Friday, December 30, 2011

Forecast for Saturday 31 December 2011

Saturday 31 December 2011

*Steering Past Reefs to Hope*

The moon in Aries all day suggests people will really be looking forward to a new year with zest. (And, to get this out of the way at the beginning, I am not one who believes the Mayan calendar, or the peculiar interpretation of it some have propounded, rules our lives.) There should be clearer definition of what you want and where you are going than on Friday.

A social trend is present, as always on New Year's Eve, but also a definite desire to be clear about your self-worth, what you mean to yourself and your value in the world. Your bank balance or monetary "net worth" is not an index of your real worth in the eyes of G*d. You care about the latter, and also your reputation in the eyes of human beings, and it is normal in terms of the day's astrological positions that you cannot get that out of your head during partying. So you may choose relatively sober partying, or none at all. Still, there is a tri-quintile between Mars and Venus, and so a happy social trend in one way or another, especially in late hours and early Sunday when the moon is sextile Venus.

You remember what is important in years before, in an evanescent, unpredictable manner, as if a scattered incomplete panorama of your life were displayed before your eyes. Impressions of the present mingle with those from the past.

Preserving yourself from defamation could be an issue (Mercury square Mars continues). People are likely to say things which sound much harsher than intended. It is fine to defend yourself as long as that does not look like self-doubt or whining. If you are in the right you will say what is needed in your defense in a simple inoffensive manner and let it go. That will be more impressive than a pleaful argument.

On the other side of this, you might offend by tactless remarks of which you are quite unconscious. "How does the other person interpret or feel this?" should be a question asked of yourself before every remark. (Maybe this is the secret of the "strong silent type" of days of yore.) People are likely to read a subtext you did not intend.

All this could happen also in connection with opinions, politics, religion, beliefs, agendas, whether your own or someone else's. Yet there is potentially deep tolerance, with Neptune in good aspect with the Jupiter-Saturn opposition, so you can finesse such disagreements somehow and bring good will to bear on the situation. People sometimes do not understand the consequences of their beliefs, and if they did, would change them. If you pretend that they will do that in the future, you will feel better.

Expressing yourself freely is wonderful at certain moments, when the reefs just pointed out are avoided. Then a kind of game-like atmosphere lets everybody relax and joke, no matter how serious beneath the surface.

Subconsciously, some feel that their lives are collapsing or have collapsed. This is not true, in the light of eternity, but seems frightening, so this day and tomorrow could be troubling to them. Helping them feel better could be the secret of a Happy New Year.

{Saturday} *Steering Past Reefs to Hope*

Cosmic Piper

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Forecast for Friday 30 December 2011

Friday 30 December 2011

~Chaos or Listless Variety~

The major trends can be covered by pointing out (1) that the Bright Hermetic Epoch, lasting through February 26, begins Sunday January 1; and (2) the two-year opposition of Saturn and Jupiter reaches its peak January 10-11, then decreases until it vanishes in April for another 18 years or so. Both of these are good omens, but the second is harder because I believe we are feeling the final bite of that opposition. As previously suggested, look over the past two years of your life and consider what has developed. You are probably still working out some of those issues.

Rather than write a long essay on this, which I felt I might today, I will be brief. Saturn is contraction, Jupiter expansion (to oversimplify). We have all been involved in figuring out how to contract some things so others can expand. For example, the head of Netflix a few months ago decided to increase fees and make his company two companies and make his customers pay on two different accounts if they used both the mail and the online versions of his service. This was expansion of his company, as it were, but it looked to customers like contraction of their service and of their cash! They protested vigorously and many canceled their subscriptions. Eventually the CEO (whose name escapes me at the moment) relented and (a) contracted his "expansion" plans so that (b) his customer base could "expand" because their fees would "contract." This was one way he and his customers experienced the Jupiter-Saturn opposition.

It's easy to see it in finances. To have one thing, you have to cut back on something else. A more expensive apartment or house means fewer vacations, etc. Or in investing: Many investors are finding that they have to cut back their losses (contract) by either trying to "time the market" (which everyone agrees is difficult) or selecting a smaller set of companies to invest in or using some other astringent investing technique. That is the Saturn side of it. They want their investments to expand (Jupiter) but prevailing conditions require them to contract their investments in order for their income from them to expand.

"Less is more" becomes somewhat meaningful in a multitude of directions.

Another example: Jupiter pleasures include eating and drinking. They make the body expand. This is enjoyable at first, then distressing because the expanded body is less healthy. Saturn is needed desperately to curtail overeating and overdrinking. By the paradox of things, enjoying less is enjoying more, because one cannot enjoy anything if one has distended one's body to the point of ill health.

Such basic yin-yang oppositions are always present, but to a more crucial degree during the duration of this aspect. It has included the worldwide sovereign debt crisis and high unemployment. Now, and the first half of January especially, could be the time you will work out or settle some of these issues for yourself, however they are configured in your own life.

Friday may have a lot of frustrating elements in it. It would be wise to calm down and reduce outward expectations. People seem to want more than they can obtain, and so experience intense frustration. Enjoying yourself in private is good, or in a place which feels almost like home to you. You may feel like "making a big splash" while at work and while enjoying yourself, getting attention, but there is no simple way to do it, so you can be content with what develops.

I don't like the word "cruelty" but have used it recently because of the square between Mercury and Mars. This can be anger and irritation with things, necessities, and people, and the result could be intense concentration on your own ends while feeling "let them go to the blue blazes." Of course it would be wise to make sure this does not end up as conscious or unconscious cruelty.

A lecture on alcohol is not something any of us want, but it's interesting that the subject has turned up so much in what I hear and see while Neptune is highly aspected and the moon is in Pisces. So I will just say, you might want to observe closely what happens with the drinking of alcohol either by you or around you. "Moderation" is the wisdom of the ages.

Being on the move is an urge you may feel strongly, partly just to experience the variety of what is in your locale. Since the moon is void-of-course all day (beginning at 5:37a PT | 8:37a ET | 1:37p UT), this restlessness could be haphazard or unpredictable so that you end up going places you didn't expect. As in paragraph 7, home is also good, or a homelike place. People have a tendency to want to assert themselves, which is all right as long as respectful of others' rights and opinions. "Let it be" is often good advice.

{Friday} ~Chaos or Listless Variety~

Cosmic Piper

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Forecast for Thursday 29 December 2011

Thursday 29 December 2011

~Strength Used Diplomatically~

Success could be near at hand, for many, with the sun conjoined to Pluto while the moon in Pisces is harmonious with both. However, Robert Pelletier gives this warning about the former aspect: "Your magnetic charm has a hypnotic effect on people. However, unless you are willing to serve others when they are unable to help themselves, even those who are charmed by you will respond with anger." This could be a warning against "leaving someone in the lurch" whether in business or a personal relationship.

That tendency could come from a lofty feeling that you are above and beyond other people's multiple evanescent troubles. True, we need philosophic detachment from all that, so long as it doesn't squelch compassion. The latter should be available from somewhere because the moon is in Pisces.

Mercury squaring Mars, both in hard aspect with the moon, also suggests cruelty, perhaps unconscious. Again, if this is realism--such as wishing someone would "just get over it" when something can't be helped--fine, although there are better ways than harshness to help people "get over it" such as, by example or precept, showing them a better way.

Strength in others, such as any who teach or aid you, is to be admired and used even if at times they seem harsh or unkind. You in turn can "get over it."

Sheer pleasure is not a sin when harmless although today you may reject its temptations when you feel you have to focus on learning and applying essential skills through study, effort, or both.

Courage in meeting the world's variety lifts you over timidity.

Trusting in the cosmos enough to joke over things which seem mildly unjust could prevent needless conflict, which could be a bar to progress. If investigation or protest is needed, let it be as inoffensive as possible. People will generally take a hint if it is proffered with sincerity and goodwill.

{Thursday} ~Strength Used Diplomatically~

Cosmic Piper

P. S. In the earlier versions of Wednesday's report there was a serious mistake: The end of the Dark Hermetic Epoch was given as January 31 (first paragraph) when it really is December 31. I corrected it in the website versions as soon as it was pointed out by a faithful reader. If you were confused by it, I apologize.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Forecast for Wednesday 18 December 2011

Wednesday 28 December 2011

}Conscious Strategic Coordination{

The long-term view I try to present is what has helped me over the years and I hope it will help you. When I speak of the Dark Hermetic Epoch (which began November 5 and ends exactly December 31 this year) and the Bright Hermetic Epoch (which begins January 1 and lasts through February 26) I am trying to point out a set of mind which will help you navigate these two-month periods. Dark: be wary, slow, cautious, as if walking in the dark; enjoy and develop your inner life; become more spiritual; beware of totally new projects or moves. Bright: Be more outward-going, more confident in what look like right choices; push ahead with what seems best; rather than slow down as in the Dark Epoch, see where opportunities are and go for them; trust your logical mind and intuition and get on with it. The spiritual, inner, "dark" world is still there, but does not take as much attention and time.

Obviously not every outward move or beginning during a Dark Epoch will be a mistake. But most of them require caution at the beginning and seem plagued with delays. So it is good to be patient with them rather than push them forcefully. If they are worth while they will flower or pick up speed eventually during the next Bright Epoch. That is where we are now, close to it--four days from now. What looks good may be good, and is 'brewing."

On Wednesday you may feel like railing against whatever or whomever has blocked your plans, but you have enough philosophic detachment to know this will do no good. Self-will and resentment can be overcome. What is beyond your conscious control may be working good for you.

It is good to give attention to deep teaching of the past, as Scripture or any spiritual authority you trust. A more superficial interest in antiquities might be part of the day. Either way, you get a sense of personal command from retrospective study or information.

Your fidelity to what has proved helpful is sustaining you, materially and otherwise, so it is pointless to ramify away from it. Astrologer Isabel Hickey says of Saturn trine Neptune, "The inner assumptions and outer facts are not at variance." If this is true, you will be helped in practical, business matters; and perhaps connections with older or mature individuals.

Impatience and laziness could hurt you if you give up too easily on what has lasting value. You do not have to throw in the towel.

Being out and about or in vehicular or foot traffic could be good as long as it is not mere restlessness detracting from more important matters. Business and job seem to have precedence. Your ambitions are uppermost.

When your brain takes the lead, your body needs to follow. You are capable mentally of more than you would do automatically, so need to coordinate your actions with clear thinking to get anywhere. This is not drudgery but exaltation when it gets charged up.

{Wednesday} {Conscious Strategic Coordination}

Cosmic Piper

Monday, December 26, 2011

Forecast for Tuesday 27 December 2011

Tuesday 27 December 2011

}Light into Darkness{

Being devoted to those who do not fully appreciate one's devotion is a common life-issue. It takes a belief in G*d, karmic law, or the ultimate beneficence of the cosmos in order to carry on in the face of apparent ingratitude. The rewards are great.

Your career looks good, well-favored, even if you are not apparently pushing to expand it in any way but content with what you are doing. Questions of work versus home life may arise but you are equipped to handle them calmly.

Insight into work, income, and hopes may come especially during the hours of 9a-1p PT | 12p-4p ET | 5p-9p UT.

Your source of strength is your fidelity to what you consider the spiritual foundation of your living. This brings unexpected, welcome thoughts and insights into your purview, which orient you toward purposes more harmoniously.

It is possible to see into personal disagreements or quarrels more claivoyantly than usual, and, if not resolve them outwardly at least sense inwardly more of their signifcance or role in your life. They are designed to teach you something.

A restless tendency has some mildly erotic urges behind it, or a desire to experience the world's variety. You can do this without being offensive or offended if you are attuned to cosmic realities, which in turn heal worries about work or income. Then wherever you go (even in a traffic tie-up) you feel at home.

You might feel you have a mission to let light into dark places, and this could be controversial because your message is either premature or not understood. Still, you will have to do it as best you can. Opening closed minds may seem impossible but a small ray of light may cause them to open further later on. Or, if you are the one whose mind needs opening, the obverse of this could be true, and you need humility to understand the difficult message given you.

{Tuesday} {Light into Darkness}

Cosmic Piper

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Forecast for Monday 26 December 2011

Monday 26 December 2011

}Interesting Potentials Brewing{

People may be even more hospitable and community-minded than they were yesterday. (Christmas this year fell during the |emotionally difficult or exasperating third of this week|.)

This forecast is directed more especially to the hours after 9:14a PT | 12:14p ET | 5:14p UT, after the moon enters Aquarius.

Unusual thoughts, connections, and friends are good, opening your mind to see the hidden correlations among things and people (one gain of occult training, as through astrology).

The resourcefulness you feel within yourself is enabling you to take a breather from stressful activity, find what is truly useful in it, reject the rest, and then get on with everything in a more comfortable frame of mind.

We may imagine ourselves magicians in some way, as children do, and this is healthy because it stimulates us to test our powers and use those which are real.

Eliminating mistaken courses of action is a key to profitable ones. It is temporarily annoying to see that you have to retrace your steps, tack backwards a little, and choose a better way of proceeding, but the annoyance is a small price for the gains which come when you improve your stance and methodology.

Some place you go is a good arena for your abilities. You seek something which is fresh and can liberate your powers.

{Monday} {Interesting Potentials Brewing}

Cosmic Piper

Friday, December 23, 2011

Forecast for Saturday 24 December 2011

Saturday 24 December 2011

\Selfhood Appreciated/

Since there is no Sunday forecast (I need a sabbatical once a week), this will be the Christmas forecast for all practical purposes. There should be a regular forecast for Monday, G*d willing.

To my discredit, I must say that on Friday morning when I read the forecast to help me with a difficult day ahead, I was disappointed and felt I had failed. I then noticed several factors in the daily chart which I should have emphasized more than I did, to give better guidance. Then, to my credit, I must say that a few hours later I re-read it and it was speaking volumes to me which I had failed to see earlier. I say this to help you, in case you have similar experiences. Often we can't see what the forecast means until later in the day, or at the end of it. If they seem like impenetrable riddles when first read, that may change later.

That said, I am yet aware of a need for improvement and strive to make the forecasts better based on daily detailed evaluation.

On Christmas day itself, Jupiter, now going backward, becomes motionless (from geocentric perspective of course) and turns direct. This is important especially because this is Jupiter's "refranation" from making another exact opposition with Saturn. But that aspect remains with us until April by normal ten-degree orb. So we should evaluate what it means.

You have been hard on yourself. Rightly so! You are the only one (with G*d's help) who can rectify your mistakes, and mistakes we all make ("sins" in theological language), and we need to become aware of them. This you have been doing for the past year and a half.

From a more egocentric angle, you have been aware of failures "in the world" or in terms of your normal ambitions and hopes. Hear what Robert DeLuce says of this aspect: "Losses of money, position, and reputation may bring the native to the brink of despair. Let him still preserve his faith, hold his integrity and trust in the unalterable and immortal nature of Truth and he will pass through and recover all that he temporarily loses." And so "recovery" could be a keyword for the period beginning on Christmas and lasting through the coming Bright Hermetic Epoch (until the next Dark begins on February 27).

To re-emphasize the sense of beginnings, we have a New Moon today at 10:08a PT | 1:08p ET | 6:08p UT. Its beneficent nature is shown by its trine with Jupiter. Truly this Winter Solstice is a time of rebirth.

As preparation for that, you might note what you experience during the hours of 4:30a-8:30a PT | 7:30a-11:30a ET | 12:30p-4:30p UT, when the moon trines Jupiter closely. This is a Christmas Eve blessing giving you hope. Since it precedes the New Moon, perhaps you could be quiet, contemplative and receptive at that time. Praise G*d! (represented partly by Zeus, Jupiter).

Criticism of others and resulting upset are not absent, but can be transmuted by remembering that all have their frailties and are learning how to be good, intelligent human beings through more than one lifetime. Some are in kindergarten.

Older ones of good character (embodied or unembodied) are blessing you if you cooperate with them.

If you forsake fault-finding (while yet seeing faults) and focus on your own potentials, you will gain illumination and feel married to the world. (A dangerous partner, but it is hard to find another.)

Rich gains are possible by being bold and fearless, honorable and diplomatic.

Competition is good when it means demonstrating the validity of your acquired or being-acquired skills. You are eliminating mistaken trails or methods. You see far off, and into the future of your career, while at home.

{Saturday} /Selfhood Appreciated\

Cosmic Piper

P. S. Have a Blessed Christmas Eve and a Happy Christmas!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Forecast for Friday 23 December 2011

Friday 23 December 2011

*Easygoing Natural Authority*

Nothing prevents this from being an executive day when you can get things settled. Not everything, of course, but enough to make you feel on top of your situation.

Powers of mind are strong so long as you don't burn them out by focusing on inessentials. Going direct to the mark saves time and much more. Vacillation could be an enemy.

There are people who seem inconsequential, easy to pass by, who really are giants of the spirit, the salt of the earth, so it is well to be kindly toward them and speak well of them.

The strength in you which is based on long experience, solid perspective, is able to do things which less fortified individuals might regard as impossible or miraculous. Linked visibly or invisibly with those, old and young, who are on your wave length and your "team," you can move mountains.

Doing that ought not to include strife and quarreling. You do not need to get involved in fights or arguments. Subtle ways of quenching those are available, before they cause trouble or diminish opportunities which are right next to them.

You can be creatively sensitive to everything around you in a way which increases rather than diminishes opportunities (see paragraph 2 for the correlative warning). You can link with situations on the basis of whatever people find interesting in you, thereby avoiding uncomfortable confrontations.

Subtlety of manner, blessing one's enemies, puts disagreements in a drawer everyone knows is there but does not have to be opened. People in high positions may seem formidable or remote, but by being natural (not vulgar) with them rather than transparently calculating you win their approval.

{Friday} *Easygoing Natural Authority*

Cosmic Piper

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Thursday 22 December 2011

Thursday 22 December 2011

*Calm Intelligence Gaining Control*

The sun has entered Capricorn, in other words the winter solstice has occurred. Among the multiple, indeed dazzlingly confusing, cycles with which we as human beings on Terra are engaged, this is one of them: the "four corners of the year" as I have called them. Charts set up for the moment of each solstice or equinox can be valuable as showing trends for the coming period. But I in general do not use them at this point. So many techniques in astrology are veritable and true; each astrologer has to choose the ones which have worked most consistently for him.

Since April of 2010 Saturn and Jupiter have been having their once-in-20-years opposition. This is a major turning point in individual lives, yours, mine, everyone's. Of course it is different in each case, but the pattern is there. What has been changing in your life since then? Is it now at a point where you can get firmer control of the change? Jupiter turns direct on Christmas day itself, and from then on this aspect will diminish (although you will still be dealing with it until the end of April, two years from its beginning). Some big changes in your life, of the past two years, are worthy of conscious review this holiday season. The next twenty years may be set in their mold to a large degree.

[The above may not be repeated, so it is well to remember it if you can, and work with it.]

Rapid alternations and connections, changes, are happening today while the moon conjoins Mercury in Sagittarius. This could be travel for some, or local "travel," errands and communications. You may be mediating between differing individuals, groups, and attitudes.

"White magic" is basically the ability to stick with an ethical course through thick and thin, and rely upon the Highest to sustain you. You may be doing this in more than one way. Very few human beings practice "black magic" consciously, but many are pushed and pulled in their raw unevolved emotions by black magicians on the inner planes. It is well to pull away from what seems wrong before you get enveloped in it.

Writing and speaking can be done with great facility and success. This is partly to please those connected with your home or a temporary living situation. Ultimately it is an expression of your basic career or mission.

Seeing into possibilities quickly will help. You get flags on the way, showing the right course, if you are alert to them.

Persevering is essential, even if some individuals have disappointed or forsaken you. There could be mutual assistance between yourself and someone kind and well-meaning. What you fail to gain immediately, temporarily, is less important than the deep purposes to which you adhere.

{Thursday} *Calm Intelligence Gaining Control*

Cosmic Piper

Monday, December 19, 2011

Forecast for Tueday 20 December 2011

Tuesday 20 December 2011

~Choices Shaped and Perfected by Delays~

From one viewpoint, expounded yesterday, if you get through today you have it made for the week. If you face what needs to be faced patiently. Wild or unusual changes are to be avoided while the moon is in the Via Combusta until tomorrow, but patient effort on things you know to be important will be rewarded. You may not get far-reaching answers today but can prepare the ground for them.

What you know is the right course is the right course and you can proceed with it rather than become inefficacious through timidity or holding back. A triple-sextile formation with Saturn, the sun, Neptune and Jupiter gives strong background support despite the delays of the Via Combusta and the Dark Hermetic Epoch. So your optimism can carry you through obstacles, even if in a less-than-swift, circling manner.

Indecision could be a problem in work, study, communication and choices. A tentative sally down one road might be temporary but at least will show you the terrain so you can decide. Your inner consistency, as displayed in many locales and venues, is setting options up for you even if you don't see how they will manifest yet.

Toil you perform at home, or in obscurity, for those who might be friends, gets its reward at some point and makes you feel better. You recover yourself from either excessive spending or inordinate withholding when you just take charge of emotions and do what feels responsible. This is a money day, in that you sense what to do with money, how to use it.

Neglect of opportunities is unnecessary. They may seem small ones but the small add up to a lot. Delays and slowness are teaching you things, showing you how to persist and giving you valuable clues along the way--clues you would not get if the course were unimpeded.

{Tuesday} ~Choices Shaped and Perfected by Delays~

Cosmic Piper

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Monday 19 December 2011

Monday 19 December 2011

}Bleakness as Comfort Preparing Advance{

The quite rosy forecast for Saturday worked out well for me, and I hope for you. Sunday was not as smooth, for most people I believe, because the square between Venus and Saturn became exact. That continues today, with the moon joining the configuration today and tomorrow, so today and Tuesday will likely be the hardest days of this week.

What problem, for you, hit the "crunch" phase on Sunday or today? It is something you are attempting to master, and let us hope you can do so.

Today you can proceed to do that with a great deal of patience and endurance. You know it will require that and so are willing to do those things which feel dreary at the beginning but exhilarating once you have gotten on with them.

Venus square Jupiter tends toward unwise or over eating, especially because square Saturn also, as an escape from frustrations. Eating can be a security blanket. For some reason, dairy products might be important or helpful. Mars in Virgo (for months to come) tends toward fussing over diet.

Self-preservation is a key to what you are thinking about, what you study or ponder. You are sensing how to defend yourself against loss.
Happy things seem promised in connection with your living situation, where you can hide away from stress and enjoy prosperity while still in touch with people at a distance.

The harshness of the squares already mentioned, plus the moon with Saturn and Uranus square the sun, suggest the possibility of an explosion when you get upset. This could be concerning work, administration, superiors in a job situation, or other matters such as immature attitudes of young (or childish) people. You want to clear away the debris blocking you, but if this is partly people and their actions or attitudes, you need to be careful not to be offensive.

Oh for the Romantic souls, of the Romantic period in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, who could contemplate nature even in wintry bleakness and commune with her and their own souls. Can anybody do that in this technological culture? If you can, today is a good day for it. Bleakness of nature complementing bleakness of mood can be, rather than depressing, uplifting. The "peace that passeth all understanding" can be entered.

{Monday} {Bleakness as Comfort Preparing Advance}

Cosmic Piper

Friday, December 16, 2011

Saturday 17 December 2011

Saturday 17 December 2011

\Beyond Tensions: Harmonious Self-Training Plus Magnanimity/

There are so many things going on in the sky (the backdrop of our consciousness and all that we do) that it is hard to reduce them to a formula or set of formulas. There are enough smooth aspects so that I can hope they will overbalance the difficult ones. It looks like a very nice Saturday, provided you are able to rise above tensions.

Wouldn't it be sweet to have a friend who is clever, dramatic, interesting, amusing, able to mimic people and make you laugh, always kindly to you and winking at you to lift your spirits no matter how far he goes into brazen comedy? Maybe you do have such a friend, or he or she will turn up. (If not directly, then indirectly through media or reading.)

Something in you is quick, efficient, able, and wanting to run a race or win a contest. This can be thrilling. The "race" could have to do with finances, or with a puzzle or game which pleases you.

Will power can develop into magic. This can be hurtful or helpful but will be the latter if your will is aligned with the supreme Will. Then truly things will fall to you no matter how tough the past has been.

At home or in the neighborhood you encounter those who are wanting change and variety, looking for entertainment, performing or enjoying a performance of music or artistry.This gives you mental peace and equipoise.

Unmobilized resources can be uncovered and used by you. These are partly in your blood and body, you Tarzan or Jane. Self-training is not onerous when you know it is for your good. It develops dexterity in approaching any issue successfully.

There are those who seem gruff and withdrawn, because focused on ordinary demanding tasks, but whose hearts are kind. You might be one of them, now while Venus is square Saturn. Isolated country folk can be like this, but also some urbanites. Patience with others' foibles and your own tends toward saintliness. This is the Christmas spirit.

{Saturday} /Beyond Tensions: Harmonious Self-Training Plus Magnanimity\

Cosmic Piper

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Forecast for Friday 16 December 2011

Friday 16 December 2011

\Cultivated Equanimity/

I have no desire to be the Grinch of Friday. Let's just make sure we celebrate TGIF and not TSIF (thank Satan it's Friday). I have to give the warning because there are trends toward excess, overindulgence, losing your way in excitation caused by a subconscious desire to forget about your problems. Forgetting them for a while is fine, of course, provided you don't go overboard.

What you seriously need, you should be able to procure, through powers within you which are getting cosmic support (partly good aspects with Jupiter). Such strength, however, could make you too harsh with people in your judgments. You need to understand or else overlook some of their peculiarities and weaknesses. Then you will have a good time, perhaps where there is a change of scene, music or other performance: harmonious variety.

Primitive animal strength allows you to rise to any occasion by asserting yourself and conquering difficulties. You may investigate income possibilities. It would be jolly to coast through life without restriction and connect with fascinating events and people. This is possible to a limited degree, yet still you are concerned about a lot of matters which keep celebration in check. Happiness comes more from equanimity than from wild abandon.

{Friday} /Cultivated Equanimity\

Cosmic Piper

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Forecast for Thursday 15 December 2011

Thursday 15 December 2011

*Past Crisis with Sincerity and Dexterity*

I thank you readers for bearing with me even when, sometimes, a daily report seems not to apply to you very well. I myself go through that. I re-read the forecasts at the end of the day or the next to check up on them. For the past few days they seem to be more accurate, for whatever reason--I would like to believe it's because of recent research into my methods. I believe that if you overlook the days when the report does not ring a bell, you may get more out of them, because the very next day might be the day it works perfectly for you--and if you gave up you would miss it.

Also, it is good to re-read a forecast at the end of the day when you can evaluate its meaning in your life with all of the day's experiences under your belt. Often something which made no sense in the morning will click in the evening. Usually there are more clues in the readings than even I give myself credit for.

Disappointments are part of life, as Buddhists, Hindus and Stoics teach, and need to be met with some kind of spiritual faith on Thursday. It is fine to dream when things are hard, if the dream is something positive to help you over the hurdle.

"Retreat and advance, advance and retreat" is part of the trend of the Jupiter-Saturn opposition, and today you may feel the "retreat" half. Strategic retreat is better than hapless retreat. You have enough awareness to do the former.
Those suffering ordeals involving home, finances, or learning are likely to get vital help just before they reach a point of desperation.

What is "irrepressible purity"? (Taken from Marc Edmund Jones's book on symbols for the degrees.) Something that is yours in your depths. If you let it bubble up into your consciousness it will save you from worry. It grants intuitive powers. It could not be, without some implicit religious faith in life, the cosmos, G*d. (By G*d, I do not mean the cosmos. That would be pantheism. As Sri Aurobindo has explained better and more fully than anyone else in the history of the world, G*d is one with the cosmos but also transcendent of it, greater than it, master of it, Ishwara.)

When people feel morose, a woman singing can console them. This could be a mother with a lullaby or nursery rhyme, a chanteuse in a nightclub, an unknown voice on the radio or in your head.

While you listen to her, your dexterity in meeting difficult situations is remarkable. You can lean on it, and then it allows you to stand forth strong and free no matter what happens.

Sincerity is a magical quality, overcoming unkind destiny again and again. That means saying what you really believe, and making your beliefs coordinate with your highest aspirations. Then without awkward sanctimony you find yourself relating to people in a way uplifting to all.

{Thursday} *Past Crisis with Sincerity and Dexterity*

Cosmic Piper

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Forecast for Wednesday 14 December 2011

Wednesday 14 December 2011

*More Sure Path, with Some Festivity*

The restrictions you and others suffer may seem unbearable. You might review yesterday's forecast with its outline of the meaning of Venus square Saturn. People are not likely to blurt out what is troubling them.

Many of your hopes may seem unrealistic to you, as if the cosmos had allied itself to frustrate them. What you thought you could do, in younger years, looks much harder. That is hard to take. Of course there are reasons to keep on hoping, and the moon's position in Leo should help, especially in afternoon and evening.

A definite course of action would help a great deal. This should be easier to decide on now that Mercury has turned direct (on Tuesday evening). Still, you may need time to settle major details. (Tuesday's discussion of Mercury's station still applies. Things are slow or take much time outwardly even if secure inwardly.)

"A man walking on the edge of a precipice" is Charubel's symbol for the current position of Mercury in Sagittarius. Perhaps you feel that is you. Some things seem risky and that could be depressing. On the other hand, you can complete that walk and get out of danger. You do this with a great deal of originality and mental acumen.

Fine or beautiful things, objects, are linked somehow with technology or machines. A beautiful machine, computer, tablet or whatnot could be in your purview. A male friend who is rough-and-ready with skills may be useful.

Geniality and conviviality, linked with holiday parties, could get out of hand or degenerate into embarrassing spectacles. This need not be. Rather you can enjoy the festivities while maintaining appropriate self-management. People can be festive outwardly even when worried inwardly about their lives or feeling unloved (paragraph 1).

{Wednesday} *More Sure Path, with Some Festivity*

Cosmic Piper


Monday, December 12, 2011

Forecast for Tuesday 13 December 2011

Tuesday 13 December 2011

~Mercury's Station: Patient Poise~

There is a likelihood of attempting too much and going in circles. A better focus is gradually returning while Mercury slows to its station before turning direct late tonight or early tomorrow depending on your time zone. Slowdown is good if it is what you feel you have to do. From tomorrow to January 1, Mercury will gradually gain speed and your plans will become sharper and more confident.

A glimmer of this may come after the moon enters Leo at 1:49p PT | 4:49p ET | 9:49p UT.

I believe it is good to slow down, sit down, and meditate or pray while Mercury is at its station or near it (give and take a whole day or more). The station occurs at 5:44p PT | 8:44p ET | 1:44a(W) UT.

I always have to preach a sermon on Venus square Saturn when it occurs. It will be with us through December 21 (smaller orb) or December 26 (larger orb). It need not be a horrible time (encompassing Christmas as it happens to do) but one needs to understand what it is all about.

Love (Venus) is up against reality (Saturn), to put it boldly and bleakly. This is not just romantic love but everything including family relationships, friendships, and casual relations with co-workers, customers, clients.

That formula comes out in a lot of ways. 1. Older people become important, or those with troubles whether older or younger. They are suffering and you may not feel sympathetic. Sympathy is something to cultivate at this time.

2. People are touchy. They are pondering their own problems and may not feel they have time for yours. The little things in your behavior which they don't like but usually overlook become looming horrors to them. You may feel the same about them at certain moments.

3. Income and costs can be a problem. You have to make do with less than usual, perhaps. Let's all accent easy, less expensive forms of gift-giving, whether the merchants like that or not.

4. One tends to feel worse about oneself. One sees into one's own weaknesses and failures. This can make for humility, at best. So let's be humble! (Am I more humble than you?) God became a helpless baby, some Christians say.

5. People from your past whom you usually forget start to loom large. You think about them, whether they are alive or deceased, here or elsewhere, and feel you owe them a phone call or card or some form of communication, touching base. This may always be true this time of year, but even more so with this aspect.

6. "Nobody loves me" is a common feeling with Venus square Saturn. Remember that others feel it too. If this can be transmuted to the faith that "God loves me," or "God loves you," something real has been gained.

Remember, the above points could be specially applicable through the day after Christmas.

Tuesday: When there are hints of strife or contention, you might turn to ancient teachings you believe in which have helped you in the past. The best of our past is there to lean on, an everlasting present.

You can be affectionate and honorable even when you feel down, worried, or anxious. The moon's aspects are a mixed bag. You could pull poise out of them.

(If this seems impossible, the time given in paragraph 2 might help.)

Weakness can be transmuted into graciousness. Humility can be pleasing. Then you find a poise surging up into determination to do the things you really want to do, cutting through all obstacles while the sun's trine with Jupiter grants faith and confidence. Yet, sometimes the slower, more careful and deliberate path is necessary or better (paragraphs 1 and 3).

{Tuesday} ~Mercury's Station: Patient Poise~

Cosmic Piper

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Forecast for Monday 12 December 2011

Monday 12 December 2011

~Shared Strength of Mind and Body~

A lot seems to happen which links home, family, work, health and income. There are separations which are inevitable, temporarily. There is intense mental activity in connection with your work, job, profession, or a project. Physical health improves through exercise. Mental strength approaches mastery of topics crucial to success.

Helping someone cross a stream at which his or her life has arrived, on a ferryboat of guidance or encouragement, is satisfying. There are always more or deeper resources available.

Someone, perhaps a woman, is pondering self-preservation through whatever means seem essential at present, with a fillip of self-maintained independence of spirit. The frailties or errors of friends are the downside yet an inescapable side of friendship.

Someone sensitive and impulsive has been reckless and pays the price honorably. Danger is sometimes a price of freedom. No-danger means no-movement or stagnation.

Gracefulness and charm in your work, or the work of a superior or a professional person, boosts confidence and good will.

At a deep level, much is possible which seems remarkable. Thoughts gifted to you by the Invisible, or by searching in profound teachings, not only feed the spirit but transmit practical applications which could open doors to greater success.

{Monday} ~Shared Strength of Mind and Body~

Cosmic Piper

Friday, December 9, 2011

Forecast for Saturday 10 December 2011

Saturday 10 December 2011

}Resting on or Using Tradition{

There is a great clarification. Things are getting simpler or less worrisome. Mercury remains retrograde, but the moon's grand trine with Saturn and Neptune tends toward an "All is Well" consciousness. That is specially welcome at the Full Moon when consciousness expands for better or worse (police departments often see it as the latter, because their work is to deal with those who can't handle the Full Moon's expanded focus without making trouble).

Any travel plans seem settled and smooth, with details in process of resolution. Things done at home, as for example decorating, are sweet and self-fortifying.

Financial luck seems good, partly because you sense when to do or say the right thing at the right time. There are passionate energies, the moon and sun forming a T square with Mars, requiring you to face hassles and transmute their implicit torment into something positive for yourself and others.

A desire to speculate or try doing unusual things could get you moving, whether this is connected with holiday matters or anything else. You may spend more than planned and feel good about it.

Someone you know, youthful and usually at a distance, has magical powers through intense concentration on his or her goals. You can learn or otherwise benefit from him.

Someone with talent, female or male, musical or artistic or both, gives you a breath of fresh air through a performance or just her refreshing presence. (This could be through media if you are not out and about.) If you have talents you haven't used lately, you may find yourself invited to display them.

The gentility of family traditions can be wonderful at Christmas-time. It's trouble to get out decorations or otherwise prepare, or do whatever you do at this time of year as ritual, but worth it when you feel linked to "Chrismases past" in your blood. If you think of a male relative in your history you may be inspired to do something which keeps a tradition alive.

Those contentious or quarrelsome may be evident at times. They have hidden beliefs or assumptions which cloud their understanding, meanwhile thinking everyone else is wrong. Therefore they stir up strife. The day's favorable aspects can contain them. If you give them a blessing you will get a blessing in return and bring out something of their better nature, even if that seems unlikely or invisible.

{Saturday} {Resting on or Using Tradition}

Cosmic Piper

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Forecast for Friday 9 December 2011

Friday 9 December 2011

}Too Much?{

It's the Full Moon day, and it looks busy, with a lot of confusion unless you are able to contain that. You want to be everywhere at once and do everything simultaneously. You feel pressures and costs. Disorder threatens. But you won't give up til you get things in some semblance of satisfactory order.

You weigh and measure. You get travel or other schedules right. You see how to be efficient and effective.

Those who drive the world and entice the populace to get more money for themselves are highly active in the holiday season. Whether or not there is actual cruelty, there is Scrooge insensitivity.

Many are confident of their powers or charms, which could make them vain. There is luck for anyone who can present himself, or his ideas, products or schemes, with chutzpah and/or charisma.

The greatest danger in the European financial summit is that the course of events will be permitted to drift. Timid action will not be enough. Something decisive and believable is needed. Not everyone will like it, or else it will have no power. Let us hope it is forthcoming.

Persuasiveness is needed. This can be in politics, business, or personal affairs. You could think about what people want to do when at home and without work pressures; then appeal to them on the basis of that preferred activity or pastime. This could be a way of getting them to see things as you do.

{Friday} {Too Much?}

Cosmic Piper

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Forecast for Thursday 8 December 2011

Thursday 8 December 2011

\In Training, with a Bit of Slack/

Most of us, or all of us, are feeling the "drag" of Mercury retrograde. Things go slowly, and often you would rather take a nap or daydream than focus on the "matter in hand." Sometimes this is a very good signal that you need to do just that--take a break. Of course if you are working for someone else, this may not be possible, directly, although the art of "slacking" is practiced in many a corporation.

Adventure is sometimes an escape from responsibility, sometimes a proper escape from the merely humdrum. At these times, adventure or escape can be dangerous, for some people make the worst mistakes of their lives while Mercury is retrograde or slow (in the Dark Hermetic Epoch, in other words, which lasts this time until the end of 2011). Usually those mistakes take the form of running away, quitting, resigning, divorcing, and so on. It is my responsibility to point this out.

You already know what you need to do. You can swallow hard and get on with it, but do give yourself those "breaks" in whatever way is feasible or salubrious. You are not totally isolated. G*d has not forgotten you. You may feel isolated and in fact enjoy that at times when you want your own space.

Are there times to forget your diet, eat and drink what you wish, jump up and dance merrily? (I put it in the form of a question because I don't want the bad karma of getting you in trouble.)

Still, consistency is resourcefulness, so the former paragraph should be practiced in moderation, or when you feel you have finished a good chunk of your work.

There can be prosperity in expected or unexpected ways, and a sense of ease.

Hopes for general economic resolutions and greater fairness in wealth distribution were discussed yesterday; they continue significant in many minds, and a dissatisfaction with current leadership may develop better leadership, as a pearl from the sand in an oyster. We don't want a Robespierre, certainly not a Stalin, and probably not even a Trotsky; but someone needs to do "something," everybody agrees.

Instructing or training someone may be important. You may not think of yourself as a teacher or trainer, yet could do some of that when it seems naturally appropriate. If done in the right spirit, it will not be offensive to anyone. We are all learning how to control ourselves, brain and body. That can be thrilling when it proceeds apace.

{Thursday} /In Training, with a Bit of Slack\

Cosmic Piper

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Forecast for Wednesday 7 December 2011

Wednesday 7 December 2011

\Hopeful Signs/

The "financial crunch" of the Euro-debt problem seems to be destined for Friday this week, according to common expectation, with the summit meeting of European leaders. This is quite interesting from an astrological viewpoint. The once-in-20-years opposition of Jupiter and Saturn, about which we have discussed much in the past two years, is still with us and increasing, this month, to its maximum, before it starts to separate in January. This in essence is, in fact, the debt crisis as mapped in the skies.

What is good about it? It is a clearing of financial karma, with Saturn in Libra a sign of justice or fairness and Jupiter in the sign of Taurus or money (as in "bull market" and "pecuniary" derived from Latin "pecus" meaning cattle). The astrological signature could not be more dramatic. Those who denounce astrology, as the late astronomer Carl Sagan, are self-blinded, so deeply drenched in materialism and, yes, atheism (only G*d could be behind the facts of astrology) that they cannot even hear what I am saying at this moment, or read it, or reflect upon it. How sad. And they transmit their self-willed blindness to future generations by teaching them, from grade school up, that astrology is a myth believed only by superstitious fools. As Jesus suggested, speaking of the learned men of his time, they "do not enter themselves and prevent those who were entering from entering."

Again, what is good about this aspect? It does not attain completeness, this time. It "refrains" from completing, because Saturn turns retrograde and Jupiter turns direct, so that it will leave us for another 20 years or so. This was called "refranation" by the old astrologers. With a difficult aspect like this opposition, it is a good sign. And so: We may hope that the Euro-debt crisis, attaining its peak this month, will be, if not solved, at least put into bearable shape so that it will not spook worldwide financial markets and an economic recovery as it has since last spring.

Wednesday looks like perhaps the best day of the week, from some viewpoints, especially in the two or three hours before the exactitude of Luna's trine with Venus at 10:47a PT | 1:47p ET | 6:47p UT. You could profit by, gain from, or at least enjoy whatever you do during those hours, and afterward if you get in the right groove.

It is important to keep up optimism. Failed projects are merely steps on the way to success. (If they have failed, they are obviously in the past!)

What I have called "economic justice" connected with the Saturn-Jupiter opposition might seem anything but just to some. If you are one of them, buffeted by hard circumstances or loss, I implore you to trust the laws of karma, or of the Supreme, rather than give in to despair.

The consistency of your thinking is helping you, if it was good in the first place; if not, you need to get in a pattern of good helpful thinking others have set forth. Your thinking rules your world, well insofar as it is connected with the goodness of the Supreme; not so well if based on fears, worries or animosities. Mental and spiritual resourcefulness leads to practical resourcefulness.

Work, physical or mental, in seclusion could be your lot part of the time. What has to be done has to be done, and the calmer and more patient you feel the sooner it will be done. Not hurrying, that is, calming the flurry of worry, could mean you get it done sooner.

"A strong hand supplanting political hysteria" is the Sabian symbol for Mars today through Friday. Certainly we need that hand! Governments almost going bankrupt, in Europe and here, and a populace harrowed by joblessness and lack of opportunity, are looking for leadership. One friend believes there should be third and fourth political parties in America. Perhaps. Where is the strong hand? (I might nominate Angela Merkel, for one, without idealizing or sainting her. In America, I nominate no one. The floor is open for nominations.)

A subtle, soft, persuasive, amicable spirit is present whenever you let yourself tune in to it. The moon is forming a grand trine with Mars and Venus. This may not be a thrilling love affair but could be something like that painted in gentler colors. It is at least friendship and good will.

{Wednesday} /Hopeful Signs\

Cosmic Piper

Monday, December 5, 2011

Forecast for Tuesday 6 December 2011

Tuesday 6 December 2011

\Resourceful Sublimation/

Happy birthday, Violet Firth! Anybody know who that is? Otherwise known as Dion Fortune, she wrote many occult novels and musings which have been widely influential. She was part of the British movement stemming from its branch of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and founded her own group which still exists. She is not one of my teachers, so far as I know (don't underestimate the invisible power of occultists), but her novels have an amazing psychic knack of making the reader feel she was writing about himself.

Tuesday is the second day of the |stressful or karmically demanding third of this week|, but lunar aspects otherwise are quite good especially into the evening and early Wednesday.

It's possible to see what marks you have aimed at and failed to hit. This is part of the review during the Mercury retrograde cycle. You can recover your arrow and aim again.

Perhaps your arrow will fly toward Eastern regions of the planet, Asia or Euroasia, which may appeal to you through news items or other connections which turn up.

You could gain in a material way. You are resourceful and able to flow with the trend of events so that what you need falls to you, as in holiday shopping or any other act of procurement.

You may hear, in person or through media, someone whose link with your own mission or career is definite and helpful. From him or her you learn. Or you may be that person for someone else more than you realize, without intending to. It is well not to hide what you know.
What people choose, through their affections or erotic tendencies, becomes a lifelong bondage--or set of companions. So by accepting one or another invitation, you invite others into your life, and the mutuality of communion continues in one form or another. The trine of Mars and Venus is with you, even if you are seemingly alone, without a mate. Mate-potentials are all that some experience during such an aspect, but that can be enough.

It is wonderful how some can follow out lines of adventure most of us would shun. We look on amazed. On the other hand, your particular talent or hobby might seem a wild adventure to someone who doesn't have the knack for it. Somehow we end up sublimating baser desires, fleshly satisfactions, and turning them into exploration and enterprise whether sportsmanly, geographic, artistic or intellectual. You may realize how you are doing and can do that.

{Tuesday} /Resourceful Sublimation\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Saturday 3 December 2011

Saturday 3 December 2011


\Private Wisdom/


The day starts with deep spiritual meditation. If it is not deep, but rather a meditation on your worries and fears, try to make it deeper, more confident, more trusting in the Supreme.


People need an overall philosophic or spiritual orientation more than they realize. Lucky those who can find it in a single figure, Avatar or guide such as Jesus. The rest have to patch together a fabric of many colors, which is their right.


(This believer in Jesus does the latter also.)


A contest in your mind between effort on projects and a more voluptuous tendency need not be debilitating. You need some pleasures, some sporting of yourself among those who like you or whom you like. Venus's trine with Mars doubles the force of attraction and mutual fascination.


The moon remains void of course until it leaves Pisces for Aries at 5:52p PT | 8:52p ET | 1:52a(Su) UT. Before that it is fine to "let things be" on this Sabbath day. This is not inertia but rest your soul appreciates. Spiritual seeking in itself is restful. After the time just given, note what happens, what you think about, where your attention goes. This could be an important clue as to what is stirring within you (for the moon in the first critical degree of Aries will be united with Uranus).


The Salvation Army is out and about. They have been good to me, so I put a dollar in their cup almost every time I see them. If not them, then some other agency which tries to help the homeless, poor, or "neediest" as the New York Times used to call them, comes into your purview and you may help.


The part of you which is uniquely separate is facing its separation. You are not outside the human race, exactly, or you would not be in a human body. Yet something in you feels alien to what most people around you do or say or think. Perhaps this difference is why you were born.


Subconsciously ungenerous, indeed greedy, tendencies are present in all of us, for which the outer gift-giving ritual of Christmas is intended to be an antidote. Fear creates misers, so hope and trust are needed for them to let go and give.


Birth is a mystery. Why do you have the parents you have? The rational mind cannot figure it out. The soul's intuition can. Then arises a deep desire to live up to the higher ideals of your parents, which are yours also.


Much which is momentous may come into your consciousness. Things you knew, or thought you knew, are renewed (re-knewed) in amazing ways. You care deeply about the world of work and career, yet are also remote from it somehow, musing on immortal realities. Your consciousness looks down from above, secure in private wisdom.


{Saturday} /Private Wisdom\


Cosmic Piper

Forecast for Friday 2 December 2011

~Blocked Hopes Grow Stronger~

[I do not know why this was not posted here when it was written on Thursday. Here it is for retrospective review. Mercury is retrograde.]


With the sun in Sagittarius and moon in Pisces, you may note how you and others gravitate toward universal truths, spiritual realizations. There may be a forgiving attitude, which is greatly needed while the sun and Mercury are sqared to Mars.

Tempests in teacups may seem to be tsunamis until they calm down.


Secret ambushes or strategies may be planned on the international stage or behind the scenes; one thinks of situations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran especially; but whether any of these can succeed is very much up in the air with Mercury retrograde. One gain precipitates other losses and a loss might be a blessing in disguise.


A tendency to legalism and formalities (as in the European and other debt crises) frustrates enthusiasm (Saturn and Jupiter opposed). On the personal level you may find yourself lacking a drive to get things done, so you go through the motions as best you can. If you are fighting out issues or contests in your mind, you find little chance to win outwardly, at least not today.


The moon goes void-of-course at 10:07a PT | 1:07p ET | 6:07p UT. It might be good to wrap up plans for the day before then. Afterward, beware of delays in travel and such, but be willing to adapt to changes as they occur.


"Alienation" was a big word in the writings and thoughts of the existialists of Europe after World War II. We have a dose of that today. How do you connect with "the world," or does the world deserve your connection with it? This last is a dangerous thought. Christians and others with similar ideals insist that the world needs and deserves love, which brings us back to paragraph 1, an ability to be forgiving and kindly. This can happen, even though "with bleeding footprints."


If there are ceremonies or rituals which have helped you in the past, this could be a day for them. They, or rather the forces they invoke, can lift you out of worry into confidence and an ability to cope with whatever needs coping.


We are exacting with ourselves. We are the court, jury and judge sentencing ourselves. We oversee ourselves and write critiques. This is good in that it shows we aspire toward living up to our ideals. But we must not be too harsh with ourselves. TGIF means something today, but even with a companion you are likely to discuss one another's jobs or projects in a serious manner.


Assurance that "you are doing well" is needed by everyone. Yet there is a lofty attitude in everyone which believes it can go it alone. In doing things together with someone, or sharing one another's ambitions and aspirations, we can find close comradeship.


{Friday} ~Blocked Hopes Grow Stronger~


Cosmic Piper

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Forecast for Monday 5 December 2011

Monday 5 December 2011

*Secret Oneness*

It's de rigueur to have a good time while the Part of Fortune is in the 5th, today and tomorrow, albeit these two days are also |the hard days of the week| by a reliable formula. (Not that no other days are hard, of course, but these have a particular emotional flavor of a need to face hard realities or suffer.) So there is fun with a philosophic caste to it.

There is a bookish trend, or a desire to be up on things, to read and gain information or intellectual fodder. Where this takes you is anybody's guess. You might do some writing yourself.

Much is available to you of which you may not be aware, in a large building whether private or public.

What you have failed at in the past seems to cling to you like irons chained to your ankles. This can be depressing. The Mercury-retrograde period is a time to review the past, quite frequently, and learn or re-learn lessons from it. You can be free of those old mistakes as soon as you realize what you have learned from them.

Quarreling is likely while Mercury and the sun square Mars. Maybe you can enlighen someone in a way which is valuable without being unduly cross or mean. Maybe someone you disagree with can enlighten you in some manner.

Venus and Mars are in an exact trine. Whether or not you think you have a thrilling love life, someone likes you, for sure, and there is something of a romantic or erotic nature stirring around you. People have problems, and with the moon opposite Saturn they seem heavy, so whoever you are drawn to will need compassion and kindness even if the erotic trend is also present. You are invited to be with someone, or some group, which could be wonderful and so it is wise not to turn down the invitation.

Secrecy is not always accompanied by dishonesty. Some things are better left unsaid. Boasting especially can be dangerous, for you will give away more secrets than you intended, and some of them could be misunderstood to your discomfiture. It is not so hard to change the subject when delicate matters arise.

May the delicacy you experience be rather of the heartfelt and blissful variety, which is entirely possible. People long to be one with each other.

{Monday} *Secret Oneness*

Cosmic Piper