©11-19-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Some of you have commented that you’re having a hard time figuring out how the simultaneous transits from Pluto and Saturn work so you need some examples of the energies of these planets at work–including planets, signs, and houses.  Since I’m not a practicing astrologer any more and don’t feel comfortable using examples from my Dell Horoscope advice column, I don’t have cases ready to hand. Below are two hypothetical examples typical of what you might hear from people who are already living with this tough combination.

Lakota Nation files lawsuit against parties in sweat lodge incident

Donna says, Skywriter subscriber Mimi Boothby forwarded me this important article from Sedona.biz, “the internet voice of Sedona.”

(c)11-12-09 by Nina Rehfeld

 ”SEDONA, AZ (November 12, 2009) – In the aftermath of the tragedy at Angel Valley Retreat Center, where an incompetently conducted “sweat lodge” held by Californian self-help guru James Arthur Ray killed three participants, political steps are being taken by several native people across the United States. While local Indians from Arizona are forming a Council for Indigenous Traditional Healing to reclaim native ceremonies, the Lakota tribe of North and South Dakota has filed a lawsuit against the United States, the state of Arizona, James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center…

©11-18-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 We’re sitting at a crossroad just now, collectively. In the distance, we can hear the mournful whistle of a big, old freight train. It’s just got three cars—honking huge tankers with signs on their sides saying Pluto, Saturn, and Uranus.

They’re filled with powerful industrial solvents for a reconstruction project that’s vital to the future health and growth of our communities and our planet. The trouble is, they’re potentially toxic if not handled correctly.

That’s why there are big, bold warning signs on the sides of the cars, and why there are billboards leading up to the crossroad. That’s why the signals are lit up with flashing red lights, and why loud bells are sounding. Is the Pluto-Saturn-Uranus train on a intersect course with your path—that is, do you have planets, the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven in early degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn? If so, are you reading and heeding those warning signals?

©11-16-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

How many impossible things can YOU believe before breakfast?  There are a vast panopoly of them out there on the circuit as people yearn for comfort and hope in these troubled times.  This weekend I went to a workshop led by New Age icon. The small room at the metaphysical bookstore was filled to the rafters—60 devoted seekers in a space that the fire department probably only certified for 30.

At first I thought maybe we were going to have a sweat lodge. I tensed up and tried to remember my CPR training, but not a whiff of sage did I catch, so I relaxed a bit.

The icon’s husband got up first and started the two hour workshop with a 20 minute commercial for her many, many books, tapes, and DVDs.  This gentle soul’s obvious pride in his wife’s accomplishments was endearing.  After a bit, the fact that he was incoherent and rambling didn’t bother me all that much. I grew up around incoherent and rambling. Families like that are pretty much core curriculum for spiritual studies.

©11-16-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 Today the powerful and long-lasting Pluto-Saturn square is exact AND it’s a New Moon in Pluto’s sign Scorpio. So many people have recently lost jobs, homes, their life savings, a son or daughter in war, or something else of great significance—or someone very close to them has done so. There is so much sorrow and loss around us just now that if this were a humane society, today would be declared a national day of mourning.

I said yesterday that I wasn’t going to write about grief myself, I’d just send you to some sites that had information on some of the newer grief therapies. I almost got away with it, too, but then Pluto had a thing or two to say about that.

©11-15-2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

I know as much about grief as the next Plutonian—we seem to experience more of it and earlier in our lives than most people, so we become experts by default.  There’s a chapter on grief and what it contributes to becoming a Plutonian personality in my book, Healing Pluto Problems.

 However, grief therapies continue to evolve and to incorporate new healing tools, so I did an internet search to find new resources—and, not too coincidentally, to get out of having to write more about it myself!  Here are some great finds—people who are writing wisely and well about the many faces and forms of bereavement and how to emerge from it a stronger person. 

©2008 by Guest Blogger, Dr. Deborah Bier, Co-Editor of Vibration Magazine

Donna says: Many of you are bound to confront some very old emotional blockages during the transiting Pluto-Saturn square. If you understand that catharsis is a normal, vital and ultimately helpful part of the healing, it may relieve some of the anxiety such eruptions can create. I asked Dr. Bier’s  permission to reprint this Vibration Magazine article because it sheds light on the catharses that often happen when you enter into a healing process, whether through flower essences, bodywork, traditional psychotherapy, past life therapy or virtually any other form of work you do to remove your deepest blockages. 

To me, the healing crisis is a Plutonian process, because you delve very intensely into emotions that have been shoved out of consciousness for a long time. Yet in a very powerful way, by bringing them to the surface, you’re freed from the burden of carrying them around and are empowered to move forward.

©11-12-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 Some time today, the Moon will enter Libra—the sign of relationships—and will cross over Saturn and square Pluto.  Almost every major episode in your life story involves other people, and if the Pluto-Saturn square is triggering parts of your birth chart, this is a good time to take a closer look at the folks who’ll be cast in the roles of Pluto and Saturn.

 Some players will be brand new; others will have been important figures in your past. Even the new ones are almost certain to be “just like” someone who was important to you before. They’ll stir up old feelings and evoke old issues, needs, dilemmas, and strategies.

 So that you’re alert to those familiar feelings and patterns, we’ll take a look at this cast of characters. You’ll examine what role they’re playing in the current episode, what they’re likely to be demanding of you, and what the relationship is about.

©11-11-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth. – Umberto Eco

In trying to understand and counteract the growing climate of fear in the world around us as the Pluto-Saturn square peaks, I first turn to the technique of mixing and matching keywords. Though in no way comprehensive, it’s useful as a starting place for grasping the meaning of an astrological aspect. Let’s see what pairing phrases for these two planets can teach us.

©11-10-2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Transiting Saturn and Pluto will be forming a difficult 90° angle called a square during much of October 2009-October 2010, within a 5° range. People who follow astrology are becoming very anxious about what the aspect may mean, both personally and globally.

While I’m not denying that for some people, this will be a challenging aspect, the more anxious you become about some vague danger from huge forces you see as outside your control, the less effectively you’ll cope with it.

 I’m creating this series called A Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit to give you information and tools to handle the transit—not just to cope, but to use those energies constructively to improve long-standing conditions in your life. Here, for those of you who just joined us, is an overview of the series, with links to guide you through the process.

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

The blogosphere is a delicious, startling labyrinth of self-expression in which you encounter fabulous fables and the art of life in its vast, infinite diversity. It’s the repository of an impressive array of talent in the field of astrology—gifted practitioners who on the whole have remained undiscovered by “mainstream” astrology conferences and publications. I set out at daybreak today to discover who else out there is posting helpful or inspiring materials on the Pluto-Saturn square. Here are some that I found.

 Donna says:  The Pluto-Saturn square is just one in a series of intense astrological aspects over the past several months.  So many people have reached a crisis point—jobs lost, insurance coverage gone, mortgages in arrears. Rescue Remedy is a safe, inexpensive combination of 5 flower remedies that helps people stay calm while dealing with an emergency. (Flower remedies are also known as essences, but are not the same as aromatherapy.) If you’re not familiar with the essences, download the introductory chapter from my essence book  at flower essence information-ch1 and read the instructions for how to use them. 

Rescue Remedy has been clinically tested in England for over 80 years and is even listed in the USDA Pharmacopeia of accepted medications.  It is widely available in most health food stores, new age bookstores, and even in one national drugstore chain. It is not a sedative, so you remain clear-headed while coping with the situation.  This article was printed in Vibration Magazine, and the author has given me permission to reprint it here. Here’s her story:

©2008-9 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Pluto and Saturn are square in the sky now, and it’s likely to stir up long-standing issues for people born with the Pluto-Saturn conjunction, square, trine, or opposition in their charts. The angle formed by the transiting planets doesn’t have to be the same as the natal angle in order for it to have an impact. I’ve noted this phenomenon countless times with significant events in newsmakers’ lives—we’ll see it later with Britney Spears’ chart.

Over 40 years as a practicing astrologer, I also found that when strong transits like the current conjunction form in the sky, clients who have that aspect natally crowd into the consultation room. It’s given me plenty of opportunity to observe the dynamics of particular aspects in action.  It’s even true, oddly enough, when the transiting aspect isn’t touching strongly on natal positions.

©11-5-2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 I don’t know about you, but I’m a tad burnt out on the intensity of Pluto and Saturn and am ready to lighten up.  One of the items on my Google start-up page is Quotes of the Day – The Quotations Page.  I entertain myself each morning by sorting their selections according to the planet they most resemble.  In our charts, Jupiter represents:

Wisdom/Education/learning from experience 

Faith/religion/philosophy

Travel/foreign countries

Growth/Expansion/overdoing things

Optimism/Luck/gambling

 Here are some quotes that said JUPITER to me—a collection of jovial wisdom and witticisms by wise folks and wiseacres:

©2009 by guest blogger, Elly Yule, maker of GrassDancer Essences, U.K.

 Donna says:  This article was orginally published in Vibration, and is repinted here with permission of the author. It came up again in my quest for tools to help us all make the best possible use of the Pluto-Saturn square and the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical clearing we can experience during this aspect. It  discusses  concerns that we astrologers, therapists, healers, life coaches and others who work intensely with clients’ difficulties need to keep in mind, especially while this aspect is exact, because the energy around us is filled with their pain and it’s easy for us to soak it up. 

Elly  mentions her flower essences,  and though they’re not widely available in the United States, you can order them through her website. For those who aren’t familiar with essences, I’ll be constructing an FAQ page about them soon, but for now, refer to the posts on essences in the Healing Tools category on this blog.  Whatever tools you prefer to use in clearing the energy around you, her insights are valuable. Here’s what Elly has to say.

 ©11-3-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 A dear friend has just come home from a 6-week visit with her son, which they spent clearing the clutter from his loft. She’s brought along a stalwart pal who’s volunteered to help do the very same thing with my friend’s garage—a heroic task.

 It’s crammed to the rafters with so much stuff that she’s never once, in the decade since she bought the house, been able to park a car there. It contains not only her own unwanted belongings but her housemate’s and those of another cohort we’ve seriously considered nominating for one of those shows about hoarding.

 I was thinking this morning what terrific use she’s making of the current Pluto-Saturn square. In early Libra, she has Neptune conjunct the Moon, hence the tendency toward chaos in a residence. These Saturn and Pluto aspects to natal Neptune have given her the impetus to clear away the ever-accumulating piles of God alone knows what.

(If you were born in the early 1940s, your own Neptune is in late Virgo or in early Libra, so at some point you’ll be going through a similar transit. Oh, and in case you can’t relate to the idea of getting rid of clutter—this is an article about CLOSURE, first and foremost.)

©11-1-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

This is the 3^rd installment in a series about meeting challenges of the transiting Pluto-Saturn square. Last time, readers created lists of best and the worst case scenarios for this aspect, depending on which houses of their astrology charts were involved. I suggested they pick one of their best case scenarios and brainstorm ways to make it happen. 

Now it’s time to analyze exactly what actions would help you change  things that aren’t working for you.  In order to do that effectively, rather than in a hit and miss fashion, the best tool is a set of  clear, achievable goals that lead you to definite actions.

Planet+House=the Best and Worst Possibilities of this Transit

©10-31-2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 This is part 2 of a new series designed to help you anticipate what to expect during the lengthy transiting square between Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn.

In part 1,  we went through a series of questions to determine what houses in the birth chart are affected by the transit and therefore what areas of life are likely to be most affected. (If you didn’t see that post, you might want to start there:  The Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit—Part 1.)

 Today, we’ll be working to understand how the transiting planets’ issues and modes of operation combine with the matters of the houses involved. This will help you brainstorm about what kinds of events and situations might develop.

Identifying the Houses–and Areas of Life–Affected by the Transit

©10-30-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

How many of you have emergency preparedness kits at home and in the trunk of your car? And how many of you have a first aid kit?  I couldn’t find any statistics online, but I’d venture to guess not more than one in three of you do. 

This new series isn’t about those sorts of kits–although this wouldn’t be bad timing to create one.  Instead, we’ll be talking about how to prepare for the long square that’s forming between Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn.

We’ll be learning about ways you who’ll be affected can gear up to meet any challenges that pair of transits might provide. At each stage, we’ll be taking stock of possible vulnerable areas to see exactly where your weaknesses and strengths lie. We’ll look at pitfalls that could result from the transits and how taking action in advance could help prevent the worst outcomes. And we’ll consider resources you can tap to bolster your capacity to cope with any difficulties that might arise. 

©10-29-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 Neeti Ray of Astrology Expressed writes that they’re having quite a party on Facebook to welcome Saturn’s ingress into Libra today. I, too, breathed a sigh of relief this ayem to realize it had left Virgo. In these last few tedious months of hypercritical Saturn in Virgo, there has been nothing but relentless bitching, nitpicking, fault-finding, and blaming in the media as well as a generalized air of dissatisfaction in which nothing but nothing seems to satisfy people.     

 I will, however, delay my own housewarming party for Saturn in Libra until it scoots past the square to Pluto in Capricorn.  At that point, I’ll throw a sedate afternoon tea, perhaps with a string quartet.  At some point, we’ll all have a bit of bubbly to celebrate the return of a more genteel, civilized code of conduct.  Saturn, after all, is supposed to be exalted (that is, at its very best) in Libra. 

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 Donna says: Astrodrama is a tool in which the players speak for the planets in an aspect or other chart feature. I seldom get a chance to use this technique anymore, but was inspired to do one about the upcoming Pluto-Saturn square. What follows is a monologue by a good old boy named Pluto who has a chance encounter with his old pal, Saturn. Just so those who don’t know me understand, I may be speaking for Pluto in this skit, but he sure as heck isn’t speaking for me. I abhor racism with every fiber of my being. I’m just playing a role—channeling a certain segment of society.

©2009 by guest blogger, Tom Volkar, of http://DelightfulWork.com

Donna says, “As Saturn makes its last stop in Virgo and quickly moves on to square Pluto in Capricorn, fears about the future of our jobs, lifework, and financial survival seem overwhelming to so many of us.  I’m nominating Tom Volkar’s site, Delightfulwork.com as my Internet Find of the Week because of his dedication to helping self-employed people reach their fullest potential. I don’t know of any full-time astrologers who aren’t self-employed, so when I ran across his site, I asked his permission to reprint this post. Though he doesn’t know much about Saturn, he surely addressed key current issues in the article below. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

I was just having a discussion this ayem with my Vibration Blog partner, Dr. Deborah Bier about the high-quality comments I’m getting to posts here and those on Vibration Magazine — educational journal on flower essences, our flower essence blog. I said a blog post is never done and that when really good questions stimulate me to write something more about the topic, I cut and paste an update into the original post. 

So then the very sensible Deb asked me, “What about the readers who’ve already seen the post—how do they get to read the addition? It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop.” I shrugged, or whatever the email equivalent is. 

(Found at:  http://www.wikihow.com/Handle-Chronic-Complainers and attributed to Alex Kjerulf. ) 

Donna says:  Saturn is leaving hyper-critical Virgo at long last on October 29^th, when it enters Libra. (It returns for a few months from March to July, 2010.)  Not to complain, but I’m fed up to the gills with the constant bitching, nitpicking, fault-finding, and blaming that passes for commentating among journalists and for political wisdom among members of congress.  There’s also a generalized air of disgruntlement in the world at large in which nothing but nothing satisfies  the public.     

I’ve always had a good impression of natal Saturn in Virgo, as it so often corresponds with exceptional capability and responsible service in a worker. Alas, the current sojourn has somewhat soured me on that Saturn sign. This article in WikiHow had great suggestions for dealing with the chronically disgruntled.  Fabulous word, disgruntled—not especially aesthetically pleasing, but evocative…it hints of constipation, that frequent Virgo complaint. (Every sign has body parts associated with it, and Virgo rules the intestines.)

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

A young girl approximately 14-17 turned up outside a youth shelter in Manhattan, NY at around 12:30 AM on October 9, 2009.   She claims not to know who she is, where she came from, or how she got there. From the tone of the CNN article about her, it would appear she isn’t the typical runaway who comes to Covenant House and that authorities are taking her story seriously.  The article makes no mention of drug abuse, and in the picture given at CNN, she looks healthy and well-nourished.   You can see the full story here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/23/teen.jane.doe/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn.

 (c)2009 by Donna Cunningham

Before you begin to interpret someone’s birth chart, ask yourself the most basic question of all—how accurate is the birth time? The birth time is the key to such crucial parts as the Ascendant (also known as the Rising sign or first house cusp), the Midheaven (the career point at the top of the chart), and the signs on the cusps of all twelve houses. Rounded-off times like 7:00 or 7:30 are suspect.

Times on the quarter hour—7:15 or 7:45—are likely to be closer to true, and a time like 7:06 could be exact. You need to know, also, whether you are talking about 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM, since they are 12 hours apart and usually six Rising Signs different, and yet that part of the birth certificate may be blurry.

Hi, this month, we’ve had a wonderful surge in the number of new subscribers and first-time visitors. Here, in case you missed any of them, are readers’ favorite posts in the past month—the 10 most-visited, with #1 at the top:

1.  7 Secrets You May not Know about the 12th House
2. Mars-Neptune Aspects and the Sweatbox Deaths
3. 6 Things You May Not Know about Pluto
4. 10 Things You May not Know about Uranus
5. Venus-Saturn Aspects—Waiting for Love 
6. Purge Yourself of Pluto’s Negativity—Get Free of Bitterness
7. 12 Famous People with 12th House Suns
8. Jupiter in the 12th—When Does Good Luck Turn Bad?
9. Night and Day: Transits from the 12th House to the 1st
10. Saturn Transits—What do They Mean to your Career?

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 Do you wonder why your moods shift as often as the weather? And do you wish you could predict your emotional weather like the forecasters on tv predict the weather —only maybe a bit more accurately?  Following the Moon as it makes its monthly cycle around your astrology chart is one way to create a weather map of your daily life.

©2006, 2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

The telephone woke me early one morning recently – a woman was calling from abroad who had no idea what time it was here. She was in what has been called the Dark Night of the Soul. Like so many people who are calling lately or are writing to my “Dear Abby” type advice column in Dell Horoscope Magazine, she was in the depths of despair. Life had never seemed bleaker or more devoid of hope. Painful issues she’d struggled with throughout life without improvement now seemed too much to bear any longer.

(c)10-18-09 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Is your budget for advertising small, and yet you need to build interest in your astrology or metaphysical practice, business, or blog?  Every time you send an email, you can advertise, and it doesn’t cost a dime.  Promote your services and activities by creating email signatures with a brief message,  adding contact information or a link.  You don’t have to be a computer whiz to do this.