adventures in the world of the supernatural."

So stop by and grab a copy today! :)

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging...

So Over It

SUPER SAGITTARIUS
Sagittarius is rising, taking over the 1rst House, the house of self. Additionally, we just experienced a full moon in Sagittarius. There's going to be a strong desire to travel (perfect for vacation season) and explore.

Okay, so it's a little late in the year for senioritis, but seems like everyone has it right now. Yesterday, all of the status updates were frustrated messages that clearly stated, "I'm over it," and it was only Monday. I woke up feeling disgruntled and the morning proved to exacerbate the situation. I had a total MTA Fail morning. Every train seemed to be running as slowly as possible and was crowded as Hell (and I mean that literally) when and if it finally arrived. So, I opened the door to my office with a cinder block on my shoulder.

Then, I opened my numerous networking sites to find out that I wasn't the only one. Rounding out the "over it" crowd was my boss. She radiated apathy and annoyance (I didn't realize one could radiate synchronized elements of caring and not caring, but somehow, she managed it) from the moment I saw her. It was more contagious than swine flu.

A friend and I began talking and she expressed her desire to be elsewhere. She asked if there was anything astrologically that would indicate this feeling and, doing my research, I saw that Sagittarius had just experienced a full moon. At first, I couldn't understand it. Why would such a happy-go-lucky sign affect us in such a negative way? Ah, but then the desire to travel suddenly made sense. The wanderlust had taken over due to full moon influence and universal senioritis took over.

Fortunately, we're coming up on summer, when everybody loves to get away. Hopefully, we can all hold out until our vacations kick in. If we can do it through years of school, eagerly awaiting that moment when classes end and we cavort into the free days of summer (oh, admit it, you cavorted). Even though there's no end of the semester, we're still feeling those confining bonds of the routine. My advice? Do something that might change your routine, even if it's slight, and as soon as you can, grab a vacation to somewhere new.

Hang on to your sanity, kids. We can do this!

Selling Point

CAPRICORN RISING
Capricorn, the sign of ambition and tenacity, is on the horizon. People will be acting through a lens of upward mobility. Capricorns get a reputation for being cold, calculating, and shrewd, but there is more to the Sea-Goat than blind ambition. Still, we're going to be feeling those effects while the 10th Sign rests on the horizon.

Perhaps the bad rap the Capricorn gets is a necessary evil. I have no planet in Capricorn in my chart and I think that might be why I'm horrible at sales. Ironically, I've chosen two consecutive professions that require me to sell myself. No, not on the corner - I already blogged about that, remember? Acting, followed by writing. Two professions in which sales is one of the most, if not the most important aspect. Unfortunately, I haven't ever been very good at the sales aspect of life.

Even as a child, I dreaded the yearly candy sale. For those who never had the torture of this exercise, every child was given a catalogue of various types of candy. We were then encouraged to sell as many items as possible. The goal behind this was to make as much money for the school as possible. The goal for the child was to earn certain prizes. The more that you sold, the better the toy you could win. It was a huge source of pride for the child who sold the most items and I hated every second of it. I felt intrusive and demanding whenever I showed up on the doorstep of some poor, hapless victim who had to listen to me simply because of my cherubic demeanor. Yet, I never seemed to win the best prizes. A person who said no to me was respected and no more pushing was done. I simply find it difficult to press the issue.

Some don't, though. At my job, as a receptionist, I am bombarded by calls that insist upon sales. Hopeful, hapless, they ring the office, demanding attention like spoiled toddlers with a favorite toy. They press their suit, hoping that I'll take them up on their offer. I do my best to deter, but again, with Libra's sociability heavy in my chart, I have great difficulty in cutting them short. Today, I had a reversal of fortune. I spoke to a man who sounded bright and eager. I told him that unfortunately, we were not looking to change our service. His voice dropped into such despondency that I felt sorry for him. I guess his thick Capricorn skin was absent today. How strange that I should feel sorry for the very type of person who irritates the hell out of me. Perhaps it's because he was the type of salesperson that I was as a child - eager at the beginning, but lacking the ruthless tenacity that overtakes your sympathy for the poor soul on the other end of the line who may not want to listen to your pitch.

Not that sales are the anthithesis of the human condition, but if money truly is the root of all evil, then it seems that sales would be demonic.

Sometimes, it certainly seems that way.