Tag Archives: Harmony

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The Progressed Moon: Your Emotional Barometer

I’m a moody critter. So are you. Minute by minute, day by day, every single person on the planet goes through a myriad of emotions. If you wake up in a boo-hoo mood, there it is, plain and simple. Sure, you can consciously change that…but there’s the undeniable truth of how you first felt when you opened your eyes. Feelings are here to stay.

In astrology, the Moon is the heart, or the emotional barometer. It tracks unconscious longings and desires-your moods. As you progress through different times in your life, certain moods prevail for as little as 1-1/2 years or as long as 3 or 4 years.

To stay happy, to be attuned to the Moon’s need for irrational joy, being true to your heart is key. My progressed moon just entered the area of one-on-one relationships (the 7th house, house of “we”) in the sign of discriminating, puzzle-solving Virgo. I feel the desire to connect with others. To have conversations that are information-rich (Virgo) and benefit each person equally (7th). Case in point, I just met with a man who offered me a shared business proposition. As we discussed the details (Virgo), there was true rapport. it was a comfortable (7th house) yet stimulating (Virgo) exchange of ideas. It felt really, really good-and utterly natural. My Moon was grinning.

The Moon needs to be fed the kind of mood food that keeps it healthy. Have you ever done something that you really didn’t want to do? For other people, for show, because a job dictates that you must? Maybe with a smile pasted on your face that says (cartoon box, please), “I’m enjoying myself.” But your heart knows better…and it’s sad/p.o.’ed/bored, etc. You know when you’re happy-your heart soars. No effort needed.

For example, if your progressed Moon is entering the 9th house of adventure, travel, meaning and learning-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, book a trip. You’ll benefit from culture shock. Sign up for an experiential class that will widen your horizons. Then watch your happiness quotient soar.

There are 12 houses in astrology, or areas of experience, as well as 12 signs. The Moon is always coupled with a sign or, sometimes, 2 signs, as it moves through a house. It takes about 28 years for the progressed moon to sweep through all of these houses and signs. If you’re true to your heart (the Moon), you’re happy. If not, a kind of discontent and dreary expectation of never getting your needs met dominates.

Where are you in your emotional journey? It’s easy enough to find out. Book an appointment with an experienced astrologer (me). You’ll learn about the timing, what “soul” (Moon) food will satiate your hunger and how to optimally respond to the emotional wisdom always available to you.

It’s an inside job, kids. Hope to see y’all soon.

Love & mischief,

Joyce

 

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Venus Retrograde: Retracing the Steps of Love

Venus Retrograde: Retracing the Steps of Love

It’s May 15, 2012. You and your main squeeze are waiting for dinner to be served at your favorite restaurant. You’re chatting about nothing special. This scenario is familiar, it’s comfortable, you’re happy enough.

Then s/he says, “There’s something we have to talk about.”

Your heart starts a manic drumbeat. Panicked, thoughts tumble into your mind: “What did I do wrong? Is there someone else? Is it over?”

But your sweetheart smiles, takes your hand, and adds, “It’s okay. I love you. But I think we’re taking each other for granted.”

Dinner arrives and you eat without tasting. The main course is kind but radical honesty. A review of where you’ve been. A reassessment. A revision of some of the ways you’ve been relating. How to improve on what you have together.

Venus retrograde: The great lady of relationships, values, connection, paused in her starry dance on May 15 to help you look backwards. Venus, speaking in the voice of curious Gemini, asks, “What have you gotten lazy about?” “Where did you make assumptions that were never discussed?” “Are your values the same as they once were?” “Are you playing fair with one another?”

Through June 27, 2012, when Venus again twirls into direct motion, you have the chance to renegotiate. To reveal what you’ve been holding back. To release old relationship patterns that get in your way. But you’ve gotta open your mouth and share what’s in your heart.  Be diligent about pruning and weeding out what prevents you from deeper intimacy during this 6-week period. Plant trust, truth and a commitment to talk things through as they come up. If you do, Venus then hits the reset button on June 27 and things are better than good. You’re bonded in a way that wasn’t possible before.

If you’re lazy, or shut down, stagnation can choke the life out of what you hold precious and dear. This doesn’t have to happen-but it’s up to  you.

Single and looking? Do research. Ask good friends why they love and value you. Then ask them to tell you, straightforwardly, what they really thought about someone you’d once been involved with. This will help you make more self-aware relationship choices in the future. Personally, reflect on what made you happy with a past paramour as well as what got in the way. As a result, you’ll gain a much clearer perspective (Gemini) on what you want–and don’t. Use this time to fertilize, compost, prepare the soil for the right relationship, one of give-and-take, one of compromise.

Express rather than repress what you must say, to your partner, a friend, anyone you truly cherish. Love is the blood in our emotional veins.  Love is all there is.

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What is Truth? Jupiter in Aries

Positive Jupiter in Aries: Faith in yourself, your truth, your actions. Negative Jupiter in Aries: Fear that supports the belief that only your truth is real. Who is to say which is right and which is wrong? Stand up for what you believe. If it feels right, then it is.

Jupiter holds the holy grail containing the alchemical ingredients of diversity, honesty and faith. Mix in the passion and assertiveness of Aries and this brew comes to full boil.

Jupiter entered territorial, warrior Aries on 1/22/11.  Passionate truth boils to the surface. Ask yourself if you want to act or react? There are more than 6.8 billion people living on earth, and swords are clashing–verbally, mentally, philosophically, physically.

But what is truth? It is in the eye of the beholder. Most wars are begun due to philosophical differences. Wake up in San Francisco, and two people of the same sex slow-dancing together won’t get a second glance. Place that same couple in Houston, and there might be trouble.

Can you take a stand without bloodletting? Can you imagine a peaceful outcome without giving up your position–and letting someone else having theirs? Mahatma Gandhi said, “Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”

So is it really no pain, no gain? Or can you take a step backward, hold your tongue, loosen your fist, look your “enemy” in the eye and see their humanness? This is how war is won. How peace is made. And how, in these volatile and uncertain times, you can stand on opposite sides of the same fence and, even if you disagree, allow. Take this stance and you find freedom.

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Hard Heart Work: Saturn in Libra

Marriage. Kids. Commitment. Break-ups. Divorce. Family growing pains. Notice how there’s lots of this goin’ around ’bout now? Why? Labor-intensive Saturn in balanced Libra is demanding maturation and responsibility within relationships. This is a growth cycle that no one escapes–and it’s all about you, me and we.

It’s a mountain you’ve gotta climb. If not, good luck–you’ll find yourself stuck or sliding on silt. So put one foot after the other and look ahead, not back.  Saturn is at its best in relationship-driven Libra–but sometimes the scales tip too far one way or the other. You need to remember that you’re not alone and prove it.

Some of the stories I’ve heard lately: “I was thinking of riding my bike out into the street,” said one 13-year-old. “Mom moved in with us,” says a dutiful but distraught daughter of 38. “Now my husband sleeps on the sofa.” A marriage of nearly 30 years comes to a close, especially challenging because both husband and wife are in business together.

Saturn stares you grimly in the eye and says, “Get real, bro. Stand up for yourself, sister. This is about love. And family. And connecting. Prove it or things will get ugly.” Yep, there’s that boulder poised to fall on unsuspecting you as your girlfriend runs off with your best friend. Why, you plead? “You took me for granted for too long,” she says. You do a mental re-run of the past 6 months and realize you remember more about TV shows you’ve watched together than memories you’ve made.

It’s time for true grit, darlin’. No wimps allowed or you’ll fall off the mountain. After all, you don’t build emotional muscle without feelin’ the burn. Saturn doesn’t stand for  slackers or there are consequences. So do those crunches and pay attention. Otherwise you might find yourself all alone on a romantic moonlit night. Or feeling bored out of your skull by keeping company with someone you’ve simply gotten used to.

Saturn is the planetary CEO and has assigned you the job of honoring others as you would like to be honored, capiche? Libra gently reminds you that you have to bend to give, but not break your back.

So take some time to really see and hear your amour/partner/spouse/child/parent. Look deep into their eyes and ask them not only how they are but who they are. Through October 6, 2012, Saturn in Libra is the testing ground for love . And hey! If the world is really gonna end like some prophets claim, make the most out of it. After all, love is what makes the world go ’round.

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Cardinal Crossroads of Change: What It Means for You

Okay, ladies and gents…we’re counting down the days till showtime. If you were born around the beginning of  Aries, Cancer, Capricorn or Libra (or have planets or angles in the early degrees of those signs), y’all have front row seats. The biggest lightning storm ever is a-brewin’. You’re breathing in raw tension just about now, pushing buttons and getting yours pushed. There’s an electric, pungent energy building. If you were a cat, you’d be arching your back. It’s the call to battle at dawn. What’s gotta go needs to get gone: relationships that don’t work, jobs that don’t matter, fibs that you’re supposed to believe.

Tense and intense strological energies are gathering, building up to peak pressure from June 26 to August 5 (and most potent on July 29th). Somethin’s gotta blow. It’ll be stinky, but it’ll also be a helluva relief.

Four planetary forces will be facing-off, forming a Grand Cardinal Cross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_cross_(astrology)  Shamanic Pluto in exacting Capricorn summons forth a part of you that’s been banished in the shadows. Own it consciously and claim your power. Be in your truth, no matter who stands in judgment of you, as extremist Uranus in “me first” Aries gallops sidesaddle with Jupiter the Preacher.  Pioneering Mars in relational Libra impatiently taps the accelerator, while passenger Saturn gets focused on how to get where you need to be. Act with integrity and learn to love the word “no.” Lastly, acknowledge and release where you’ve been too tentative, sensitive or reactive (the South Node in Cancer) and focus on where you need to develop your inner authority (the North Node in Capricorn).

This may sound like a ten-car pile-up (and parts of it will be messy), but this is the kick-off point for positive change. Let’s be frank: what part of your life needs to be opened up and cleared out, like an attic suffocated by dust? Take the risk. Open the door. Be realistic–don’t horde what’s familiar but no longer has value. Dump what keeps you small or limits your aliveness. Shine the  light of awareness on forgotten treasures.  Be the judge of  your own truth, stick by it and don’t fail your dreams. You’re some kind of special. Admit it.

So go get ’em, ladies and gents. The curtain’s about to rise. And guess who the star is? You are, of course.

storm a comin1 1 - Cardinal Crossroads of Change: What It Means for You
Big Storm a-brewin'
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Jupiter in Pisces: Telling Your Truth, Dreaming Your Dreams

Mark Twain once said, “If you tell the truth, you never have to remember anything.” What he didn’t add was, “and it won’t always win you popularity contests.”

To ignore truth is dangerous. Politeness can be toxic. I often encourage clients to speak their feelings at the time they feel them, even if they’re not totally clear. It’s okay to begin a sentence with, “I’m sensing something here,” or “What’s true for me is…,” or “What you said just hurt me/made me sad/angry.”

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve participated in groups. They have been my bliss and my folly. Why? Because I didn’t know how to maintain my autonomy within them. Instead I would shut up, agree when I really disagreed and keep my ideas and opinions to myself. Inevitably one of two things would happen: I’d leave, feeling hurt, misunderstood and excluded. Or what I’d kept caged would fly out of my mouth like a wild beast on the rampage.

These days I try to say what I’m feeling when I feel it. I have opinions. I set boundaries. As the community leader of the Northern California Steven Forrest Apprenticeship Program http://www.gossamerrings.com/forrest.php that’s an essential part of the job. Someone inevitably disagrees. I don’t win all of the popularity contests. But I do sleep better at night.

On January 17, 2010 Jupiter, the planet of possibilities and expansion, moved into Pisces. Jupiter is generous. Whatever sign it’s in, wherever it is in your chart, is where you can expand your horizons. If it’s moving through your career sector, you have a better chance to get that dream job. If you’re looking for love, Jupiter opens the hallowed doorway and says, “Look for the best of the best. You don’t have to settle.” In Pisces, Jupiter heralds a time of seeking truth through connection with the divine. Piscean energy brings an awareness of the unity of all things and beings. Pisces is mystical, magical and inspirational.

But here is the shadow of Jupiter in Pisces: you hit the bottle. Lose yourself in romantic fantasy. While away the time with petty distractions (think whipping out the credit card and charging madly away in a delirium of excess). There is the danger of merging rather than emerging as an individual within the whole. Life can turn nightmarish, fraught with bigger-than-life illusions and delusions.

The voice of the sacred speaks differently to each of us. Trust your own interpretation of what you intuit. Jupiter seeks truth and meaning. It breathes this need into the Piscean state, where time becomes irrelevant: music sweeps you away. You stare out at the ocean, mesmerized. You become one with God-force. Poetry, meditation, sleep…they will take you there. Surrender consciously to this state of pure unconsciousness and generous Jupiter doubles your luck. Then healing happens and truth flows into you. And, when you speak out, you share that truth with others. And all are healed.

So trust the intuitive process. Enter into altered states of experience in order to access your highest potential. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day—but it was built on a dream. Therefore, trust your dreams…and dream big.

Want to know more about Jupiter? Check it out at  http://joycevanhorn.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/making-jupiter-work-for-you To find out where your Jupiter is and how to make the most of it, come in for a private session https://joycevanhornsf.com/service.php and I’ll tell you all about it.

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Making Connections

A few years ago, my sweetheart and I were sitting by an ambitious little river in Northern Thailand watching oxen grazing on the opposite bank. Hesitantly, a thirsty calf strayed to the lip of the river. In the same moment, with a series of wildly joyous yips, a golden retriever threw itself into the currents.

Hastily, the calf retreated, legs buckling like soft green bamboo. Its firm but encouraging mother nuzzled it back to the river. It slid first one hoof, then the other, into the water and began to drink. The patient mother stood by her calf’s side until it had finished. Meanwhile, the retriever seemed to watch with quiet pride. We were strangely and powerfully moved by this sweet and simple scenario. Such is the unspoken mood of the town we couldn’t leave. It is the kind of place that you could drive right through if you weren’t paying attention.

This is a town that refuses to put on makeup. It whispers and bellows and laughs and chatters. It’s an amblin’ town, not efforting to make anything happen. Because of that, things do. It hasn’t outgrown its sense of community. Connections still happen, and they don’t have anything to do with business networking.

One morning a 6-week-old puppy, Vodka (so named because his person owns a bar), was hit by a truck. Everyone within earshot stopped to see if they could help. Two locals who practice Reiki (Ray-KEE) a form of energy work used for healing, scooped the squealing puppy into their arms and started giving him this channeled energy of universal love. After a couple of hours, Vodka began to squirm so they put him down. He danced off on four fat legs, whirligigging his tail in gratitude.

Certainly, the energy work helped. However, what was most striking was the obvious fact that Vodka was securely wrapped in a blanket of love and care by everyone involved. He knew it, they knew it, and a small but significant miracle occurred as a result. When we left town several days later, he was still being tended to by the community—and was frisking around the streets.

When was the last time that you slowed down long enough to ask someone “How are you, really?” and mean it? Connecting can be cool– really, really cool. It just takes a little courage and initiative. Like the young calf, if you’re thirsty for true connection, be willing to get your feet wet. And If you happen to fall in, a helping hand will pull you back to shore.

Saturn Return

Saturn Return: What Is It, Who Does It and When?

Born between November 17, 1977-September 20, 1980? You’re experiencing one of the most pivotal, life-changing astrological events of your life: the first Saturn return. When did it begin? September 3, 2007. It comes to a close on July 21, 2010.

Saturn is the planetary CEO. The Goal-Setter. The Timekeeper. At the time Saturn returns to the place and sign it was when you were born, it’s time to grow up–for real. The twenties are a vision quest, during which you make youthful mistakes and prepare to enter adulthood. In the later twenties, there is a sense of urgency. The need for direction. An awareness of responsibility, and the consequences of your actions.

The Saturn Return is a red-flag. It alerts you to the fact that you’ve matured beyond certain beliefs, attitudes and conditioning of family, culture and society . It’s a series of shocks: it heralds such life-altering events as marriage, divorce, becoming a parent, buying (or selling) a home, changing careers, leaving it all behind and traveling the world, developing a new philosophy.

How to optimize this experience? There is a certain ennui, or boredom, built in. A sense of stagnation. An urge to change things up in a way that reflects your entry into true adulthood. You must choose mountains to climb. Goals to reach. Worthy challenges to face. This requires faith and true grit. Meet these demands and Saturn helps you achieve them. What you achieve during this time lays the foundation of your life until the second Saturn return at approximately 57.

Fail the Saturn return and you fail yourself. I did this; I left my husband at 30 and began living the wild life I’d lived before in my 20’s. Before too long, it became obvious that my friends were settling down. Becoming adults. I was a big kid in a grownup’s body. It took a long time to get back on track–Saturn is the planet of karma. It will be patient for a long time, but then there is payback. On the heels of this realization, however, I began to devote myself to my astrology practice which, over 25 years, now thrives. If I had used my Saturn return time wisely, however, it would not have been such a long haul.

On October 31, 2009, those of you born from September 21, 1980-August 23, 1983 begin your Saturn return. It concludes on Oct 6, 2012. You’ll notice that yours overlaps with those a few years older than you. More about that later.