Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Mercury Goes Retrograde [9.24-10.15]

Some people get spooked by Mercury Retrograde. I don't. It's snafu time, not life or death time. Because today, Sept. 24, it starts going backwards [not really, it just looks that way in the heavens above] at 21* Libra, the sign of partnerships, agreements, the public, it affects our relationships with others.

Here are some general dos and don'ts for the three week periods that occur three times a year:

Don't buy, sign for or sell key merchandise.
Try not to start a new job or project. [This is the general recommendation I've read for years. However, you can't stop breathing. I've started jobs, bought items, etc. Yes, sometimes, I have to go back and redo the buy. That's life.]

Don't expect resolutions made during this period to stick. They will probably need redoing or redrafting after October 15.
[Uh oh, whazzup with the $700 Billion bailout??!!]
If you can, postpone any kind of negotiations.

Don't indulge in heated debate--tempers flare, miscommunication is heightened.
Try not to get married.

Watch out for your electronics. They may need repairs or get misplaced.
When making travel plans watch out for last minute changes.
Don't ask for a raise or quit your job.

Make sure you have emergency numbers programmed into your cell phone, and a paper backup in your purse, the car, in your office desk.

What does work when Mercury goes retrograde? Which tasks should we tackle?

Tie up loose ends.
Re-do, re-check, go over details.
Stall on negotiations.
Get second opinions.
Be thorough in your affairs.
Finish up projects [This is music to a writer's ears. We get to work on that story, poem, essay, project that we shoved to the back burner weeks or months ago].
Repair and maintain anything.
Clean out the basement, closets, yard, garage.
Give clothes to charity.
Get rid of books you know you'll never read or books you won't re-read. They're old ideas hanging around. Let them go into the universe where someone else can use them.
Back up all your files, paperwork and put in a safe place.
Place all valuables in a secure place.
Get a safe deposit box.
Read a favorite book, poem, short story or view a movie again.

LISTEN and PAUSE before reacting or responding.
Saying these phrases may be helpful:
"Can I get back to you?"
"Let's come back to this after we've both calmed down."
"I need some time to think about this before I give you an answer."

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Ballad for sarah palin's babymommadrama

Before anybody
politically right of center
says one word of defense
for this sweet young pale
pretty girl, can we hear
a disclaimer? Goes like this:

We regret demonizing whole
generations of young black
unwed females [not pale nor
considered pretty by white
ethnocentric persons]. We
regret stereotyping them
as immoral dregs on public
welfare rolls. We apologize
for not recognizing that
sexuality is a human trait
not a racial trait
and that teen pregnancy
happened in the "best of
homes" back in the day as well
before we did away with welfare
& forced these mothers into
mininum wage jobs two and three
bus rides away from their little
not-pale children [I believe you
called them bastards but we
invented better terms-
babymomma, babydaddy- that I know
all about because I'm not just
a grandma,I'm a babydaddymomma].
The kids were left all day
to watch tv and play video
games unsupervised. That's
what we call the bootiful
Clinton legacy. That's why
some very stoopid people
mistook Bill for a black prez.

But that's so 80s/90s.
Let us return to late 2008
when fair virgins of the
almost-no-longer-majority
race get impregnated mysteriously
and became upright political footballs.

Let's let bygones be bygones and
remember the golden-white rule-
when people of color do it, it's evil
when whites do it, it's a badge of honor.

Sarah Palin has some hellifying transits right now!

Sarah Palin has several classic torture transits: she's getting outer planet transits from Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. When these transits occur, they can take one's mind, body, and public persona through a torture chamber in the form of illness, legal problems, forced resignation or firing, family dilemmas-think of life crises and you've got the picture.

A whole generation born in 1965-68 is experiencing Saturn transiting the natal Uranus/Pluto conj. in Virgo. That's a hellbender, causing health and vocational rethinking on a massive societal level.

The problem with outer planet transits is that they last so long. The four outer planets beyond Jupiter transit the signs slowly-Saturn takes 2-1/2 years. So people with a normal life span will receive a Saturn transit to each planet twice, three times if they live to their 80s, including the vaulted Saturn returns at 26-30 years and 56-60 years of age.

Uranus revolves around the Sun once every 84 years, while Neptune takes about twice as long at 165 years and Pluto takes three times as long at 248 years. So not everyone gets a Uranus, Neptune or Pluto hit to their natal Sun or key planet/angle in one lifetime. When people do get it, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Palin's generation is feeling the brunt of downsizing in many industries, experiencing the outsourcing of jobs for which they had trained in their 20s.

It's the fast food generation coming to grips with trans fats and meeting the consequences of health policies or indiscretions created nationwide.

It's the ecstasy/rave & wave generation coming to grips with nervous systems finally blowing a gasket after so much misuse.

Palin's daughter getting pregnant at 17 could be seen as the result of the previous generation's abstinence preaching that sought to bypass birth control methods.

Palin has Neptune exactly conjuncting her Sun this month, a once-in a-lifetime conj. to her natal Sun, threatening to uncover and bring to light all that has been hidden for decades, not just years. It's brought her into the spotlight but the cost is exposure of all her biz.

I went through two recent outer planet transits, Sat. on my Pluto in Leo, and Pluto quincunxing [150* from] my Sat. at 28* Cancer [still there but the storm, my Gustav, has blown over]. These are just not pleasant interludes for anyone. But for a politician like Palin, everything that can be dredged up will be dredged up and reviewed before offical boards of inquiry. I had several such procedures to go through-medical, legal, academic-and they were exhausting, painstaking, costly and worrisome. All has ended well but the toll is no laughing matter.

My heart goes out to her and especially her family, even though her politics are diametrically opposite mine. She will come through it wiser--but at a cost.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Repubs. throw her back in the water if her Neptunian tide keeps washing ashore detritus. They're keeping a stiff upper lip now. But an onslaught would have to be addressed. That's what a political campaign is about. Think Thomas Eagleton with his electroshock treatments. The Dems had to get him off the ticket to salvage it, even though they lost by a landslide.