Special ends Dec 1!

The Buy Two Get One Free Report Special ends Dec 1. Here's the link to the Reports on offer. Great gifts and treats for yourself.

Enjoy them!
Neil

Join me at the Red Carpet Fundraiser...

November is National Adoption Month and I will be appearing at the "Zen Zone" at the
Red Carpet Adoption Awareness and Fundraiser for the Casa Hogar Sion Orphanage.

You can find out more about Thursday night if you click here.

In the Zen Zone (a peaceful sanctuary off the main party area created with the salt=lamp crystals from Illume (mentioned in previous blogs) I'll be chatting about the many benefits of applying Astrology in your personal and professional life, and we can take a look at your Lunar Nodes and Soul Path. You may even get to glimpse some celebs who are stopping by.

Say Hi if you can make it!
Neil

Your Karma Class - 2007- 2009

Your Karma Class of 2007 - 2009

Saturn, planet of Work, Discipline and “career Karma” just moved into Virgo – the sign of getting it (and keeping it) together. That's right - you gotta tighten your belt and buckle up for the next two years in ONE area in particular....there's nowhere to hide, so you best read on...

Aries
Saturn the Sanitary strides into your House of Health, Hygiene & Work to whip you into shape or risk getting bent out of it. Yoga anyone? Natural Remedies? A better job? Revamp your schedule. Clean up your mess. Ditch bad habits. Failing this test prolongs your celestial colonic…


Taurus
Saturn the Serious strides into your House of Love, Romance, Risks & Playtime. Schedule in some fun time and laugh for god’s sake. If it’s not fun why do it? Love is a bitch this year if you play coy, shy. Play well but don’t play games. Give, even if no one says thanks. Those who risk nothing lose everything. Who cares what the audience thinks – this is your spotlight!

Gemini
Saturn the Stoic strides into your House of Home & Family. Oh boy – just exactly where is home? Here? There? You’ll have to move or rearrange furniture to give yourself the ideal nest. A new neediness overcomes you, as karma forces you to reveal your more tender side. Seek privacy but avoid walls. Are family roots in need of weeding? If in doubt, hug to disarm all scary looking situations.

Cancer
Saturn the Strict strides into your House of Communication to test you on How you say it, What you say, and Who you say it to. Siblings could annoy the hell out you (along with neighbors) but it’s all a test of your mouth and mind. Stop depressing mental loops. Spit it out. If not, karma will send a cat to locate your tongue.


Leo
Saturn the Schoolmaster has left your sign. What have you learned? Don’t a thank you. Keep shining when the sun goes in. Hard work does pay off. Congrats! Your next challenge is to cash in on your newfound courage, dedication, & leadership skills. Clean up your checking account. Balance your books. Can royalty live light yet still luxuriously?


Virgo
Saturn the Sedate strides into your sign giving you two years to get yourself together. Maybe you won’t come out a model of maturity, hard work, courage and pristine health - but maybe you will. Begin now. Destroy worry. Love your job or move on. Eat well. Help people. Stop complaining. You’re the zodiac’s Improver and you’re now assigned to…yourself.


Libra
Saturn the Sober strides into your House of the Unconscious, Past Lives, Karma & Escapism. Addictions no longer work. Your dreams scream. Your yesterday invades today and needs resolution. Forget? Sounds nice but first you must face your darkest hour. Can you let go? We’ll see. If it goes or is gone - don’t hold on! Seek soul space and nurture your secret self.

Scorpio
Saturn the Sincere strides into your House of your Future, Friendships, Goals and Groups to clean up your social shenanigans. Tell Dirty friends to clean up their act before dirtying your doorstep. Set your social sights higher by being a rebel with a cause to aid those who’ll help (not hinder) your future freedom.

Sagittarius
Saturn the Steady strides into your House of Career, Achievement, Status and Authority. Yes you’ll need to prove yourself but not become a control freak. Yes, you can take the wheel but no, you can’t run red lights. You’re in the hot seat – but you want to drive, so stop kicking back, hiding in the back or looking back.

Capricorn
Saturn the Staid strides into your House of Travel, Adventure, Expansion & Knowledge. How much do you know? Suffering from culture-clash? Maybe it’s time for a trip to new lands, for new information or people. Open your mind. Close your mouth. To pop prejudice, Karma bumps you into a bubble of foreign origin.

Aquarius
Saturn the Somber strides into your House of Death, Rebirth, Power & Transformation. For starters, sex is serious (you want more or less). You have to learn to trust (through deceit?). You must cut your cards or your phone line to escape creditor calls. Deep down it’s about death. Die. Be reborn. Crash and Burn. Get back up. Repeat.

Pisces
Saturn the Stern strides into your House of Partnership, Fair-Play, Cooperation and Compromise. A major make-or-break could lie ahead if you clean up your contracts - 50-50 still means you’re only giving (and getting) half. Give tops or you’ll bottom out. In or out?

Emotional Mind-Fields: Gemini Full Moon

No, you're not schizo. You're either talking a heck of a lot about what ails you, or keeping totally schtum. You COULD talk about it. Or then again you could just continue to bounce it around in your skull. It's your choice.

Gemini, as the sign of the twins highlights (under the Full Moon) areas of your life where you're in TWO MINDS about something, or someone.

Here's the full analysis of the Gemini Full Moon for the low-down on what's going on for the next month under this lunar phase.

I'll say in closing that this particular Full Moon is challenged by Saturn, so there's a somber feel to our thoughts. We're more likely crushed into conversation, squeezed to share our thoughts or generally a little on the depressed or downward spiral (old mental loops and draining repetitive thought patterns).

If you catch yourself being down AGAIN about something, great. Here's your chace to purge your life of an old mental daemon that robs you of cerebral clarity and mental bliss. Thoughts are things, so don't let yourself get bogged down with so much attention to the drudgery of life, let them fly by leaving just an ounce of space for the possibility that a new way will be found through the falling leaves of a dying season in your life.

Everything is cyclic, remember. And what you choose to think about is ultimately another aspect of free-will operating in your life. No one can make you think anything (unless you let them).

Where's your head?

Keep talking,
Neil

Gemini Full Moon (Feb 24)

Stay tuned....

My Thanksgiving "Thanks" for YOU...

who read these words, no matter where you live, no matter what you have, or don't have, or what you've done, or not done.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me, for incarnating into delicate human bodies to play out this ridiculous and cool story of human beings, with 5 toes (sometimes), a checking account that bounces black and red, with emotions that bounce around like yoyos in a hurricane.

Planet Earth wouldn't be the same without ya, and my life sure as heck wouldn't be as multi-colored.

May we all continue the journey with a lot less stress and a lot more humor. Or at least enough of the latter to aid the former.


Happy Thanksgiving to YOU.

Cheers!

From,
Me
xxx

Back to the Drawing Board: Mars Retrograde in Cancer

What's on your drawing board?

A half-finished rough sketch of how you wanted life to be?
We sigh and groan when we're told we have to get back to it, but isn't everything begun at the drawing board?

Mars, the planet of 'Place your Energy HERE', 'I WANT this' and 'Let's make it happen NOW' is turning retrograde tomorrow (November 15) until well into January, to give us a second chance, a second go, another reason and opportunity to go BACK to our drawing board to see if what we're creating and working on is really what we want.

Mars will be moving through Cancer, the sign that relates to a number of things:

Your Home, Family, Domestic Situation: Can we say repairs? How about some home improvement. It's likely. Anger? You betcha, if someone can't be a little more patient. Clearing the air is no doubt the best way to go here. But do louder voices really help people hear? Smoke alarms and fire alarms are either going off, being checked (make it a point), or else someone is burning toast or throwing gas on their furniture because they're 'done'. Either way, heat, aggression and a lot of energy suddenly is sucked into everyones home space, their private domain where no one else can see what's going on. Oh, the things said and done between now and January in homes across the world...

Your Roots and Past
A heck of a lot of reviewing pulls us back to repeat or relive facets of our life story that we're particularly pained over, or proud of. The choice is yours. If it worked well, by all means try it again. If it caused stress, then back off. For everyone's sake. You can get angry about what happened to you back then, but why bother? if anything, channel anger into improving your present situation.

Your Emotions
Digestion problems or stomach complaints now could be a sign of emotional indigestion - being unable to deal with your feelings. Mars retrograding back through such a sensitive sign gives us all a chance to release volatile feelings. Emotions aren't pretty, but who said they were meant to be? Volcanic eruptions of anger, roadrage, the desire to kill kill kill, or self-inflicted wounds on ourselves or on those closest to us are all ways of using mars retrograde. The message is - anger is a fire we can feed, try to stifle or let burn warmly and toast marshmallows over. Using anger to achieve something less destructive is a great idea, especially now.

Okay, so you're angry. great. You tapped into something that doesn't make you happy. mars Retrograde has bestowed its gift to you. Now what?

1. Make amends, clear up the crap, move on.
2. Put all irritation and angst into a plan to improve your situation.
3. Do something good for yourself.
4. Realize you may just be fighting your own guilt, anxiety, inabilities, mistakes, behavior through someone else.
5. Know this too shall pass, have your say then go off and find something useful to do.

Mars, the bringer of War could see a turnaround in military plans. No one 'wins' any war. Maybe retrograde mars will bring a few home explosions as the anger is turned BACK on the propagator.

Since the US is a Cancer country, it's likely we'll see a show of more warrior themes, attacks, anger, bloodshed or violence.

Let me ask you this:

How are things in YOUR home?
When I say home i don't just mean your house, apt, flat, box, dungeon or wherever else you may call home. I'm talking YOU - your skin, your soul. How are things deep within you?

That's a marker for what you'll get involved in with mars Retrograde. If you're repressing anger, something at home may explode or need fixing. If you feel comfortable, you escape from the pains others who are repressing may face. Your HOME is a strong indicator of how much internal peace you have.

Mars relates to:

Anger - so we'll be tested during retrograde, on how well we use our anger, how easily irritable we are, how unkind we can be when we're pissed off, and how we tend to make matters worse by responding to them in this mode. In Cancer, a sign known for its 'sideways' moves, we get to play out an entire period of MAJOR PASSIVE AGGRESSION - my advice, if you're pissed off, tell us. if you bottle it up, you make it worse for everyone. Our emotional trigger points are HOT this period.

Assertion - can you stand your ground? Do confrontations make you freak out or can you handle them in a way that not only establishes your rights, but also allows others room to have their say too? Are you defending your own interests in a healthy way or backing off and letting others dominate space?

Action - retrogrades often pull energy inside of us, so LOOK (and FEEL) before you leap - this is the planetary cycle of WHOOPS - impulsive and impatient actions that can't be taken back or undone. We can however regroup and reformulate our mission, our plan of attack (Mars loves a plan and even more so, an attack).

Response-ability

How well do you respond to 'bad vibes' - annoying people, things, situations or incidents? How do you react when someone accuses you of something, or calls you names or treats you with disrespect? Do we REACT or RESPOND (reacting means to re-act, to act AGAIN repeating a learned knee-jerk reaction) whilst responding is just that - replying, not replaying.

Retrograde Mars will give us a chance to see how we all act and react or respond. Call it our responsibility (response ability) that governs how our lives play out. Chances are pretty high that when you get wrapped up in something ugly, that you're playing some energy game with another of similar vibration (angry people attract angry/triggering people). It's energetics. How will you respond with what you're faced with during this time?

Sex & Desire - What will you do to get what you want? How much do you want? Is sexual frustration masked as irritability and a short fuse (when it comes to fuses, size doesn't matter...). is your desire a problem, as opposed to the NOT getting what you want. Are you pushing for something that is pushing you away or uninterested? Retrograde Mars asks us to reformulate our desires - as it could turn out you don't REALY want what you have become so used to fighting for or chasing....


Launching things
From getting up in the morning, to starting a company to throwing a party, everything has a launch. A beginning. Mars as the impetus behind movement, could reflect a few frustrations and upsets in getting something off the ground. Again, if emotions aren't fully engaged, now is the time when you'll likely be faced with enough delays and blocks or disappointments to help you refocus and relax more (hopefully). Once you let up, energy frees up. Remember that this cycle.

Mars and Health
Mars relates to heat - skin rashes, temperatures, burns. Mars relates to Bangs - cuts, bruises, bumps, wounds, bleeding. Mars relates to adrenalin - adrenal glands, muscles. Mars relates to the Head - headstrong, headfirst, head wounds, headaches.

Retrograde we may see some old symptoms reappear, and in Cancer the sign of the chest and stomach, problems in these areas would reflect an emotional imbalance. Don't eat when angry. Don't comfort eat. Chest issues could reflect a lack of proper self nurturing (we hug people to our breasts, we feed through our breasts, we emotionally keep our feelings close to our chest or need to get things off our chest.
See the connections?

That's a wrap here. Enjoy slowing down. We need to. Follow feelings to their natural conclusion - back to the past, and back to their source. You.

You are in control of your Emotional Experience in this lifetime.

If you like this blog...

then you can have more information send to you at the New World Astrology newsletter.
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Enjoy!

Love,
Neil

Dancing in the flames: New Moon in Scorpio

Our current lunar phase of new beginnings (the New Moon) is the sign of endings (Scorpio), and the sign of Transformation, moving from one state to another. Nothing is allowed to stagnate now at this New Moon, and how can we have a new beginning if we don't take care of the old stuff hanging around?

Something needs to die now, and the New Moon will bring about the energy to allow for a chapter change. Just as midwives help us birth something, we now need those who can aid us in letting go - who teaches us this? So now, look to play this role in others lives and for others to appear to help you with this process yourself.

Ah, there's an important word now: process. All is a process - don't expect to magically let go of everything that has to leave now. It's our nature to hold on, to dig our nails in to retain some sense of a status quo in our lives, but this new Moon shows it's tough to do that. Something has to go, something has to change, something has to die and be reborn. So accepting that something has to change, is the first step to embracing the theme of this current lunar cycle.

This New Moon:

Realize what's keeping you chained to pain, and give it up
Look at your addiction to the dark side
Begin some recycling scheme
Clear out things you no longer, use, value, need, like Be open to intimacy and going deeper
Seek support, give support, pool resources, talents
Face your shadow
Shed a skin and don't look back
Realize your power of choice
Watch horror movies, and notice the symbolism of facing your fear/demons Investigate, research, uncover, probe
Ask for a loan, extend credit, seek financial advice/support
Accept it's OVER
Use passion to move mountains
Take your anger, rage, jealousy, hatred and channel it into something positive in your life
Enjoy sex with a soul connection
Learn Tantra
Try Kundalini Yoga
Visit a sex shop, indulge in erotica, discover your hidden desires
Accept and embrace your Power - power 'is', it's what you do with it that matters most
Undergo hypnosis, surgery, counseling
Talk about taboos
Order the Karmic Insight and Past Life Report (to detail what you're carrying with you from other lives that maybe tripping you up still. Buy thse two and choose a third FREE under the current special). See samples here.
Cast a spell or perform a ritual to enhance your power and release negativity


New Moon square Chiron
Are we really emotionally wounded or is it just an excuse to lick our wounds and hide from society, friends or connecting? Sulking is a sign you're not being honest about how you feel. If anything, we get to reprogram our own mothering instincts again now. We get to parent ourselves now - ask yourself in each and every moment 'Am I comfortable', 'Do I feel okay about this'. If not - why not? And what will you do to regain emotional ground once more. Is an old habit ready to die? Will you let it?

New Moon square Neptune
Don't kid yourself into thinking you've moved on from certain lessons by ignoring them or avoiding them. They still may carry a charge - and basically, if you're even SEEING an ounce of an old karmic lessons, the residue is still around. The question becomes - how much emotional energy will you invest in it as this may ignite it once more. Cutting ties is good if it involves forgiveness within. Addictions may arise once more now - are you running away from doing what you know you need to do (and keep saying you will do?) Enjoy a time out, just don't disappear for good.

New Moon trine Mars and Uranus
The impetus (Mars) and freedom (Uranus) to turn in a new direction is here so grab it. Who cares if it's new ground and there IS no permanent comfort (don't seek that in this lunar cycle, or you'll be left wanting. Each moment holds a conflict between keeping things the same (however crappy) or shaking free. Stay flexible, and don't give up if things don't go according to plan (whose plan?). it's time to free yourself - changing any area of your life that has become Boring. Simple as that. If you're fed up with it - CHANGE IT BY CHANGING YOUR INTERACTION WITH IT. Perspective, involvement, even fantasies surrounding it.

CHANGE IT BY CHANGING YOUR INTERACTION WITH IT. Our Mantra for this lunar phase.

So, at this New Moon we get to ask ourselves:

Are we truly ready to give up the pain of our past & present?
Are we willing to try a new approach?
Do we have an open mind?
Can we risk losing a comfort zone that wasn't THAT comfy to begin with?
Are we willing to replace stagnation
with new energies and new experiences?

Prepare for the death of one way, and the birth of a new path, a new possibility and a new power.

See you on the other side - with the shocking new hairstyle or job, or whatever else you're ready to ring the changes with. Let me know where your own personal zaniness comes forth!

Love,
Neil

Visit me at Illume Gallery..

If you're in Los Angeles this week, you have to check out Illume Gallery. A peaceful magical oasis in the heart of a city that never stops. I'll be there.

Walls lined with hand-crafted exquisite salt lamps from the Himalayan mountains, Illume is such an amazing experience, and you'll want to take some of the energy home with you.

If you visit during this week and next you can meet me in person (I'll be helping at the Gallery Wednesday Nov 7 and Thursday Nov 8). I'll also be here next week too, I'll let you know after this weekend.

Even if we don't have a chance to meet in person (you can schedule a Reading when we meet or just pop in to say hi and breathe in some of the amazing energy here), then you owe it to yourself to visit anytime you can. You'll see why.

You can also take a piece of the energy here home with you if you live out of state (or country) at the Illume Gallery website.

Enjoy - and hope to see you there!

Love,
Neil

November Special: Buy 2 Reports, choose a Third Free!

For November, you can order Two Reports and choose another one completely free.

Since October has been an intense time for most, and November we head towards a retrograde Mars cycle, we could all use some guidance, light relief and some fun!

Recommendations:

The Transit Report - if you need help working out what is going on and why? And cycles that are upcoming for you personally. Read more.

The Karmic Insight Report - if you wonder why certain aspects of your life keep repeating and what you're still 'working on' from the past (this life and others).
Also highlights gifts and strengths. See sample.

The Full Natal Report - is a mammoth read, over 80 pages packed with info on why you are the way you are, why you chose this particular life and all the ins and quirky outs of your personality and path. Check it out.

The Solar Return Report - if you just had a birthday or have one soon, and want to know what the entire next 12 months is all about for you. Take a look.

They are all awesome for various reasons and purposes.

Choose from the full selection here

Enjoy!

Love,
Neil

Retrograde in Retrospect

Mercury Retrograde is over.

In Scorpio, it's been quite an intense time for many of us, so this is a short review, as a last look at this particular retrograde cycle. Normally I get to enjoy a time out of sorts, a recuperation and a way of catching up with myself which has been afforded me in a number of ways = but how do you take a time out when many others are going through the tailspins usually associated with Mercury in Retrograde?

Balance as always is a key, and to keep a reminder close by mentally or physically that all we meet, is but a fragment of ourselves, lost of forgotten but ever close at hand to remind us of who we could be, who we were, who we will be/may be, and who we can be if we choose to move with our flow rather than against it.

"Going with the flow" is always the Mercury Retrograde theme, even if you:

lose your home as many did in California (with the onslaught of forest fires), even if you lose your best friend (a friend of mine received word her friend had been killed by a drunk driver yesterday), even if family sees you as a destructive force by continuing on your own way shining light in areas others would rather not touch (as in my case this month and many others I have witnessed), even if you lose a job (as another friend did after losing one previous to that, through no fault of his own), even if you lost your voice (as some Scorpios did), even if you missed a deadline because you realized you were a week out of whack (as another friend did, losng a major assignment), even if you lose power and all technical devices along with your workload (as I did two days back while on a call to Amsterdam)....

Losing....

Giving something up. A Scorpio theme. By hook or by crook, Scorpio is a theme of letting go. BY force, or by choice. What did you lose, I wonder? What didn't work out as you would have LIKED this past three weeks?

Other highlights I found amusing (and annoying all the same) were:

The electrical piano a friend so kindly sent me from overseas (to reignite my love of playing and beauty in creating music, since my old piano I kissed goodbye in England) arrived under Retrograde and would not work. Talks with the company did no good, customer service was useless. I gave up. And then, on a day when I really had no desire to try and figure it all out, a few mouse clicks and MAGIC - the thing worked.


The electrical outage that cut off the last portion of a reading I was giving to a friend in Amsterdam that took out my building and the rest of my block plunging us all into an abyss (yet creating a magical peaceful vibe with no buzzing, no music just the sound of our hearts beating).

The reverse decision of a magazine to publish my column that was already ready to go and all completed, based on an "editorial" issue.

The Writers Strike here in Los Angeles that could land everyone without their daily dose of TV escapism (unless there are re=runs...how Retrograde, huh?)

The near strike of the trash collectors out here which would have been a very stinky mess.

The talks of strikes in the postal services here and in England, a very common thing under Mercury (mail deliveries) Retrograde.

I am sure there are countless more. The main theme I've seen lately has been a major trawling of our minds (Scorpio) into dark places. Our own psyche and that of those whose lives we share and who share our own. Dark times are interesting places to find light - inner light. And retrograde planets, by their inner retrograde motion, are the pathways that lead us to that which is hidden inside.

As we move back on track with Mercury, don't allow the lessons learned, and the experiences gathered during the past 3 weeks be forgotten as timely reminders that it's our duty as spirits-living-human=lives to know that greater forces are always at work, and that loss really could be an opportunity for something greater, if only we can let our egos stop demanding full compliance. Why do we fear so much a loss of power, when we are immensely powerful beings?

Breathe. Sigh. Relax.
And give yourself another couple of weeks to feel you're finally out of the tunnel, free of the forest, and back on the open roads once more.

Take one last look back now, salute, smile and hey - if you're reading this - you made it! You're still alive, hanging on and that is one amazingly frigging cool thing, especially with the cosmic tides the way they have been lately.

Welcome back! It's great to be sharing this wonderfully wacky journey with you.

Love,
Neil

P>S The picture above is of the 5 of Cups, in the Tarot Deck (Rider-Waite), the symbol of loss, disappointment, but also "water under the bridge" and the remains of something beautiful that has and never will be lost, once we shift our attention.

Following your Financial Flow: Taurus Full Moon

What do you value?

If you're not exactly sure, then look at what you:



* Spend money on
* Spend your time doing
* Get deeply involved in
* Do to earn money
* Surround yourself with
* Do with no compensation because you adore doing it
* Like having, enjoying, being

These things show us, (whether we agree with them or not) what we actually VALUE. And yes, they can be out of whack with what we 'claim' to value in life.

The Taurus Full Moon (Oct 25/26) opens a dialogue between our conscious and unconscious on what it is that we actually do value and if our values are aligned with our soul.

Where are you at materially? Is having little freeing you to pursue more "spiritual" goals? Is being "spiritual" going without financially? Is money "evil" or just another form of energy? Can you be rich spiritually and STILL have a comfy bank balance? What do you owe? Are you being honest or manipulating people out of their possessions?

Taurus is about money, but it goes deeper than that. It's about self-worth. The amont of comfort in your life RIGHT NOW is in direct proportion to how much comfort you feel able to handle. Maybe the things that bother you are in place (by you) to keep you from being too apathetic (if I have to struggle to survive, I can't be lazy..".
it's worth a thought.

Prosperity Consciousness: is happy with what it has, enjoys quality, knows that price tags don't mean a thing but will happily spend fully on what feels good. Knows that the Universe is limitless and that as fruit trees continue to shed apples, money going out will return, because they are using it to create and enjoy beauty and aren't withholding - from themselves OR others. Money is another form of energy - like hugs, or kisses. It's enjoyed, created to be enjoyed, allowed to come in and spent on continuing the cycle. It's not always about money though - it's just a sense of feeling rich no matter what, and money is a reflection of this. They are happy with whatever they have, they are full. They always are.

Poverity COnsciousnes: feels there is a limited supply so must hold on, save, scrimp and be "practical". Luxuries are a waste of money. Things have to be worked hard for. Others have more so in order to gain more, they have to withhold and protect what they have and give out little, in order to save it and make it grow. They worry it's all going to come to an end and they'll become homeless, or foodless so they live with the fear and therefore the need to safeguard and never FULLY enjoy what they have - as it may leave at any time. They feel lighter and cleaner having less, even though they may claim to want more.


Which one are you living in tune with most of the time? Since this forms the basis for most of your interaction with the materialisty (taurus) of this earth plane (and this lunar phase) it's time to get back in tune with what feels good to you.

At this Full Moon some good ideas:

Celebrate your soul's vehicle - your body
Eat well - cook a gourmet meal, bake bread, a cake, make muffins, make it a FEAST!
Save something - bargain hunt, sale shop, go for quality not quantity, but don't pay full price!
Count what you have - add up numbers, balance your checkbook, clear debts
Know what you have, and the decide what you want and need
HUG! Friends, family, strangers, anyone who'll let you! In return you'll be hugged. Give a massage or go get one.
Be sexual - enjoy everything about your body, and give up guilt
Value everything you do - after all it's an extension of you.
Do what makes you feel good
Sing - Taurus connects to the throat chakra and thyroid
Paint - Taurus is the sign of Art
Go Camping, hiking, for a walk in the park, to the beach, rock climbing, have a food or mud fight (Taurus is the sign of Nature)
Light scented candles, brew coffee, cuddle up under a blanket or with a teddy bear, burn incense, wear silk pajamas, listen to amazing music (taurus is the sign of indulging the senses)

With this Full Moon opposing Mercury and the Sun in Scorpio - it's time to stop dwelling on destruction, and to focus on the renewal of nutrients and new fertile soil (like the aftermath of a volcano) in which to plant new seeds of comfort.

As fires continue to rage on here in Los Angeles, a cleansing and a clearing is taking place. In Taurus, though, most of this will be a renewal (Scorpio) of priority and values (Taurus) as much that is material and financial (Taurus) is lost (Scorpio).

Under this Full moon - who would you be, and how would you be if you had all your possessions taken from you? It's worth a thought. Who are you when you strip it all away and who/how do you want to be?

In Beauty and Comfort no matter what,
Neil

Here we go - Stern Saturn affecting our Virgo Healthcare

As predicted previously in this blog, Saturn's passage into Virgo means strict and harder laws in the healthcare systems. The BBC reported today seriously tougher new laws to be imposed in England that include:

* Smokers having to buy permits to smoke and showing them when buying tobacco.

* Companies with more than 500 employees would be required to designate an hour in the working day as the "exercise hour" and to provide facilities to enable workers to take exercise.

* Food manufacturers would be banned from adding salt to processed foods
Handing out free fruit to primary school children each day

* Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, is considering sending parents details of their children's weight measurements at the ages of 5 and 10. This is so that parents can make an assessment as to whether their kids are becoming obese.


SATURN is Authority, the Lawmaker and in Virgo, he's coming in the form of a health-inspector in various areas of your life (if he's in your 10th house of your personal chart he'll inspect how well you're taking care of business, if in your 4th House how well you're situated at home, your 2nd house how well you're balancing your checkbook and so forth.

I'll keep you posted on this one. I gotta get to my 50 crunches. More soon.

Love and heavy panting (from work...Saturn in Virgo is no picnic!)
Neil

Mercury Retrograde and your Computer....

If your computer HASN'T frozen, crashed, wiped something, or decided to stop working, and if you've been lucky to avoid shipping errors in things you ordered online, and if you haven't spent part of this week screaming into your computer at someone or something, then you're one of the lucky ones who somehow is Mercury Retrograde-proof (or so it would seem).

For the rest of us, who aren't quite so lucky, enjoy this video from comedian Eddie Izzard which I stumbled across today, during the period when this is more fitting than ever.

Your Personal Cycles - and why your life is on repeat?

Since it's Mercury Retrograde, you may be wondering where you're actually 'at' in your Personal Cycles. Is Mars (the planet of aggression) in your 7th House of Relationships causing you to want to lunge at anyone in passing distance? Is Mercury actually Retrograding back through your 2nd House of Finance causing you to forget to pay a bill (or wind up landing a second job you'd almost given up on)? With around 12 planetary placements and 12 houses there's a lot of combinations and possibilities.

To help you during Retrograde, I'm offering the awesome Transit Report to help you work out where you're at in the story of your life - including smaller short-term transits and bigger picture ones too. You'll find out what you should, could and will be focusing on. A personal weather map of sorts.

And I'm also adding the Karmic Insight Report if you haven't yet seen yours - which details situations and energies you've been dealing with from other lifetimes. Could your 'repeat mode' situation actually be karmic in nature. Most likely.

Enjoy these two Reports - they're on offer at the site for $40 together. Grab them, read them, absorb them and free yourself from sticky situations that are old, pointless, boring yet somehow addictive.

Check them out here.

Mercury Retrograde will help free you from a past of your own choosing if we use its time period well. May this be one step towards that goal.

Any questions, comments or stories as always drop me a line and let me know how you're getting on at Neil@NewWorldAstrology.com.

Listen in to my Chicago radio appearance

Here's the audio on my Windy City podcast appearance in Chicago - covering a little of Mercury Retrograde, Saturn's sign shift, and taking some of your caller questions.

Enjoy the show!

It's that time again: Mercury Retrograde (in Scorpio)

The Basics on Mercury Retrograde for those who aren't "in the know" astrologically. Don't worry, you soon will be. Welcome to the 'we now know about Mercury Retrograde Camp!


YES:

Communciation goes weird if you push ahead too fast or far
Computers have issues - back-up disks
Travel gets tangled - back-up plans, check tickets
Paperwork has errors
Phonecalls are missed or incorrect
Written work needs checking
Signing things gives u a result that isn't what you expected when Mercury goes Direct again
People don't understand, mishear, don't listen are late or disaagreeable

BUT:

You can go BACK on the past and reevaluate
Visiting old haunts is worthwhile
Reconnecting with people is needed
Resolving old matters works to our advantage and is easier
Clearing up space and our heads help
Revisiting ANYTHING for a second go is a great idea
Going backwards for a bit works out
Taking a time out helps you
Finding things lost is much easier

In Scorpio, Mercury Retrograde asks us to root around in our basements (literal or metaphorical) to see what's no longer of any use, and also what strengths we may have forgotten about. It's a time to put debts to rest by paying them back or forgiving them and writing them off.

We need a mental clean sweep as it were, dusting the Halloween cobwebs out of our heads, mouths and eyes.

How you perceive things is a reflection of your innermost beliefs and thoughts about yourself. We get to work on these now in the next 3 weeks.

Sexual questions, issues arise, along with investment queries - is our money using us or are we stuck in the fear of not having enough? Is the shadow of debt hanging over us? Are we being shady and secretive and manipulating out of insecurity?

Our ONLY power now is in how we choose to perceive things. And in how we react to events. Redefining our relation to our pasts is inevitable during Mercury Retrograde periods.

Mercury is retrograde, appearing to move backward, 2-3 times a year. Mercury retrograde times call for you to recheck everything, anticipate and plan ahead, and to relearn lessons unlearned since the last Mercury retrograde cycle. It is a good time for review and completing ongoing projects. It is NOT a time to start something new. Mercury energies involve the mind, mental processes, communication, travel, speaking, and writing. The Retrograde symbol is "Rx", the same symbol on all medical prescriptions! Physicians until the 15th century had to also be astrologers before they could practice medicine. Plan ahead for these times. So you can do preventive maintenance and schedule, here are the common things that occur, the things Mercury retrograde times are notorious for:

*

Communications go awry - phone calls, letters, emails, faxes, conversations are delayed, misinterpreted, blocked. Recheck everything like appointment times, spelling, wording, the words you say.
*

Anticipate detours - memory lapses, confusion, failing to listen, failing to confirm, negotiation failures, changing of plans.
*

Avoid signing documents, contracts if possible. You can wait 3 weeks, hopefully.
*

Expect travel delays, car trouble, delayed plane schedules, reservations that suddenly becoming "missing", transportation difficulties of all kinds.
*

Expect problems with messages, books, letters, magazines, documents, neighbors and the near environment.
*

BACK up your computer files! This is the time the screen goes blank and there is nothing there!
*

Expect the phone lines, cable lines, power lines to have problems.

Steven Forrest, author of The Inner Sky, describes Mercury retrograde well: “Mercury retrograde…isn’t ‘bad’, - it just takes some planning to cooperate with the energies. It’s meant to be spent assimilating experiences, reviewing the past, and redoing, in general. Matter of fact, if you really want to get the most out of a Mercury retrograde, confine your activities as much as possible to those that have “re” attached to the beginning of the word. Re-schedule appointments, repair vehicles, return to the past, re-write documents and agreements, etc.

So that's the skinny on this period. It lasts 3 weeks. Slow down. Catch up. And let me know here how it's all shaping up for you.

Breathe!

Love,
Neil

Mercury's about to go retrograde.....

.....at 9pm on Oct 11. More on that tomorrow. For now - please don't be like me and buy an MP3 player (or other technology goods) that was incomplete and will have to be returned. You've been warned!

Resolution or Retribution? New Moon in Libra (Oct 10)

Libra New Moons put the emphasis on our people skills. How harmonious are your relationships? Is the peace and quiet really the calm before the storm; would a face-to-face clear the air. Storms create the freshest air afterwards, and the magic we're seeking could be found at the tail end of conflict. It seems that with peace-loving Libra, it always, somehow, somewhere, comes down to conflict. Peace-War. War-Peace. And in today's world, the themes are likely to be clear, obvious and ridiculously predictable.

The New Moon in Libra says Play Fair. Without that the game is lopsided it's over before it's begun. No one wins any karmic points by cheating (and I don't mean in the relationship sense). Politeness and civility are necessary tools to 'getting by' on Earth. We're all animals looking for food if we don't follow one simple Law - treat people as you treat yourself.

Hmm...but hang on, could this be why we have relationship problems still? If we don't respect or even like ourselves how can we like someone else? What we see in others this new moon is a clear indication of ourselves - as partners (business and personal) reflect issues we ourselves are tackling. Remember - it's not"why are they doing this or not doing that", that is the problem, it's 'why have I brought this into my life and why am I fighting this battle?'

Singles: It's a fantastic time to work out what you need to balance out in yourself. Calm, quiet and stable? Throw some crazy energy into your life. Reverse it. Turn it on its head. Extroverts spend more time analyzing your own feelings and asking for opinions and guidance. Introverts, get out and connect with more people, or just be around them. Balance out depression with a daily dose of humor. Balance out time-wasting superficiality with some serious study.

Couples: Time to renew vows, or celebrate your togetherness by seeing how far you have come, and planting new seeds for new directions to grow together. What new bonds can you create? Any projects, plans, ideas you can work on as a team? Stop fighting against each other and work together. Is it time to let others into your world or keep them at bay and salvage some alone-time together.
Relationship questions abound at this New Moon - is so-and-so staying with Mike. Is Sheila breaking up with Matt? How do Tom and Tyler remain so committed after all these years? Weddings, divorces, engagements, mergers, deal-makes-and-breaks are all headline news this weekend and for the couple of weeks following. Celebrity land I am sure will be abuzz as always at this time.

New rules in your current connections are also likely to pop up - what are your relationship terms, your business working partnership contract terms? Who does what, gets what and wants what? It's time to negotiate.

The deeper questions are: are you seeking someone to fulfil something in your life that's "missing". If so, you'll keep on chasing your tail - or bring someone in who seems to fulfill your every need, until you discover they are only playing a role in your life that you cast them in "strong, supportive savior" or "fun and feel-good firecracker". Roles are roles - and unauthentic.

This Libra New Moon:

Reach an agreement
Charm your way ahead with sincere smiles and genuine flattery
Don't underestimate the Power of Appearances
Enjoy a dash of vanity
Bring more beauty in - whatever that means to you
Calm down - peace begins when you let go of conflict (inner and outer)
Agree to disagree
Find common ground, build bridges
Team up with people you resonate with instead of forcing others into boxes of your creation
Weigh up the pros and cons
Mediate - when faced with two options, create or choose a third
Refuse to take sides For or Against.
Fence Sit for a while
Start a new relationship - go on a date, agree to a business deal, handshake, merger, joint effort
Remember it takes two to tango - so dance or sit it out
Find a partner - to go to the gym with, go dancing/shopping/sitting/thinking with
Enjoy company anywhere, anytime
Flirt - everyone loves a Lover
Beautify at least one part of your life - your kitchen, bedroom, your office desk, a wall, your closet, yourself ( can we say 'makeover'?).
Use symmetry, balance, harmony in all your work and in all you do
Refuse to bow to others pressure, anger or aggression
Watch out for unnecessary people-pleasing - if need be, smile and draw a line


This New Moon is aided by the planets Jupiter and Neptune which bring many new relationships and chances to create/enjoy/share/experience beauty in our lives and in the world at large -if you're open to it. And more 'soul' whatever this means to you - that part of yourself that knows there's more to life than the basics.

Notice a hungering for more romance, music, luxury, harmony. That shows you're in the swing of things here on Planet Earth. This is your marker of progress right now too - and a sign to get back on track if you're experiencing the opposite sign of Aries with its aggression and war.

Ahhh. Relax!

Love,
Neil