The Week Above - September 16th - 23rd 2018

The Week Above is a weekly astrological "weather report" detailing the major planetary configurations for the week ahead. All times given are in Eastern Time. There will be references to your birth chart and your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs throughout. If you aren't sure of what that means, check out Astrodienst for free online chart drawings, and Cups & Crowns for the basics of how to understand a drawn chart.

If you enjoy my writing and find it valuable, consider supporting me on Patreon. Future posts will feature horoscopes for your sign if certain goals are met.

Vesta enters Capricorn - September 17th

Vesta is one of the big four asteroids in astrology, sometimes called the Asteroid Goddesses. She is concerned with many things, as is any archetype, among them: The sacred day-to-day work we do in the world; emotional care; the hearth and home, particularly the qualities that make a house a home; feminine sexuality that is active rather than passive; the self-sufficient feminine; sacred sexuality; sex work, especially as a healing art; and the projected ideal of the Sacred (Light) Feminine.

Vesta will be in Capricorn’s mountainous territory until December 1st. There, she teaches us how to express our inner emotional needs in ways that help us reach our long-term goals, as well as how the parts of ourselves experienced as feminine can balance emotional self-care with striving towards the future we wish to build. There will be questions that come up around whether we bring too much of our work home with us, or not enough; and whether we can do the work necessary to be in tune with the deep inner needs and meet them as human beings who have to live a complicated life. Spend time with these questions if they feel familiar; there is warmth to be gained from tending this hearth.

This transit will affect you most strongly if Vesta is conjoined your Sun, Moon, Ascendant, or another personal planet in your birth chart; if you are a woman or femme-of-center person for whom self-sufficiency is part of the fiber of your life’s construction; or if sexuality is part of your work in the world. The latter might find they have higher libido than usual during this transit.

Mars square Uranus - September 18th

Fighting the good fight gives you reason to fight.

You may want to fight. You may be spoiling for a fight. And when the just cause comes into view, you may find yourself eager to champion it, to make yourself into a righteous warrior.

Yet one person’s righteous cause is another person’s tragedy, and so serious questions must be asked of yourself if this is really the thing you need to be fighting for. Justice without mercy is cruel, and justice without discretion is a drunk waving around a sword in a crowded bar.

This Mars in Aquarius story is about asking yourself what future you wish to fight for and fighting for it. But this week may fill you with a passion to fight for what you believe that blocks from view the importance of slowing your roll to make sure you’re charging toward the correct battles.

Whatever revolution you start this week, if you bring out the guillotines make sure that you’re prepared for the outcome.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Aries or Scorpio, or in close aspect with Mars in your birth chart, or if you are an athlete, activist, or just a cantankerous sort in general.

Mercury Cazimi in Virgo - September 20th

Cazimi means “in the heart of the Sun.” On September 20th, Mercury will make its superior conjunction with the Sun in the sign Mercury calls home. The moment of Mercury’s superior conjunction—9:52pm on the East Coast of the United States—is traditionally an excellent moment for matters of the intellect; of communication, organization, and analysis; and to engage fully with the details.

Yet all is not well for the swift-moving messenger planet. Coming up on an opposition with Chiron and square to Saturn, they are beset by troubles, obstructions, aches and pains. Therefore the evening of the 20th is good to engage in troublesome works of organization and analysis that you expect frustration from, that they may be tackled from a position of both strength and full knowledge of the difficulties.

Your unread emails, for example. Just don’t expect to get everything done perfectly.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Gemini or Virgo, or in close aspect with Mercury in your natal chart, or if you are a writer, lecturer, analyst, accountant, or otherwise focused on communication or the details.

Mercury and the Sun enter Libra - September 21st and 22nd

Playing out a similar story in quick succession, Mercury races ahead of the Sun to enter Libra shortly before midnight on September 21st. The Sun follows on the 22nd, marking the Fall Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, when night and day are of equal length. From then on, the nights grow longer than the days until the wheel turns again on the Winter Solstice.

Mercury and the Sun play out similar stories in Libra but each according to their nature. They will both oppose Chiron within hours of entering Libra and square Saturn within days. Libra wants to partner, make nice, befriend and connect; the entry into this territory will make that difficult at first, particularly as Libra’s ruler Venus is in one of its least comfortable signs.

Therefore both intellect and self-will will be trying their best to focus more on connecting with the Other, but not succeeding as much as they’d like for the few days following the changing of signs.

When you want to partner and connect, understand that the one you wish to connect with may have other plans in mind, and do your best not to take it too personally. Things will get easier in this regard once the squares to Saturn are past, though there is still much to be done.

Mercury remains in Libra until October 9th; the Sun until October 23rd.

The transit of Mercury will affect most those in Mercury categories listed above. The transit of the Sun will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Leo, or if you were born on the New Moon or at dawn; or if you are a performer or other creative.

The Week Above - September 9th-16th, 2018

The Week Above is a weekly astrological "weather report" detailing the major planetary configurations for the week ahead. All times given are in Eastern Time. There will be references to your birth chart and your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs throughout. If you aren't sure of what that means, check out Astrodienst for free online chart drawings, and Cups & Crowns for the basics of how to understand a drawn chart.

If you enjoy my writing and find it valuable, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Venus in Scorpio - September 9th

What Love wants and what it needs can be very different.

Love wants kindness. Love wants everyone to get along. Love wants harmony and beauty and things to go smoothly. Love is defined by these things, among others.

But one cannot love another effectively if one is not willing to be radically, nakedly honest. Love requires Truth, and Truth can sting. Love requires vulnerability, and vulnerability can lead to pain.

Scorpio is the sign of going into the deep, dark places that scare us and dealing with what we find. This is why Scorpio is the sign of the Healer—because that is what it takes to heal. This is why magical works of finding hidden treasure belong to Scorpio.

Scorpio is foreign territory to Venus. She cannot be who she usually is there. But if she plays her cards right.. If she embraces the great unknown and allows herself to be naked down to her sinew... She might find herself transformed there.

Venus will be in the sign of Scorpio, fittingly, until Halloween, her stay lengthened by a retrograde in October. She will make a brief foray back home into Libra during November, then be back in Scorpio from December 2nd until January 7th. It will be a long period of needing to know what Love can be when she gets comfortable being uncomfortable.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Taurus or Libra, or in tight aspect with Venus in your birth chart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Mars in Aquarius - September 10

Our ideas of masculinity, as a society, are stuck in the past.

Outdated contexts, social constructions that are falling apart at the seams, ideals based on a vision of what used to be that has little to do with how it actually was and less to do with how it is today.

Aquarius is the outsider, the rebel, the one who does not fit in. It conceives of the future before it comes; it drags us towards the potential for what may be.

Mars is the planet of will, of passion, of drive... Of war, of strife, of anger... Of strength and athleticism... Of the ways that we construct masculinity, within ourselves and as a society. It is not maltreated in Aquarius, but it does not easily find a home there either, wandering as it does, a stranger in a strange land.

Therefore the challenge upon us all, as Mars traverses this unfamiliar landscape from September 10th to November 15th, retracing some of its steps from this summer, is to ask ourselves what future we wish to fight for, what masculine ideal exists beyond the confines of society, what passion can take us beyond the bounds of the present day.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Aries or Scorpio, or in tight aspect with Mars in your birth chart; or if masculinity and/or passionate will are important parts of your life.

Jupiter sextile Pluto - September 12th

Like the turning of the seasons, a gradual, subtle pattern of life comes into sharp focus this week.

This is the third of three Jupiter-Pluto sextiles, the previous two having taken place in January and April of this year.

Jupiter represents the human desire to understand the grand themes of the world, whether via philosophy or religion or educating the higher mind. He is buoyant in outlook, his eyes toward the horizons. He's a likeable ol' chap.

Pluto is the underworld principle―resonant with (but not ruling!) the sign of Scorpio, he too takes us to the dark depths most would rather avoid. Taboos of sexuality, chthonic powers and drives, volcanic eruptions arising from the unconscious. As you might assume, he's pretty intense.

Together in a supportive aspect, we find ourselves dealing with themes of occult philosophy, tantra in its original and Western senses, incredible heroism in the face of personal demons, and views towards foreigners that lose sight of nuance. It is a theme to this year's politics, certainly, but also to the personal journeys we undergo. History, after all, is fractal.

Look back to themes and symbols that came up for you around mid-January and mid-April of this year; if you spot a pattern, it should return this week.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Sagittarius or Pisces, or in tight aspect with Jupiter in your birth chart; or if you are an occultist, priest, or educator.

Venus opposed Uranus, sextile Saturn - September 12th

The ongoing trine between Uranus and Saturn has been a theme of the past couple of years. It is an especially strong one this August and September.

There is a tendency for sudden shocks to existing establishments, and sudden establishing of things whose existence is shocking. Things break into pieces and reform as stronger versions of what they were or something else entirely, or they just break into millions of pieces and those pieces are composted into fertilizer for growing the next big thing.

Venus, in the territory of necessary truths, interacts with this pattern as soon as she enters Scorpio on Sunday, but brings it forth throughout the week. Sometimes Venus likes you to see her coming, sometimes she likes you to see her going. Therefore this aspect and its impact on Love, relations, and aesthetics may not make itself known until the 13th or 14th, but it will make itself known somehow.

This is an amazing time to surprise your partner with something unexpected for the two of you to do together―a night on the town, a poem you wrote about them, a fetish you've been waiting to reveal... Something new and exciting. And I recommend you do so. Astrology lets you pick your poison and turn it into medicine. Shake things up in a fun way and Uranus is more likely to have your back.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Taurus or Libra, or conjoined Venus in your birth chart.

Mercury opposed Neptune - September 13th

Mercury retrograde has a lot of stereotypes.

It gets overhyped in a lot of ways, but certain patterns do emerge. Among them are afflictions such as delays, mishaps, and plain old weirdness around communication, transportation, short-distance travel, and technology.

These sorts of effects are also known to happen when transiting Mercury is in hard aspect to Neptune, as they are the first half of this week. The emphasis in this context tends more towards the "plain old weirdness" side of things, so I wouldn't over-fret. You might just find yourself talking to an old friend and running out of time because you spent too long discussing your grandparents' respective taste in ice cube trays, for example.

I wouldn't back up my hard drive on Thursday, though.

This transit will affect you most if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Gemini or Virgo, or in tight aspect with Mercury in your birth chart, or if you are a writer, tech worker, or lecturer.

One Important Key to Healing Your Relationships with Men and Women

Do you find yourself repeatedly drawn to men who drain your energy by demanding you pay lots of attention to their emotions? Perhaps your inner masculine nature wants its feelings nurtured, and you've dismissed it by assuming that behavior must be feminine. Do you find yourself in relationships with women who seek to control everything around them? Perhaps your inner feminine nature feels powerless, and you thought that power and control were masculine qualities. Do you find yourself always chasing after an idealized version of the opposite gender, and projecting those qualities onto each potential partner? Perhaps that ideal contains qualities of your inner nature of that gender, which is crying out for you to express.

Everyone has parts of themselves which are masculine, and everyone has parts of themselves that are feminine. Each individual expresses these parts of themselves differently. Learning to embrace that within you which is both masculine and feminine involves letting go of ideas that masculinity or femininity is in any way universal. Qualities of your masculine side may be qualities of my feminine side, and vice versa. Because we are all made of many parts, no two individuals have exactly the same expression of either gender. And so one must engage in a process of self-analysis, through introspection, meditation, conversation, and experimentation.

The inner and the outer reflect each other. Patterns in the inner form through encounters with the outer. We develop qualities within us partly by interacting with others who, when we are at an early age, represent archetypes more than people. Not your father but The Father. Not your best friend but The Best Friend. And we adjust who we are and how we express that in relation to these archetypes. The good news is, the patterns form both ways.

One of the most common problems people have, in my experience as a psychic, is finding harmony with people of a certain gender. If you believe the psychoanalytical standard, then you believe these issues stem from a person's relationship with their mother or their father. Perhaps that's true. Personally, I know my love for women and my preference for women as friends has more to do with my earliest relationships with my peers in school. The kinds of interactions I have always valued most involve deep conversations. As a child, that was easier to find if I played with the girls rather than the boys. The boys would push. The boys would shove. The girls would be peaceful.

Throughout my lifetime, I've been friends mostly with women and genderqueer femmes who present as women. And I spend a lot of time in circles where gender and issues around gender are discussed frequently. So I hear a lot of people talking about having issues and hangups around others in ways that have to do with gender. I, myself, have spent much of the past few years confronting and healing my hangups with both masculinity and femininity. And the one thing that has helped the most is looking inward.

When we heal that within us which is masculine and feminine, we find ourselves developing healthier relationships with others who express those qualities. When we accept these parts of ourselves for what they are, and allow them to be expressed authentically, we can create new patterns with others who express healthier versions of those qualities. And by letting go of past patterns, of judgment, and of rigidity around what masculinity and femininity are "supposed to be," we can find freedom and self-expression in new and profound ways.

Predicting the Release Date of Pokémon Go with Astrology

In addition to being a psychic, I'm also a lifelong video game fan. These days I don't find myself with nearly as much time to play video games as I used to, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for the Pokémon game franchise. I haven't played any of the Pokémon games more recent than Pokémon Black, which came out in 2011. And by that point, my enthusiasm had waned enough that I stopped playing it about a third of the way into the game. I still don't know how it ends.

But this year, Pokémon turns 20. And the first Pokémon game I've been truly excited about since 2009 comes out: Pokémon Go. It's an augmented reality game for your smartphone, which allows you to catch Pokémon by bringing your phone to various real-life locations.

Part of why I'm excited about this so much is that Pokémon has always had a strong spiritual component to it. Many of the creature designs in the game are based off of creatures and entities from Japanese and world mythology. For someone like me, whose spiritual practice involves interaction with a variety of mythic beings, Pokémon represents my cosmology introduced into the world wearing the thin disguise of a kid's game. Back in the 1990's, there was a backlash to Pokémon by various Christian organizations, who rightly recognized just how Pagan the games are. Buddhist and Shinto paradigms saturate the games' core philosophical principles. Specifically, the games speak of the importance of living in harmony with nature and all within it. Can't have that!

Naturally, I decided to take a look at the astrology behind Pokémon's initial release date. I ended up using the chart for 12:01AM on February 27th, 1996, in Tokyo, Japan. That time makes the most sense to me for reasons I will likely fully articulate at a future point. Suffice it to say, it works for how I understand Pokémon's purpose in the world.

Nintendo has announced that Pokémon Go will come out some time in 2016, but has given no information more specific than that. Nintendo, as a company, is in the habit of holding off on concrete release dates, much to the annoyance of the fans. So I thought I'd take a look at the astrology of Pokémon's 20th birthday, to see if I can guess within a day or two the most likely dates for important events to happen for the Pokémon brand.

The first thing I noticed is that a very important event will occur just after Pokémon's 20th anniversary. I expect a major announcement to be made between February 28th-March 1st, most likely the morning of February 29th, JST. Possibly it won't be a public announcement, but something gets finalized internally, leading to an announcement 1 month later, on March 29th. Both February and March 29th are important dates according to my interpretation of Pokémon's solar return chart this year, and I believe they are the most likely days for a more specific release date to be announced.

April 29th is also an important date in the chart, and if I'm going to pin it to an exact time, midnight JST seems likely. Because of that timing, and because of how I understand game releases to work, April 29th strikes me as the most likely release date for Pokémon Go. Well, not just because of that. That is the day that Chiron gets activated in Pokémon's solar return chart, and Chiron has a lot to do with being in contact with the spirit realm. Ellias Lonsdale includes the phrase "energized tremendously by special occasions" in his interpretation of the degree that Chiron is at in this chart, 20 Pisces. Chiron gets activated around the same time as Jupiter and the asteroid Karma, and right before the lunar nodes. According to the chart, midnight on April 29th should be the most dramatic moment of the year for Pokémon, so if I were a gambling man, and I'm not, I would put money on that being the release date of Pokémon Go.

Now, keep in mind: I am not omniscient. One of the things I have found to be consistent in attempting to use astrology for prediction is that the archetypal energies frequently manifest is ways you can't predict, even as they are the exact archetypal energies you originally saw.

But I'm putting this out there, to be proven wrong or proven right, or more likely in the middle, as the year progresses.

3 Important Themes for 2016: A Message from Archangel Michael

    As I'm trying to put together my predictions for the coming year, I see Archangel Michael in my mind's eye. I don't always get visuals with my psychic senses, but this is a clear image. He's shirtless, as usual, with the typical white angelic robes only covering from his waist to his knees. His torso is tightly muscled, and unusually for him, he's choosing to appear with large battle scars over those muscles, faded from time. I see him leaning back in a chair behind a cherry wood desk, which shows me he's here for business.
    "2015 wasn't easy," he begins, and narrows his eyes, "And 2016 won't be either. But there's an important difference between them." He gets up and walks away from his desk, standing with his back to me. He looks at me over his shoulder, and gestures to a vision in front of him. It's an idyllic scene of blue skies over rolling green hills, like a fairy tale landscape of childhood joy. "We carry dreams within us, of exactly the world we want to be in." The blue skies turn into a rainstorm. The rain is warm, but intense. "The storms of life come through, and interrupt these dreams. We think we can't achieve them, that everything conspires against us. But look at what happens after the storm." The rain ends, though the sky remains lightly cloudy. Flowers bloom from the grassy hills. Bees land on them. There is a chill in the air. "We survive these storms, and see beauty where once there was only a blank slate. But we see elements of darkness as well. The bee will sting you, and the rain will chill your body, but without them, no flowers will bloom." The vision had been projected in front of Michael, but we're inside it now. He holds out his index finger, and a bee lands on it. Michael gazes at the bee in silent communication and smiles. After a moment, the bee flies away.
    We're suddenly back at his desk. I'm sitting in a chair on the guest side of the desk, he's leaning back in his chair again, fingers steepled before him. He looks at me solemnly. "Were there any questions?"
    I get straight to the point: "What are the big themes of this year?" I ask.
    "Redemption, first of all. You mortals aren't the only ones who've had a rough time these past 12 months. The work in the spirit realm never gets any easier, but we understand the rewards for it better than you do in the physical plane. You've been through a lot. Most of those reading this, you've been through more than you thought you could handle in 2015. When I say 'redemption,' it isn't about righting past wrongs. It's about finding the peace, the sanctity, the reward for all you've put into your lives that hasn't come to fruition.
    You all have suffered greatly. We've felt it up here. We've heard your cries of pain, but our hands were tied. For most of you, it wasn't the time to give you what you needed. For those of you who've suffered, we did what we could to give you exactly what it took for you to make it through. Many weren't meant to make it through, and that's okay. That was their path. And they knew that going into their lives--though mortals tend to forget these things once they're born. The spirit realm has suffered losses as well..." Michael gazes into the distance, looking pensive.
    "2016 is the year that all those who have felt like everything was conspiring against them these past few years reap the harvest from all the growth they've been through and all the chaos they've endured. 2016 is the year that those who encountered challenges they didn't know how they'd deal with, finally rise above and bring forth into the world manifestations of these dreams they've held for so long. By enduring the storms, the dreams were made malleable, tempered, and shaped into a form that would be of use in the physical plane."
    "This goes along with the next theme: Hustle. 8 of Wands, for the tarot-minded among you. Move. Get going. Nose to the grindstone, balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, full speed ahead. Your dreams take action to manifest, and the Fire of God shall be under all of your asses." Michael smiles wolfishly. "Anyone who thought their dreams would land in their lap shall need to overcome that delusion in order to move forward. And unfortunately, not everyone will. Some will fail, and some will be stuck in past patterns and unable to move forward. The key to moving forward is to move. Keep your body healthy, and if you're able, physical exertion will help you stay grounded. Do what it takes to keep the blood pumping through your veins."
    "The final theme I'll mention is Changing of Leadership. Nation-states have elections, and some of those elections happen this year. That is normal--no prediction there. But most of these changes shall herald dramatic shifts in unprecedented ways. The very meaning of what many of these nations stand for shall come under scrutiny and be reinvented this year. Some of these transitions shall not be easy. Some of them shall be accompanied by violence, or disgrace. Many of these transitions shall be forced upon the leaders, and the shock waves shall ripple around the world.
    There is good news, however. Local communities, based on common interests and values, shall undergo changes in leadership that are overwhelmingly Just. Many of the current leaders within small communities have gained positions of repute more through charisma than ability to lead. Many of them have abused their power. Many have used their good will within these communities to serve their own interests, unconcerned with the good of all. And many, many of the leaders of small communities who have abused their power shall suffer a fall from grace. Others shall fill in the gaps. Individuals who choose to act justly, with the whole community in their hearts, shall find themselves in positions of leadership over the coming year. They shall find themselves well-regarded, and recognized for their righteous behaviors. This shall not be universal. Sometimes, stuck places and shadows are what the universe demands. But most shall find that when the groups they belong to undergo shifts around which names command respect, those who are most fit to serve the greater whole shall rise."
    Michael smiles at me, gently this time. "Relax, kiddo." He clasps a hand on my shoulder. "You spend so much time worrying about things. The time to worry is over. Now is the time to act." We stand up. He walks around the desk, and gives me a warm hug. "You got this, kiddo. You all got this."

Fin.

(To book Arthur Lipp-Bonewits for a tarot, astrology, or angel reading, you can email him here.)

Chart Rectification and Confirmation

One of my specialties in astrology is chart rectification. One of the first steps in doing astrology for someone is getting the exact time they were born. Unfortunately, many people don't know the exact time, or they're off by a little bit. I've had a lot of clients text their moms for me. Chart rectification is using astrological techniques to figure out the exact time when the person doesn't know and can't find out. Most astrologers use a long process based on transits and other predictive techniques applied to specific moments in the client's life. I don't.

One of the most important tools I have is the book "Inside Degrees" by Ellias Lonsdale. It is a masterwork of spiritual channeling, going deep into meanings and descriptions for all 360 degrees of the Zodiac. I've used this book quite a few times to figure out someone's exact birth time, by seeing when a few sensitive points change their degrees, and working with the person to determine which of those degree descriptions, as written by Lonsdale, most resonate.

A friend of mine a few months ago said she was born at 3pm, and looking at her chart I knew that couldn't be right. In fact, generally when someone tells me they were born on the hour or half-hour, I'm suspicious of it. But in this case, it didn't make any sense with her personality and chart. She told me it was actually somewhere between 3 and 3:30pm, so I rectified her chart with "Inside Degrees" to 3:22pm. She was satisfied with that.

She's home with family for the holidays right now, and she found her birth certificate. She sent me a picture of it, showing the birth time: 3:22pm.

I knew the chart was accurate, but it was still dang pleasant to get that confirmation. I'm looking forward to continuing the chart rectification work, as it really gets people engaged with their own patterns and personalities in new ways.

If you're interested in an astrology reading, especially if you'd like help figuring out your exact birth time, send me an email here.