Skywriter’s 1st Year—and the 20 Articles You Loved Most

©12-25-2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

Happy Holidays, Folks!   Skywriter celebrated one year of active blogging on the 22^nd, and it’s been a joy to get to know you readers better than was possible through my magazine articles, columns, and books.

Your input through comments and emails had a direct impact on the directions this blog took. The numbers of visitors who clicked on various articles told me what you needed and wanted—and I’ve done my best to respond with helpful information. Today we’ll celebrate by looking at what we’ve created together.   

After one year, you’ll find 207 posts on this site, organized into 3 main categories in the column at the right:  Articles About Astrology, Metaphysics/Healing/Self-Help, and Writing/Web Work Tips. Under the astrology category, you’ll find links to articles on topics like Current Astrological Conditions–Transits, Natal Chart Analysis, and Pointers for Professionals.

 So that you can easily navigate this huge collection, I’ve placed links to related articles at the bottom of most posts. If you’re looking for something specific, use the search engine at the top of the right hand column. Now, let’s see which topics were your favorites and revisit some of your favorite posts:

Understanding your Relationships:

Here’s a place  where your input was especially important, because the articles you read in the greatest numbers—and kept on reading months after they were published—were all about love!

Watching those stats, I FINALLY got the message and included more of them. I set up two categories: Relationship Astrology for astrological articles and Relationship Help for self-help articles to improve your relationships.

These self-help articles have become crucial since Saturn entered Libra for a 2 ½ year stay right around Halloween. Many are by Guest Bloggers, like the recent hits, Saturn in Libra: How to Set Healthy Boundaries and Resolving Conflicts – The Spiritual Way.  Of the 20 all-time Readers’ Favorite Articles, the 4 about relationships are:

• Venus-Saturn Aspects—Waiting for Love
• Saturn Transits the 7th House—a Rare Interview with Father Time Himself
• The Steamy Side of Venus-Pluto Aspects—A Photo Gallery
• Relationship Patterns of Venus-Neptune Aspects: The Sociology of Thrice-Married Venusians 

 Your Hottest Concerns:  Cosmic Current Events

Your comments and questions challenged me to focus on issues and concerns about the here and now—and the cosmic weather has been intense! This has been a memorable year, due to the Pluto-Saturn square, the Uranus-Saturn opposition, and the Neptune-Jupiter-Chiron conjunction. Those influences are far from over. Lists of articles about them are found in two categories: Current Astrological Conditions–Transits and Events–Where Were the Planets?

 Here are some of your favorite articles about current transits that made the top 20:

• The Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit—Part 2  (Best Case/Worst Case Scenarios)
• Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit #4–Taking Concrete Action to Change your Life
• Pluto and the transiting Antiscia–not Over ’til It’s Over
• Using the Daily Moon Sign to your Advantage 

 You’re STILL Healing Pluto Problems!

Many of you know me from my book Healing Pluto Problems, so it’s not surprising that you’d want to know what I’m thinking about Pluto during these difficult days when the transiting Pluto-Saturn square is weighing so heavily on people’s minds.

In resonse, I created a series of 13 articles to answer that specific need and to give you some guidance on how to meet its challenges. You can find them under the category A Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit.

Of your top 20 favorite posts, 9 are about Pluto, including the #1 article (The Pluto-Saturn Preparedness Kit—Part 1) and 3 others from the top 10:  

• 6 Things You May Not Know about Pluto
• Pluto in Capricorn: A Laugh and a Half, by John Marchesella
• Pluto in the Career Houses–The Power to Manifest or Fail for Spite

 Input from Guest Experts:

Due to my social work background, my writing has been heavily focused throughout my 40-year career on issues that come up in astrological practice. My special interest is in how to create breakthroughs for psychological and emotional blockages.  I seek out  practical, nuts and bolts solutions to the real-life problems my clients bring me, through tools like Shovel-Ready Projects for the 12 Astrological Houses.

A side effect is that there are a number of astrological specialties and topics of interest that I haven’t pursued. When my readers ask about a topic that’s not my forte, I’m happy to turn the spotlight over to Guest Bloggers with experience and expertise in those fields.  In the top 10 posts for the year are two enduring favorites by guest bloggers: Pluto in Capricorn: A Laugh and a Half, by John Marchesella and  Neeti Ray’s Saturn Transits the 7th House—a Rare Interview with Father Time Himself. There have been many excellent contributions this year, but here are some of my own favorite guest posts:

• Secret Moon Art–Jude Cowell’s Visionary Work
• “Catastrophobia: What Causes it and How to Heal it” by Diana Stone
• The Saturn-Neptune Quincunx and its Part in our Economic Woes by Fabienne Lopez
• Chiron and Humour: Wounded Clowns that Heal Us, by Guest Blogger, Mimi Christ

Rounding out the Year 2009 and Looking forward to 2010

 My best Christmas gift this year is that my blog had its 100,000^th page click on Christmas Eve. The top astrology blog, Sasstrology, has about that many clicks each and every month, so I know not to get big-headed about it, but it IS a wonderful milestone to celebrate, as well as a daily incentive for me to keep writing. Here’s a full list of the 20 all-time Readers’ Favorite Articles, which I’ll update from time to time.

 In coming months, we’ll get back to the Pluto-Saturn Preparedness series. As Uranus moves into Aries, you’ll see posts on how to integrate that energy into the picture as well. It’s a cinch that I’ll keep creating series to meet current needs—especially in the area of using Saturn in Libra to change relationships into more a mature type of commitment with good, mutually respectful boundaries.

In getting to know my audience, I’ve especially loved the intelligent dialogues with you in the comment sections. I hope to expand the replies to readers’ questions about astrology into longer articles on those topics. Readers, if you have questions that you feel would be of general interest, the comment section for this post would be a good place to voice them!  If I can’t answer them myself or have too many writing projects going at once, I’ll look for guest bloggers.

 If you’ve found the posts here helpful, sign up for a subscription, and get a FREE EBOOKLET for Skywriter Subscribers Only: Mothers, Daughters, and the Moon, a 50-page excerpt from The Moon in your Life. Read more about it here: NEW: FREE BOOKLET FOR SKYWRITER SUBSCRIBERS! 

 To subscribe, go to the top right hand corner of the blog and click on “Subscribe.”  Then send me an email with your subscription confirmation or an email post with a request for the booklet in the subject line. If you’re already a subscriber and want a copy, forward the most recent email post to me at moonmave@spiritone.com.

Art Credits: Like most posts on this site, the art here came from Clipart.com.