One of the things I love about astrology is how it explains so much about people.
Astrology explains who and what, even how you like.
For instance Neptune is my most highly aspected planet and it rules the sea.
I should be an ocean gal, then right..?! No.
Mountain girl all the way !
Why is that..?
My Neptune has squares (conflict), while my chart ruler, Saturn (Saturn is Earth, rules Capricorn my Ascendant, is the mountain goat) has a trine (ease) to Mars. That feels better.
Look to your chart, you will find yourself naturally going for the trines and sextiles every time. They are the back door, the trapdoor, and the secret passage out of trouble with squares and oppositions in your chart.
Here is a pic of stuff I had gathered pre-astro knowledge.
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I have Saturn trine Mars (steel, fire & the forge).
Sun conjunct the morphed metal is my Virgo Sun conjunct Uranus Pluto (heat, change, morph, forge) in the 9th (lucky horseshoe).I have Libra at Midheaven (ruled by Venus, art), hence balance sculpture/art. My Venus (art, friends) is conjunct Jupiter in Leo (creativity, luck).
I am an artist, and have creative friends, I like cats.
I have a ‘thing’ about naming things. Mercury (names) at MC, with Neptune (fictitious names) most highly aspected.
I have changed my name to something mystical – representing polarities, time and union.
My cats have names that mean ‘friend’.
Neptune is my most highly aspected planet and it rules film & photography.
Look to your chart to see what you like written in the symbols of the skies … namaste~ gneissmoonastrology.net
Johnny Cash, Arkansas born; Pisces Sun, Scorpio Moon.
Kris Kristofferson, Texas born; Cancer Sun, Leo Moon.
Johnny recorded his first hits for Sun Records in Memphis, in 1958, Johnny left Sun for Columbia Records in Nashville. For a short while Johnny and Waylon shared an apartment in Nashville, both were young, wild and crazy, popping pills and playing honky tonks. While on tour in 1965, Johnny was arrested by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. He was carrying 688 Dexedrine capsules and 475 Equanil that were hidden inside his guitar case. Are ya gettin’ the outlaw bit here ? In 1967, Johnny and June won a Grammy for their duet of ‘Jackson’.
In 1965, Kris (a Rhodes Scholar) moved to Nashville, declining an English professorship at West Point to write songs instead. His military family disowned Kris for ditching the teaching gig and taking up music. Again, are ya gettin’ the outlaw bit ? Kris got a job as a janitor at Columbia, while also working part-time as a bartender, a commercial helicopter pilot and trying to pitch his songs to record execs. He also gave some songs to Johnny, who ignored them. In 67, Kris was signed to Epic, but his songs were more successful chart hits when sung by other artists.
Then Kris, dig this ! (his Toro Uranus – rules aviation – is opposite {energy in your face} Johnny’s Scorpio Moon – rules the home) landed a helicopter on Johnny’s lawn and asked him, “Now will you listen to some of my songs?’ Don’t you just love astrological bits like this ?! He did ! – then introduced Kris at the Newport Folk Festival in 1969, and Kris’ career as a performer of his own songs began to truly take off.
Trines indicate harmony, benefits and co-operation, they are protective, they are the past life bank account you can draw from.
Johnny had Sun / Mercury / Mars in Pisces trine Kris’ Sun / Venus / Mars stellium in late Gemini, early Cancer. Right there, they ‘get’ each other, communicate well, love and understanding. Water Suns, both both intuitive and sensitive.
Kris’ Leo Moon was conjunct Johnny’s Jupiter — both trine Kris’ Jupiter. Moon is feelings, Jupiter luck, optimism–all in fire, signals creativity, self-expression.
Kris’ Jupiter in trine to Johnny’s Venus / Uranus conjunction in Aries which was in turn trine their Moon / Jupiter conjunction in Leo. They were good for each other, lending support and caring when the other needed it. Again in fire, so between their charts Kris and Johnny formed a grand fire trine between Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.
Kris had Uranus (flight, eccentricity) trine Johnny’s Neptune (music), so when he landed, Johnny listened, haha. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ clickhere for Waylon and Willie
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Waylon and Willie both Texas born:
Willie a Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon
Waylon a Gemini Sun, Virgo Moon.
Blazing new trails in country music, Waylon & Willie bucked the Nashville system, brought the rowdy back into country music, fans called it ‘outlaw’.
Waylon had Venus/Uranus conjunct Willies Sun /Venus in Taurus.
Waylon had Moon/Neptune conjunct Willies Mars/Neptune Rx/ Jupiter Rx conjunction in Virgo.
This pair of whopping conjunctions trine each other. POW
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Mercury stations direct today at 7:43 pm CST, USA.
Mercury leaves the shadowzone (trail in the zodiac where it began retrograde) at 20’07 Sagittarius on December 31, 2011 at 11:00pm, CST, USA.
During stationary direct motion, expect a weird vibe as the planetary energies ‘build up’ to a release. How much you will feel Mercury stationing direct is according to the aspects it makes in your chart, the more aspects, the more you will feel it. Mercury travels fast, so I would expect a day, maybe two on either side of the station. Caution is advised in speech and travel. Sagittarius is known to be blunt and tell their truth, so yeah, keep mustard handy for that foot you’ll be eating later. ha Outer planets move slower and I have felt the ‘build-up’ as much a 5 days prior. Shadowzone energies are finding their groove again, so give it time.
Retrograde periods are times of personal reflection and turning the eye inward to review, revise and revision our progress in life. Mercury retrograde in the fire sign of Sagittarius brings insights into creativity, passions, self-expression and the fire in the belly. Where is your coiled snake rising, what fuels and feeds it..? What do you see in your long term future, where do you want to expand your horizons, what do you want to learn, how have you changed your philosophy towards life…?
One of the first things I did was go to the grocery store to buy food. It was a novel idea at the time, for I hadn’t really shopped for food in about 10 years. Now here I was, 30 years old, and probably doing the first good grocery shopping in my life. I was an adult with a credit card, a checkbook, and an ATM card. I could buy whatever I wanted in the store, but I had no idea where to start. I thought that everyone was staring at me. It had been so long that I had been anywhere sober that I didn’t know how to act or how to deal.
It was like being on LSD. The lights in the store were blaringly bright to me and the music seemed to be playing hidden messages. I bought some milk and barbecue sauce and cigarettes, and that is all. My shirt was drenched in sweat and I was having a full-blown panic attack. As I drove my car home, I stiffly steered my machine out of the way of three accidents as I rode the brakes the whole way. I could smell my brake pads when I got home.
~Duff McKagan, on his sobriety from “It’s so Easy and other lies” (click here) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duff McKagan rose to fame as bassist for Guns ‘N’ Roses in 1987, when the band released Appetite for Destruction.
It is is the highest selling debut album of all time in the US, with more than 28 million copies sold worldwide.
Next year’s class of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be headlined by Guns N’ Roses, the only group on the ballot to be inducted in their first year of eligibility. Click here for Cleveland R&RHoF
I’ve been reading Duff McKagan’s autobiography and obviously GN’R partied, but I had no idea how far it had gone for Duff personally. He is brutally honest, candid and wryly funny in his accounts of his life as bassist of GN’R.
On May 10, 1994, Duff’s pancreas burst and he was told by his doctor if he had one more drink he would die. He spent two weeks in the hospital recovering and taking small steps in the early stages of detox. He credits his sobriety in large part to guilt over seeing his mother suffering from worry while he was in critical care.
He describes his recovery from addiction through a love of mountain biking, and his voracious appetite for reading. He began to write columns for Seattle Weekly, and later many other publications. For Seattle Weekly McKagan archives, click here.
While in recovery Duff read GN’R financial documents and found he couldn’t understand them. He decided to enroll in financial accounting courses (got an A in his first class) and discovered his love of academics. He earned a 4.0 and was on the President’s list, quite an achievement from the earlier addictions he describes in his book. When he saw a need for musicians to be educated about their financial holdings and business deals, it lead him to start his own wealth management firm, MeridianRock, to educate musicians and give them the power to make good business decisions on their own behalf.
Duff is a 9 life path, meaning he is in a lifetime of completion. Nine is the culminated knowledge of all the numbers before it, and is a number of utopian ideals. Nines are spiritual and often have a lifetime of overcoming difficulties. They learn how to succeed themselves, in order to teach the world how to do the same. (I’m a nine too.)
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This is a solar chart, I don’t have the correct birth time, so keep in mind the planets in signs remain the same, houses may change.
First off, I was struck by how Duff has several difficult fixed (ingrained over several lifetimes) squares (inner conflict, obstacles) involving the Sun (ego, spirit) and Moon (feelings, fluctuation) – they are the luminaries, the conscious (Sun), and unconscious (Moon).
Hopes (Sun) and Dreams (Moon) forming an obstacle to one another.
Moon and Neptune in Scorpio are quiet, secretive and perceptive, if they do not find stimulation, (speaking from my personal experience here; and Duff speaks of facing it in the ring) they can turn the Scorpio stinger on themselves to feel something, anything.
Moon (habits, instincts) conjunct Neptune can mean addiction in its low vibration, or spiritual healing at its highest vibration. This conjunction is intuitive, and feels the cosmos coming in. It is a conjunction that can bring mystical emotions, heightened perceptions, illusions, daydreams and imagination into the waking life 24/7.
Note also the asteroid Dionysus 3671 is opposite Sun and Mars and square Neptune. Dionysus is symbolic not only of wine and merriment, but also of the sharp pruning of the vine in order for it to bear the best fruit. Sun (life, spirit), Mars (the blade) and Saturn (pruning) conjunction in Aquarius has indeed led to the bearing of Duff’s best life / fruit.
Coupled with a hedonistic Sun / Mars conjunction in square ( inner tension ) to the often delusional energies of Neptune, that’s one heck of an obstacle. Sun conjunct Mars is raw power, tempered by Saturn (the tester, restriction, karma) the need to restrict and rein in the wild tendencies inherent to the nature of Aquarius. That trio of planets in Aquarius, is in itself a hurdle.
Here’s his ace in the hole : Mercury trine Uranus. Mercury is thinking; Uranus intuition and innovation. Mercury in good aspect to Uranus is the sign of genius, a quick study. The mental faculties are very sharp and capable of radical trail-blazing ideas. Through his love of learning (Mercury is study and is sextile {opportunity} Venus, love) he transformed his life (Sun) his habits, (Moon conjunct Neptune) and his creativity, his love and spiritual health (Venus exalted in Pisces) all by taking the opportunity (sextiles) to learn and stimulate his intellect.
He also took the opportunity (sextile) to keep actively busy through sports (Mars), higher education (Jupiter), and he continually pushes his endurance (Aries) physically in order to improve his self-esteem (Sun).
Duff’s North Node of Destiny is in Cancer, the sign of nurturing. Once he got himself on his feet, he will push ahead helping others too. Now Duff is strong in heart, mind, body, and spirit and has a loving family. He is, by building (Saturn rules building, the earth and rocks) MeridianRock (perfect name- I love it !) reaching out to help his fellow musicians learn how to handle their finances so they can take care of themselves too.
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Very quickly I want to say a few words about the day Duff was admitted into the hospital with a burst pancreas. Moon rules the pancreas, and conjunct Neptune in the natal, it can indicate a weakness. If circumstances in the life and transits activate it, trouble may arise. Duff speaks in his book of alcoholism and drug use spiraling out of control, and that will further weaken the body.
Transiting Sun 19 Taurus (life-force) was opposite (call for compromise) Moon 19 / Neptune 17 conjunction (addiction) in Scorpio (the house of death and rebirth). Transiting Moon was also nearing opposition at 11 Taurus. Transiting Neptune was conjunct natal Mercury (which is trine Uranus in the natal – that’s a wake up call !) Transiting Pluto and North Node of Destiny were conjunct in Scorpio as well – a call for transformation, rebirth, and rising to meet your destiny. Ohm mani padme hum
Duff’s band, Loaded released their 3rd studio album, The Taking, earlier this year, see the video below for an acoustic version of Flatline.
Gemini, the twins has had me thinking of Zaphod Beeblebrox all week long ! One of my favorite books ever, cracks me right UP ~
every. time.
So you know Zaphod has two heads right ?! and he stole the Infinite Improbability Drive starship ?!
Hitchhikers is weird ! and brilliant ! and of course, I LOVE IT
:::::::::::::::: Here’s the scene that I’ve been thinking of concerning Uranian brainstorms direct ~
If you haven’t read the books, at least watch the movie – ahem.
~> Sam Rockwell <~
and ~ Martin Freeman (Bilbo !)
and so many more greats including petunias !
Happy Eclipse and Uranus direct lovely readers, thanks for showing up to the party !
Uranus is odd. It points to the odd in the natal chart. Whatever it aspects in the natal gets a ping-zing of quirk.
Uranus is known as the awakener. It is eccentric in natal chart operation and in orbit. The poles of Uranus are perpendicular to the ecliptic (orbital path around the Sun) which means it kind of rolls around thesun on its equator. Each pole will experience a 42 year day, followed by a 42 year night.
(Yes, Uranus has rings, and no they are not red, this is an infra-red camera pic.) The reason Uranus appears such a vivid blue is the atmosphere absorbs all red wavelengths of the visible spectrum, preventing it from bouncing back into space – all we see is the blue-green spectrum of color.
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Saturn (terra firma, being grounded) is the traditional ruler of Aquarius. The root (security) and sacral (desire) chakras are in the red color spectrum they are primal and personal, (represent being grounded).
While the blue color spectrum is the 3rd eye (intuition, pure communication) and is seeing the BIG PICTURE – it is more of a tribe vibe, being open to new possibilities, and innovations. Uranus shifts between the two in an instant. Grounded to ether ! Snap !
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Uranus is by nature an energy shifter. It shifts perspectives, vision and thinking like a lighting bolt.
Uranus went retrograde on July 9, 2011 – direct motion reboots things stalled at that time. Also look to your house of Aries at zero degrees, this is where Uranus goes direct. Pay attention to the same degrees of Libra (opposition, others and compromise) and Capricorn and Cancer (squares, the inner tension) for where to expect groovy energy downloads.
Uranus goes direct with a quintile – that’s a gift, a talent –the spirit quest – to Venus, the planet of love, art, beauty, kindness, self-worth and values and oh yeah…the green thing, money. $$
Actively engage a shift in these areas – that’s your talent, so use it.
What Uranus will bring up is anybody’s guess, it is the wild unpredictable the free and untamed.
Bend rather than break ~ be pliable, resilient and kind.
Retrograde motion is when the planetary energy is turned inward, direct motion energies pour outward. The few days prior to either are usually amped up a bit, lol. You may tweak – fair warning ! Just keep in mind others are tweaking too – particularly those with Uranus prominent in the natal ~ when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Uranus rules astrology, wireless, telepathy, inventors, the eureka ! , and magnetics.
Uranus’ magnetic field is odd in that it is not centered on the center of the planet and is tilted almost 60degrees with respect to the axis of rotation.
Since Uranus rules magnetics, polarities (positive and negative), and higher thought – be aware of what you draw to you by thought – for thoughts become deeds.
Because this Full Lunar eclipse is in Gemini (rules hands) I am leaving you with some info about mudras !
Different fingers represent different elements :
Finger — element it represents
Thumb — Fire or Sun
Index finger — Air or Wind
Middle finger — Sky or Space *
Ring finger — Earth
Small finger — Water
*note : now I will always see this gesture (in title) in a whole new way YaY !
There are various hand positions used in both kung fu and in yoga. The hands in kung fu often form shapes that are representational of animals. The tigers claw, the snakes head or the cranes beak are all traditional shaolin hand positions. In yoga the hand gestures are called mudras. A mudra sometimes is a symbolic shape similar to the ones in kung fu, yet more often they are energetic connections being made in the nadis or meridians. By connecting fingers, or pointing certain directions we direct energy and link up specific channels to generate a particular set of internal resonances. The hands are vitally important to the brain. There is an equal amount of cortical tissue dedicated to the hand as there is to the whole rest of the body. By engaging our hands, our breath, our bodies, our focus we awaken our inner sense of awareness and unify ourselves.
Gneiss Moon Astrology 