Question: what exactly is a retrograde transit?

Answer: There are two parts to this question retrograde and transit. Retrograde is when via apparent Motion a planet travels backwards through the Zodiac. A Transit means it is happening today. Transiting planets are the planets that are daily moving in our skies. They are transiting over us at this time. So simply a Transiting Retrograde is a retrograde cycle that is going on right now and will occupy a specific degree of the Zodiac but will be moving backwards through the Zodiac. If in your Natal chart you have the same degree then there is interaction.

Question: how does one know if he/she is afflicted?

Answer: Afflicted is old astrology terminology and was used to describe the effect of Squares and Oppositions and some Conjunctions. The opposite of Afflicted was Benefic. In today’s politically correct astrology Affliction may be referred to as challenging or inharmonious. Bottom line there is good and bad and some planetary configurations are not good. Some will be bad in the extreme. Today’s popular thinking would say if your chart has a lot of squares then you are challenged. I would say if your chart has a lot of retrograde planets then you are challenged. Combine your square with retrograde and the effect can intensify. Combine a square with a direct planet and the effect softens.

Question: how do you determine the amount of orb?

 

November 9, 2007 

 

First some Mercury and Gemini stuff. In the case of Pakistan ’s Gemini Benazir Bhutto she pushed the Mercury Retrograde and returned to Pakistan and it seems that she has had problems at every step. In Burma , Gemini Aung San Suu Kyi took a very low key position during the Mercury Retrograde and it seems that she is making the best progress she has made in years. We cannot make too much of the Mercury Retrograde and credit it will all occurrences but it can be key as to the timing of start dates.

November 10, 2007 

Now some Leo stuff and again to Pakistan and Leo leader Parvez Musharraf is showing how strong he is at holding on to power. His Sagittarius Moon is showing its skill to outmaneuver Benazir Bhutto at almost every turn. His Mars in Taurus and Venus in Virgo also give an unflinching grip on the military. Leo Hugo Chavez is also doing a good job of holding on to power by crushing opposition to his constitutional changes that will give him more power. Note that both Parvez and Chavez are playing with the constitution to hold power. A non-Leo leader Georgia ’s Mikhail Saakashvile, a Sagittarius December 21, 1967, Georgia, Russia has immediately caved into to public unrest and is preparing to allow his leadership to be taken away.

November 11, 2007

Scorpio is a fixed water sign. There are many strong generalizations made about Scorpio and sexuality and their dark side. All water signs have a dark side as emotion is a very strong force and when provoked to an extreme there is nothing more pervasive. Scorpio is a lot like that still water you see under a bridge. You know the stillness belies deep water with currents and all sorts of dangerous forces. Scorpio at their best are very beautiful people and at their worst very revengeful. I like to think of Scorpio as a beautiful tropical lagoon where you can be sure to find a deadly shark swimming quietly. The Scorpio doesn’t mind the shark but don’t mess up the water and disturb the clearness of their lagoon.

 

November 16, 2007

Notes - Cancer and Sagittarius are like the moving river with a floating piece of flame always exciting and inspiring - Sagittarius is viewed as the archer but it is really where the archer is setting their sights that really counts for the Sagittarius - the Aquarius an air sign is a very important link for the Gemini as Aquarius is the store house of knowledge and is an unconventional thinker while the Gemini is the seeker of new ideas and when the Aquarius and the Gemini disagree it will be the air sign Libra that decides who is right but all on as social a level as possible

 November 17, 2007

Notes - The Aries a fire sign is a sign that likes to exercise as a part of daily diet - the Leo likes to be seen where the action is -  people and friends are the Leo - Sagittarius the is the wonderer both in spirit and desire -  they do not have to leave where they are to travel - they are astrologically long distance - so the three fires signs are Aries the cardinal Fire as the Pioneer - Leo is the holder of the place and the center of attention - the Sagittarius tells their stories of the exploits of both – three fire signs that speak the same language

November 18, 2007

Question: What is astrology?

November 19, 2007

Question:  what exactly is a "chart"?

Quick answer:  a chart is a map of the sky for a moment in time, it can be a chart for a birth moment called a Natal Chart or a chart for what is happening today called a Transiting Chart or as the Natal Chart grows like we do and it becomes the Progressed Chart.

 

November 23, 2007

Question: Can charts be read for children also?

Answer: Yes there is no difference except that since the planets within a chart move at different speeds the areas of emphasis are less encompasing for a child. Some planets are moving fast others are so slow that they are generational. So in the chart of a child when it comes to the outer planets not much has moved or progressed. A certain skill or specialty is required for children but the principal is the same as in reading any chart. The emphasis will be on the Sun Moon and inner planets such as Mercury Venus and Mars since this is where the interaction will occur due to their movement. These fast inner planets will interact with the slower outer planets and so the full chart will be interacting. But the growth or change areas will be where the Sun Moon Mercury Venus and Mars are going.

November 24, 2007

Mars today is retrograde in Cancer. On November 15, 2007 at 12Cancer57 it started its retrograde cycle and will continue travelling backwards against the Zodiac until January 31, 2008 when it will have travelled all the way back to 24Gemini04. Mars is new directions and direct action. Cancer is the home and family and forward emotional action. Both are Cardinal signs with Aries as Cardinal Fire and Cancer as Cardinal Water. If both signs were in direct motion there would be a compatibility with the Cardinal or forward acting nature of each sign. The rub would be the challenge of meshing Cardinal Water or Etheric Action with Cardinal Fire or Physical Action. But they are not in forward motion they are in retrograde motion and the energies now become more complex and confused. Mars rather than going forward is going backwards it is looking back to where it has been. This is not the normal mode for Mars/Aries and two things will happen Aries will become more retrospective and will have less time for its future endeavors. Cancer will rather than seeing their home and emotional life growing will find that they have a visitor who requires that much of what is the Cancers daily routine be set aside.

 

November 25, 2007

 

Today the Sun is 3 degrees into the Zodiacal Sign Sagittarius. In deep and still and emotional Scorpio we dreamt, we felt and we desired a life and a future. In Sagittarius we have that future unfolding. The Scorpio said no change hold your ground attract only those who give an emotional excitement. The Sagittarius now says let go integrate be flexible in all the areas that the Scorpio held dear. The Sagittarius is excitement and the environment that it wants to inhabit is one of excitement. Its stories are not of the sadness of Scorpio but of the joy that comes after the sadness. The sunny day after the storm. The arrow climbing in the sky seeking an unknown landing place.