INTRODUCTION

The time has come for an oracle deck which draws on the ancient and existent principles of astrology. Astrology is the oldest form of divination in the world, and is both a science and an art. As well as the meanings and messages of each card, this guidebook will show reading methods and card combinations to help you harness age-old principles of astrology that will lead you to greater self-awareness and empower you to reach your full potential. Expect the card messages to be profound and far deeper than most card readings go.

The Black Moon Astrology Cards deck is based on the ancient esoteric principle of “as above, so below.” Actions in the heavens are reflected in the happenings on Earth. The ancients believed there were no real degrees of separation between us and the universe, and that as the sky changed so did life on Earth. It’s actually very simple really, but this ancient wisdom is often ignored in our modern world.

Some linguists believe our earliest writings, especially the Egyptian hieroglyphics, might have been inspired by the alignments of the stars. The Egyptians believed there was a direct link between the heavens and the earth. There is little doubt such correspondences are very much encoded in our DNA and that we respond to them. Our lives, our bodies and our souls are touched by a divine hand and our destinies are orchestrated by an invisible influence from the skies. Acknowledging and connecting with this “mystery” force is how all divination works.

Analyst Carl Jung found astrology to be an “apt tool only when used intelligently” and to be based upon the principle of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence. The same could apply to all forms of divination that interpret what is going on within and what is transpiring

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on the outside. There are forces in the world we do not understand, nor can we explain how they work, and yet they do work. Astrology is just one of these forms of divination. Tarot cards are another. Runes and the I Ching are other popular methods.

Western astrology is different from other divination systems. There is tangible wisdom beyond the symbols where the movement of the planets and stars progress like a giant timepiece and trigger their influences over our lives, even when we forget those heavenly bodies are up there. I have taken these ancient as well as modern astrological ideas and created a system that works as an oracle that anyone can use.

WHAT ARE THE BLACK MOON ASTROLOGY CARDS?

These fifty-two divination cards are based upon the most important placements of a horoscope, making the Black Moon Astrology Cards quite an in-depth astrological deck. However, you don’t need to be an astrologer to read these cards. This deck is designed to make the principles of astrology accessible to all, and it can therefore be read just as simply as any oracle deck.

Placing the cards in certain layouts is like creating aspects between them and, much like reading a horoscope, you will be able to make predictions based on the current influences shown by the way the cards appear in a spread. Further on, I have suggested a number of card spreads to add depth and meaning to your work with this deck.

At the end of each card message there are key points that summarize all possible meanings to help you interpret the answer to your question or understand better the issue at hand. For each card you will also find a corresponding tarot card.

The deck can be divided into three parts. Ike first part is dedicated

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to the planets and the lights and consists of twelve cards including the Black Moon Lilith card.

The second part is dedicated to the twelve signs of the Zodiac and the twelve houses of astrology and consists of a total of twenty-four cards.

The third and final part of the deck consists of sixteen cards dedicated to the finer points of astrology and includes the elements, the lunar nodes, eclipses, the Part of Fortune, particular aspects, planetary returns, Mercury Retrograde, and Void of Course Moon.

Some information on each of these areas follows.

THE PLANETS AND THE LIGHTS

♦ CARDS 1 TO 11 ♦

Ancient peoples took planets and lights in the skies to be significant long before there were the astrological signs we know today. The ancients recognized that what was going on in the sky reflected what was happening on Earth. Astrology, stripped down, involves the planets, the luminaries (the sun and moon) and sometimes other celestial bodies which are read just like planets.

We think of astrology as signs, not planets, but when all is said and done, the signs of the zodiac don’t hold as much influence over us as the planets. It is the planets, the sun and the moon that activate changes in a chart and the way they express themselves is through the signs.

The first eleven cards are connected to the planets and the lights.

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THE BLACK MOON LILITH ♦ CARD 12

The Black Moon Lilith is neither a moon, a planet or a star, but an abstract geometric point between the earth and the moon’s apogee. The apogee is the farthest point of the moon’s elliptical orbit around the earth. The ellipse of the moon’s orbit has two focal points. The earth is one, and although there is nothing visibly present at the second point, astronomers have observed a weight or a pull to indicate there is something potent at that spot. Astronomers regard this spot as the Lunar Apogee and astrologers refer to this subtle point as the Black Moon Lilith. For this reason, more than any planet, Black Moon Lilith represents mystery and magnetism.

Black Moon Lilith remains a shadowy point of a mystery much in the same way astrology is an enigma. Lilith forges her own direction and her guidance is of freedom and choice. What has been concealed can now be revealed. Spirit finds form. Black Moon Lilith has qualities similar to the planets Pluto and Neptune, which are psychic transformation, depth, that which lurks beneath the surface and matters that we may not even be aware of but have a powerful, potent and influential energy.

THE SIGNS AND THE HOUSES

♦ CARDS 13 TO 36 ♦

The word “zodiac” comes from the Greek work zodiakos meaning “circle of animals.” Our idea of signs comes from Greco-Roman culture, but originated more anciently in Babylonia and also through Chaldean astronomy.

Astronomers divided the sky into twelve divisions of around thirty

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degrees each. The alignment of the stars within the constellations inside those twelve divisions reminded earlier people of animals and people for which the twelve signs of the Zodiac are named. These are also the areas represented by the astrological houses in a chart.

It was noticed that when the sun moved through the constellation of Cancer, people who were born at that time liked to hide and tended to not want to walk forward but step to the side. Those born when the sun moved through Leo tended to be regal and proud with an expectation of respect. Not only does the sun move through this heavenly “circle of animals,” the other planets do as well.

There are different forms of astrology throughout the world, but Western astrology is the one based on the twelve divisions of the sky with symbolic animals and people that serve as energy archetypes for the constellations. Hie card meanings explain how they relate to those celestial archetypes and astrological houses.

BEYOND THE BASICS

In the previous sections, we have covered the basics of the astrological chart. These are the planets, the signs and the houses. As the practice of astrology has grown, astrologers have noticed that other goings on in the sky come into play and there are other happenings that are also important to an astrological chart. These include the elements, lunar nodes, eclipses, the part of fortune, aspects, Saturn and Jupiter returns, Mercury Retrograde and the Void of Course moon. A brief explanation of these “sky happenings” is offered here and you can find more information with the meaning of each card.

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THE ELEMENTS ♦ CARDS 37 TO 40

The signs are divided up between the four elements of fire, earth, air and water. There are three signs to each element and each sign is characterized by the qualities of the element to which they belong.

THE LUNAR NODES ♦ CARDS 41 TO 42

Nodes are not planets but points in a planet’s orbit that intersect the earth’s path as it circles around the sun. In this way, the nodes of the moon are imaginary but are just as significant in a horoscope as the sign rising over the horizon or the Part of Fortune. In fact, the nodes of the moon are the most sensitive places in the astrological chart. They are significant because they show karmic imbalance and represent our soul’s mission or purpose. The nodes represent our soul’s misson or purpose. While the North Node, also known as “the Dragon’s Head,” embodies karmic gifts, the South Node, or “the Dragon’s Tail,” represents karmic debts. These two places represent dharma, or “the law of being,” and karma, a universal law of “cause and effect.” When depicted on a chart, lunar nodes always appear exactly opposite each other and are the nodes most commonly used in Western astrology.

ECLIPSES ♦ CARDS 43 TO 44

Eclipses act as triggers for dramatic changes in our lives. Although the ancients feared eclipses, modern astrologers see them as marking great change in our lives, especially if one happens on a birthdate or a natal planet. They usually suggest the closing of one door and the opening of another.

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PART OF FORTUNE ♦ CARD 45

Although the Part of Fortune is not a planet, it is a sensitive place in the chart. It is one of the many Arabic Parts and is the most used in Western astrology today. Arabic Parts, also called “Lots,” are points arrived at by adding the degrees of planets together and subtracting the degree of another. They represent aspects of life such as love, marriage, death, mother, father, courage, treachery and so on. The Part of Fortune is considered to be the luckiest one of all.

ASPECTS ♦ CARDS 46 TO 48

There are three Aspect cards: The Grand Trine, the Grand Cross and Yod. A Trine consists of two planets that form an angle of a hundred and twenty degrees. The Grand Trine is when three planets are all a hundred and twenty degrees from one another and form a perfect equilateral triangle in space. This is considered to be an especially easy or flowing aspect in the horoscope. Lucky breaks often occur under a Grand Trine, and matters tend to flow without the obstacles and hurdles that otherwise often seem to be in the way. In the Grand Cross, four planets are separated from each other at exactly ninety degrees, creating an imaginary square shape in space. This brings both intensity and conflict. Drawing this card in a reading would mean what you are asking about is likely going to be difficult to resolve or to present challenges and obstacles for you. Finally, the Yod is a rare aspect in astrology where two planets which are sixty degrees apart make a triangle with a third planet at an aspect of a hundred and fifty degrees - forming what is known as an ‘isoceles’ triangle. The Yod aspect is related to fate. It is named after the 1 Oth letter of the Hebrew alphabet which means “Finger of Yahweh,” and denotes an area of

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a chart that is predestined by God or the divine creative universe, including astrology. This card indicates destiny.

RETURNS ♦ CARDS 49 TO 50

When a planet has completed a full ellipse through the zodiac back to the place they were when someone was born, it is called a return. The moon returns to a sign once a month, the sun once a year. The ones we feel most profoundly come around less frequently and mark a notable transition into a new phase of our lives. Jupiter takes fourteen years and Saturn twenty-nine years, to complete a full orbit. These significant occurrences are represented in the deck by rhe Jupiter Return and the Saturn Return cards.

MERCURY RETROGRADE ♦ CARD 51

All of the planets move in their orbits around the sun in the same direction. However, from our vantage point on Earth, they sometimes appear to be moving in the opposite direction. The seemingly backward motion of a planet in the sky can have significant astrological meaning. The backward or “retrograde” motion of Mercury is depicted on Card 51.

VOID OF COURSE MOON ♦ CARD 52

“Void of Course” describes the transition time when the moon has made its last major aspect to the sun or a planet and is preparing to enter the next sign but has not actually left the present sign yet. This happens approximately every two days. To put it simply, it’s as though the moon goes to sleep for a while and whatever is set into motion

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during that time is likely to have a radically different end result than you might expect. When you draw this card, it indicates that it may be wise to hold-off making any decisions about the topic you have inquired about. In general, its considered best to avoid starting new ventures or exercising judgement on important matters in a Void of Course Moon.

During a card reading, it is important to put all of these components together, and read accordingly.

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SUGGESTED CARD SPREADS

These card spreads have been specifically designed for use with this deck, but we each have our own approach when reading cards and all approaches are valid—there are no rules here! One easy way is to ask a question, then lay the cards out in rows. Look at the cards individually as well as how they relate to each other as a card’s meaning may be clarified by the cards surrounding it. You may also wish to use traditional tarot spreads such as the Celtic Cross Spread or the Past, Present, Future Spread.

HERE, NOW/ LATER SPREAD

This spread looks at the issues occuring in your life now as well as what is likely to happen based upon the current circumstances if you allow matters to go on as they are. Shuffle the deck as you ask a question. Then select a total of fifteen cards, placing them in three rows as shown

in the diagram below.

Read and interpret the card meanings in relation to the positions of the cards and what they represent. To help your interpretation you can select another card to clarify any of the cards you have chosen.

1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15

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FIRST ROW: The current circumstances.

First Position: Where you stand or what your situation is now.

Second Position: Other people and surrounding circumstances.

Third Position: What you are not yet able to see, but is still influencing the situation.

Fourth Position: A path you are considering or where the situation is currently headed.

Fifth Position: The current energies and surrounding circumstances.

SECOND ROW: What is evolving and where the energy is being directed.

Sixth Position: What to do next and how to approach the situation.

Seventh Position: Influences from partnerships, alliances, romantic interests.

Eighth Position: What others are saying about the issue, but not to you.

Ninth Position: Hopes, wishes and a possible outcome depending on what’s happening now.

Tenth Position: What is driving the situation.

THIRD ROW: The conclusion based upon the current conditions or future influences.

Eleventh Position: The state you are progressing toward, the energy coming in.

Twelfth Position: Influences from others that will have impact on the resolution of this matter.

Thirteenth Position: What you have failed to take into account, but also what can be corrected.

Fourteenth Position: What cannot be changed unless drastic measures are taken.

Fifteenth Position: 'lhe outcome of the matter based on what is. Changing your response to the matter can change this outcome.

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ASTROLOGICAL WHEEL SPREAD

The Astrological Wheel Spread is designed to give an overall, big­picture view of the matter in question, or if you don’t have a specific question or area of interest for this reading, then it can be used to give a broader overview of the issues occurring in your life at this time. In this spread, there is one card for each of the twelve houses of the astrological chart. You can use the guide below the spread diagram to interpret each card. For each card in the spread, the guide to reading the cards details what that card’s position represents and also what each astrological house traditionally represents. This will help you to intuitively read your spread. For instance, if the Mercury Retrograde card falls in the Third House position, because the Third House is all about communication, you could interpret this as a sign that it’s not a good time to sign contracts, or to speak your mind as communications might be misconstrued. Or, if your question is about romance, the Sun card falling in the Fifth or Seventh Houses could imply that the relationship in question has great potential, and the lovers are, or soon will be, experiencing a period of happiness, since the Fifth and Seventh Houses are about romance and partnerships respectively.

You will want to remove the twelve cards representing the houses (Cards 25 to 36) and put them to the side. Shuffle the rest of the cards until you feel ready to stop. Cut the cards. Remove the card on top and place in the First House position as shown in the diagram. Place the next card in the Second House position and so on. Read the card meanings and interpret them according to what the house positions represent.

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10

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First House Position: This card relates to the core of the issue: how it is now, the face that you see, the force behind an issue. The First House represents the body, the self, expressions of the spirit.

Second House Position: This card relates to what something is worth; the resources behind something; how things will work practically. The Second House represents ownership, finances and money.

Third House Position: This card represents the thought behind something; how the mind processes it all; how clear the matter is; the logic of a situation; what people are saying. The Third House represents communication, writing, siblings, the neighborhood.

Fourth House Position: This card relates to the origins of the situation at hand; what is intuited, and what is real. The Fourth House represents roots, family, memory, home, the mother.

Fifth House Position: This card is about how you have fun; how you express yourself. The Fifth House represents children, romance, creativity, fun.

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Sixth House Position: This card relates to the mundane aspects of an issue; your day-to-day reality. The Sixth House represents the physical body, health, your job, your daily actions.

Seventh House Position: This card is about how issues work out with a partner, with other people, the courts, the law; how agreeable something will be, or how well things will flow. The Seventh House represents partners, marriage, the law, balance.

Eighth House Position: Based upon current circumstances not changing, this card relates to how matters will end; issues concerning transformation; the influence of ancestors. The Eighth House represents transition, death, taxes, property you jointly own, psychic gifts.

Ninth House Position: This card is about personal expansion; the gaining of wisdom; what will set you free and how. The Ninth House represents the higher mind, travel, philosophy, religion, freedom.

Tenth House Position: This card relates to the culmination and success of something, and how the world will view you. (This is the crowning point of a reading, and so, a particularly significant card.) The Tenth House represents fame, success, the father.

Eleventh House Position: This card is about where you can seek help from others; the master plan; who is aligned with your goals. The Eleventh House represents friends, groups, alliances, ideals.

Twelfth House Position: This card relates to what is going on behind the scenes; what is secret or hidden from view; what is not fully understood at this time; where something will lead. The Twelfth House represents seclusion, prisons, compassion, self-undoing.

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BLACK MOON SPREAD

Illis spread is designed to help you better understand an issue or challenge you are currently facing and reveal some possible solutions and ways forward.

Shuffle the deck as you ask your question or think of the issue you’re seeking clarity on. Then place five cards in the positions as shown in the diagram below. After you have interpreted all the cards, apply their meanings and come up with a final conclusion. If you are looking for further clarification, pull another card in order to sum up the basic theme of your reading.

1       2       3        4        5

First Position: The root of your question or issue. This may contain some of the past influences not completely phased out, some residual energy of this that still lingers.

Second Position: Current, surrounding influences. This shows pretty much what you can already see and what is obvious. In any event, this card sums up the energies of the present.

Third Position: What you are not able to see at the current time (because you have blinders on perhaps). What is being hidden, withheld, or just overlooked. This is the surprise part of the reading.

Fourth Position: What to do now. How you address this issue. How you manifest or overcome it. Where your strengths are. This card should tell you.

Fifth Position: Likely outcome, based upon current circumstances. It is important to keep this in mind so it is possible to change it should this not be the outcome you want.

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PLANETARY SPREAD

This card spread is good for determining the pros and cons of a situation. Shuffle the deck as you ask a question, then place the cards counter-clockwise starting with the Jupiter position, then the Moon, Saturn and Sun positions respectively. Read the cards according to their positions.

Sun

Sol urn

Jupiter Position: What is working. What to take advantage of.

Moon Position: What is hidden from you. What you do not have knowledge of yet.

Saturn Position: What is earned. Work that needs to be put in.

Sun Position: The outcome based on current trends.

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C0URSE-0F-ACT10N SPREAD

The Black Moon Lilith Cross Spread is good to use for pressing questions and for determining a course of action. This spread can be applied to any given situation whether it be romance, finance or other long-term plans. Shuffle the deck as you ask your question until you feel ready to stop. Cut the deck and draw your cards from the top of the second pile. Lay out the cards as shown in the diagram and read according to their positions.

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1                  2

4

First Position: The current situation. Also, what is at the core of your question.

Second Position: What you should not do. Also, what you need to keep your eye on. (It could indicate, for example, that for now, do nothing—but the card will clarify this.)

Third Position: The action you should take in the very near future.

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(This will hint toward the outcome of your question, if everything goes on as it has been.)

Fourth Position: Your outcome position. (This is usually based on the way the energy is flowing now.) You can change your outcome. To do so, pick another card for suggestions on how to change the energies.

BLACK MOON ROMANCE SPREAD

When concerned or curious about love and romance, you may want to use the Black Moon Romance Spread. While shuffling the cards, concentrate on the person or situation. When you are ready, cut the cards and draw from the top of the second pile for the seven positions shown in the diagram. Read the cards according to their positions.

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First Position: The other persons energy dynamic at the present time. Their outward personality and their world.

Second Position: Your energy dynamic. How you express yourself in the external world.

Third Position: How you connect to each other at the present time.

Fourth Position: Your common base. The current foundation of your relationship.

Fifth Position: The basis or history of the relationship, possibly including aspects the other person might not want to reveal at the current time.

Sixth Position: Your history in regards to the relationship. Tilings you’d rather not show, or what you feel might weaken or strengthen the bond.

Seventh Position: Mutual bonds and the viability of the relationship. If the relationship is worth having, and if there is a higher good to it.

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CARD MEANINGS

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SUN ♦ SPIRIT

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. —Martha Graham

The Sun is at the center of our lives just as it is, traditionally, in the astrological chart. This is why the placement of the Sun is the most significant. The Sun is our spirit, our personality. It represents (along with Uranus) the animating flash of life. The Sun signifies who we essentially are. It is also the need to express who we are. In ancient belief the Sun is Amen-Ra, the god among all gods, whose name leads to “amen,” the word at the end of a prayer.

The sun rules over the condition of our bodies. It is the return to light, the ability to transform and rise again. The sun represents our health, vitality and dynamism. The sun is our strength and what we put our focus on. It is no surprise that it was the sun early people venerated then developed into the idea of a life-giving Creator. The sun is also the universal spark, called spirit, that enlivens the body. It is our strength. The sun is the desire to bring on the outside what exists on the inside. It is life made manifest. The sun says, more than any other planet, “I wish to live. I want to thrive.”

When the sun card presents itself in a spread, it adds an encouraging spin to any reading. The sun is all that is good. It is the positivity that trumps anything negative. This card says, “All eyes are on you. You

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have the strength and power to get things done.” All things that are truly meaningful are starting to happen now. You are now in a place to lead and inspire.

It is through the sun’s inspiration and creativity that will enable you to make things materialize. This may be at the front of a group, or on a stage, or just in the way that you lead with confidence. The sun card gives an emphatic yes to your reading.

Another meaning behind this card is that the summer months are relevant. Summer may be when the wished for event occurs. Parties, events which emphasize creativity and fun, children and childlike adults all figure into the situation.

This card also implies an aptitude for acting, or just a period where dramatic ability and creative leadership could greatly benefit your mission.

You may find yourself singled out, perhaps in a dramatic situation, where you show your skills in some impromptu ways, such as giving a speech or teaching a class. It is also a time of generosity and laughter. The spotlight shines on your life. What you are doing now is being noticed. If you’re not used to this, you may react with aloofness. Avoid foolishness, immaturity and any lack of organization during this time or the matter could fall apart at the seams.

But all in all, this is a progressive, energetic card which foretells of prodigious things on the horizon. This card indicates that matters will be going your way, but leadership on your part will be necessary. It is time to act and take your place in the sun.

Sun Card in Brief: Leadership; reigning over the situation; showing majesty; being king or queen; royalty; being noble; being regal; a return to life; getting a second chance; resurrection; passionate love; good feelings; happiness; showing confidence; exhibiting grace; generosity; cats; summer months; tropical areas; parties; bonfires;

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cookouts; the colors orange, red and gold; decadence, sometimes bad taste; the heart, the liver, and the upper spine; heartburn; dealing or working with children; censoring the inner child, except on special occasions; gaining favor; winning prizes or awards; finding your divinity; Buddhism; radiating wisdom and light; castles and grandiose homes; new furniture; being noticed; what is shining bright; allowing yourself to shine; gold metal; jewelry; mirrors; being willful; acting in your own interest; dignity and pride; conceit; being fair; having integrity; supporting the underdog.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Sun

Key Ideas: Life force; power; influence; radiance; the heart chakra; stage presence; charisma.

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MOON ♦ SOUL

All things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted. —Saint Teresa of Avila

“What does your gut say?" the moon asks. This card is all about mystery, feeling and hidden messages. The moon is receptive. It governs intuition and self-protection. Its placement by sign and house indicate those areas to which we are the most emotional or sensitive. The moon represents what is felt instinctively and what is at the core of our emotions.

In the astrological chart, the moon is our soul. It shows the intimate side of who we are. The moon represents security, the home we grew up in, and the need to hide away and recoup our energies.

It is the female principle that is darkly moist and yielding. So the moon can signify our relationship with our mothers, as well as pregnancy. It also signifies our grandmothers and even old age, so geriatric issues can arise when this card turns up.

Crowds belong to the moon, but also shyness, reticence and things that occur in darkness.

The moon shows how we respond emotionally and what we feel most deeply. Some believe the moon represents who we are in secret, and also memories from and who we were in past lives. The moon is our most innermost selves. About this matter, do not be shy. Allow yourself to shine.

Tliis card indicates fluctuations in your life. The moon changes

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signs every two and a half days, so twelve different moon combinations mean great variation. But the moon is the side we keep concealed. In a horoscope chart, when the moon has many aspects, or is the most elevated planet in the chart, it is considered to have a strong influence. Tire lunar influence can be indicative of future fame, governing the masses what is likely to be popular.

At this time, you may have trouble controlling your emotions and you may want to do things that are “safe.” You are ver)’ sensitive and you must gauge any feelings before entering a room or being with people you don’t know. You like working alone, but you are also dependent on how others are responding to you now. The arts and helping professions suit you. You would do well working with persons with mental or emotional problems, or anyone who needs counseling.

It is also a good time to rely upon your imagination and to pay attention to your dreams.

When this card turns up in a reading all is not as it seems because something is being obscured. You may feel you have lost your direction, or that you don’t have all of the information to go forward. There is much you are sensing, but you may be hesitant to act. It may look as if it is difficult to cut through the fog to get to the real truth of any situation.

Substance abuse issues may touch your life, not you necessarily, but certain energies or persons surrounding you.

After growing close to someone, the energy may feel smothering and restrictive. Insecurities may arise and there may be feelings of paranoia. We love our moon though, she makes us feel safe, so someone’s emotional clinginess may be an issue. After all, the moon tells us to hang on, oftentimes after we should have released things from our lives or just given up. But, “No,” rhe moon chimes in, “hang in there, you’ll win sooner or later.”

It’s important now not to accept any false pictures, or misapprehend

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the truth. Like with the Neptune card, with the Moon card, deception is possible. Things are cloudy right now. It is a good time to open your mind to visions, as well as appreciating womens wisdom and intuition, finding your feminine side, and bringing out your visions and talents in a more public way.

As shy and tentative as the moon is, she still represents fame and crowds. When you think of the Moon card, think mystery, birth, tribes, unanswered questions, and sometimes sudden fame.

Someone from your past is about to reenter your life. Any romance that starts now may be strange, yet compelling and even familiar.

An important meeting for you may occur in the evening hours. Pay close attention to the energies that swirl around. Its a good time to rely upon your gut.

Moon Card in Brief: Nighttime; the soul; feelings; high emotions; sorrow; being moody; feeling restless; betrayal; protection; clandestine encounters in the evening; the tribe, the family tree; secret affairs; feeling adrift; wandering; never reaching any resolution; things that should have been dealt with years ago; situations where you feel shy or awkward; food; nourishment; fantasy; creative imagination; psychic visions; feeling distracted; cloudy thinking; finding closure; movement near or over waters; travels to foreign countries; arenas; crowds; conventions; female issues; women’s mysteries; speculation; visions; spirits; ghosts; breasts; the abdomen; dishonesty; being spontaneous, living in the moment; the inner world; the child within; mother; grandparents; finding out who you truly are.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The High Priestess

Key Ideas: Dreams; the soul; the dark night of the soul; memory; the past; wisdom; shelter; deep love.

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MERCURY* MIND

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.

—Oscar Wilde

Mercury, the planet of intelligence and talking, is the closest planet to the sun also

making it the fastest planet to move through the Zodiac. The Mercury card suggests you must put effort behind your talk.

The god Mercury is the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes, the messenger with wings at his heels and on his hat, connected to everything associated with the mind—quick wit, brevity, mental flights, trickery, inspiration—and also movement, as in moving ahead and also transits. Mercury gives poetry to the imagination, since the gods Mercury and Hermes are related to the Egyptian god Thoth, god of writing, patron of scribes, and those who work as divine mediators and interpreters.

The god Mercury and his counterparts also have very much to do with magick and medicine. When it comes to the body, Mercury rules the eyes, brain, nerves, as well as the fingers and toes.

In ancient Greece, Hermes was the god of roads and transportation and was the son of Apollo, the sun god. This makes sense, Mercury being the closest planet to the sun.

Mercury is also a comedian and can be a bit of a trickster. Just when the energy seems to be flowing one way, Mercury changes the direction. Might we add, Mercury is spontaneous and insanely flexible.

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Mercury is the wisdom and the stupidity found in intelligence— when it is not connected to the heart or the feelings. Mercury maximizes the imagination but can also symbolize the liar when it comes to double­talk with mixed meanings. It is the planet of gas-lighting, causing purposeful confusion in the minds of others to gain something not really deserved.

However, Mercury shows how mentally sharp and flexible we are. our mental range and how eloquent. Mercury tends to be chatty, superficial and into playing games—psychological games and other types of puzzles. Mercury governs friendly relationships and also the Freudian slip, where you say something that doesn’t come out as intended but actually reveals your real thoughts.

When the Mercury card presents itself in a reading, it is time to use all of your mental faculties to get your point across. Words, and how you use them, are very significant. It may mark a period where you either have to talk your way out of somedring or talk your way into something. Whatever the reason or occurrence, how you communicate, through writing or speaking, is of utmost importance here. Composition, writing or editing may figure in.

It is not a time to stay static or to sit still. Beware of gossip and other scandals. The important thing to remember is that what you say in this situation can and will be used against you, so choose your words wisely.

The planet »Mercury also rules over technology, so if your question is about career or a job, you can be certain mastering some newer form of technology is about to come into play. Since Mercury is the planet of speed, you can expect to see fast developments.

Regarding romance or relationships it can mean that friendship is the best option for you now. The time has not yet ripened to enter a relationship with the person. You may attract partners (and perhaps friends) who are non-emotional, highly rational and objective. These lovers or friends may be offended by flip remarks or joking over serious matters. You may become involved with someone who double-talks, is

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witty, but who does not emotionally connect.

[his is also the card of brothers and sisters, as well as twins.

Now marks a period which involves observation, reasoning, taking things apart and putting them back together as they were or in your own order. It is a time of flighty emotions and matters developing quickly.

Mercury also signifies travels, maps, and staying in motion, so you may be going on a trip, a more noteworthy vacation than the usual trips you take. The matter in question is best served by using intellect, weighing the matter, being reasonable and also being spontaneous in your responses.

Codes and forms of magick may also figure in. Mercury brings on keen awareness so use your mind and what you know to the fullest in this matter.

Mercury Card in Brief: Writing; words; being good with words and numbers; counting; the number seven; books; magazines; libraries; reading voraciously; the post office; mail; rhe Internet; telecommunications; software; speech; impromptu speaking; incessant talking; communication; debates; the key to knowledge; teachers and education; having deep, penetrating perception; exactitude; sharpening your wit; comedy; using humor; maps and following maps; vehicles; roads; staying in motion; speed; swiftness; siblings; youth and appearing youthful; eyes, fingers, the brain and the voice box; merchants and anything mercantile; being versatile; being adaptable; being expressive and animated; “as above, so below”; playing pranks; being a trickster; lying when the truth serves you better; remaining elusive; talking while not listening; being hard to pin down; remaining deft and outwitting any opponents.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Magician

Key Ideas: Speaking; travel; speed; coordination; adeptness; arguments; glibness; technology.

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VENUS ♦ LOVE

Love is my religion and I could die for that.

—John Keats

The Venus card says to let love take care of it for now.

Venus is the morning star and the brightest of the planets. It is the planet of beauty and balance and is named after the goddess of love and romance, which is what the planet rules. In Scandinavian lands, the equivalent of the Roman goddess Venus was Freyja. Among the Greeks, she was Aphrodite. Venereal disease is named for Venus—after all, she charms and seduces. She was once associated with Lucifer, who was not a demon, but an angel of light who fell to the earth plane from the heavens.

In reality, the part of the astrological chart Venus rules is where we want the good life, where we desire ease and comfort, sweets and kisses, where we want to “see beautiful, be beautiful and smell beautiful.”

Venus co-rules the signs of Libra and Taurus, but the energies function differently in these signs. In Libra, Venus works best in the fields of beauty, social balance and romantic love, while in Taurus, Venus stands for creature comforts and accumulating fineries. In both signs, Venus is very partner-oriented. There is a great need to unite with another when the Venus card presents itself. This can bring on codependency and fears of “going it alone.” Both Libra and Taurus are signs best supported in some form of partnership, but it does not necessarily have to be romantic or a marriage.

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Venus is the lesser Neptune. Love, romance and art are her domains, yet she doesn’t get lost in them and lose her practical side. In fact, Venus is the planet of fashion, luxuries, balance, symmetry, artistic ability, and sugary foods, and she prefers to overlook the ugliness of the world.

Buying objects that are beautiful, unnecessary or excessive may come into play when this card is drawn. So be careful of wasting funds on items just because you want them. You may feel compelled to buy something beyond your budget because you think it’s beautiful while you really don’t need it. On the other hand, you may be attracting these very things on your own.

Venus also rules money, especially money shared in a partnership or marriage, but this can be a business enterprise as well. Money worries should find resolution.

Art, hair salons, restaurants, movies, concerts, dance recitals, craft shows, cosmetics, and fashion may figure in. You may be dealing with artists or people who work in the arts. You may discover a more creative and artistic side to yourself.

Venus is the most humane and fair of the planets, so you may be asked or feel compelled to settle a dispute. Courts, law and judgments may factor in.

But more than this, this card indicates either a new love coming into your life, or the improvement or a new start for an older love relationship. So when the Venus card presents itself in a reading, the first thing to focus on is romance and love, but after that, creativity and refinement.

You can be assured, you are found very attractive at the present time and maybe the subject of some advances. If so, romance becomes playful, even childlike. It is time for full heart blessings. If a relationship begins, it will have more of a sense of contentment and happiness to it, unless the Saturn card comes up in the spread, and if so, the love will

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seem cold or restrictive.

Venus is the planet of charmers. So, you may want to pour on the charm in a situation. There is a tendency to become more socially engaging. At this time, people will generally be sweeter, more helpful and amenable. It is a good period to smooth ruffled feathers or make peace with others. Using diplomacy will serve you momentously at this time.

Venus Card in Brief: Matters of the heart; feelings of comfort; a need to be coddled or comforted; the feeling of not wanting to be rushed; a need to relax, become more balanced and contented; sweets; money; the “checks in the mail”; being paid or rewarded for something handmade or handcrafted; a gift of money or jewelry; luxury items; a new look; new clothing; fashion; feeling suddenly more attractive to others; romantic gestures; sexual propositions; a new chance at love; caving in to romantic pressure; feeling loved; being admired and looked over; friendship; popularity; publishing poems or short stories; love potions; dealing with cosmetics; perfumes; oils; improvements made to the home.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Empress

Key Ideas: Comforts; love; beauty; eating; sensing; relating; expensive purchases.

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o

MARS ♦ FORCE

War does not determine who is right—only who is left.

—Bertrand Russell

The Mars card suggests there is something you may have to fight for.

The red planet, fiery Mars, is named

after the god of war and agriculture, the primary military deity among the Romans. All festivals for Mars in ancient Rome were in March, the month that heralds in the solar time of Aries, the sign that Mars rules.

Named by ancients, “the bright and burning one,” Mars is considered an inner planet. So that means it is capable of being seen by the human eye. Its landscape is reddish-orange and pictures often show an unfathomable, pink sky.

Mars makes us shove hard in a way the other planets don’t. One might call him the “bully” among the planets.

Mars is the ruler of sexuality and aggression. It is a lustful planet that drives us, allows us to face the difficult challenges in life and to follow our passions no matter what stands in the way. If we did not have a Mars, we could not know how to fight.

This card also means to push back in terms of defense. When Mars is strong in a chart or a reading, you may either face aggressive situations, with a need to confront or defend, or an intense, rousing sexual encounter, which may or may not involve romance. Mars indicates overwhelming attractions.

This is a time when you feel not only forced but driven. It is a good

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time to consider goals and desires and not allow them to fall into the shadows. Right now, action is needed. It is not a good time to sit back and wait.

When this card presents itself, you are being challenged to protect your interests or to move ahead quickly on something. The Mars card indicates a type of passion and drive that is linked to the spirit and life force. In ancient British magick, this type of energy was the “cunning fire” that enabled men and women to act like gods and goddesses, to create and defend, to build energy, to seek and claim, to force and pursue, thus, to change fate.

Turning up this card infers that a fire has been lit under the passions, and it is time to achieve what you want in life; at least, you are being shown a clear path. It could be romantic or sexual in nature or it could also involve other types of relationships, but more importantly, goals that should be pursued at the current time and as vigorously as possible. It can also indicate a formidable competitor has just arrived on the scene.

Other issues to do with this card include the law, the military, sport and games, challenges of all kinds, becoming more physically active and involved, but also fiery tempers and actual fires.

The question to ask now is how to take action. How do you create momentum to achieve your goals and dreams? Have you been challenged to protect your own interests? Are you being pushed too hard by something or someone? How do you clear your path to get what you want? Are you willing to battle? Has someone or a situation challenged you to a fight?

Mars Card in Brief: Struggles; challenges; the color red; fast cars; the military; sports events; law enforcement; being forthright; pushing ahead; ambition; being number one; enthusiasm; events that roar toward you taking you unaware; excitement; noises; others having

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battles; other people baiting you; being bullied; confronting bullies in the family and on the job; defending the position you have earned; losing your head; accidents or other problems due to “being in a rush”; overheating; skin rashes; high blood pressure; hemoglobin of the blood; iron; the phallus; drive; animal desires; being ardent, passionate, or lustful; sheer energy; strength; impulsiveness.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Emperor

Key Ideas: Battles; adversaries; competition; sports events; rushing; defense.

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SATURN ♦ TRUTH

As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.

—Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Saturn card says that it may feel bad now but it is going to be resolved.

Saturn is the planet of the reaper, the

Lord of Karma, and this rainbow planet represents what is tangible and solid in our lives. The Greeks called Saturn “Cronus,” and Cronus

was the father of Zeus. Cronus devoured his children to prevent losing his throne as king of the gods.

Saturn in astrology is often referred to as “the god who ate his own children” because the energy of this planet seems to show no mercy. But Saturn is not exactly cruelty; it simply points out what is true and cuts away what is delusional or no longer useful.

When the Saturn card presents itself, know that you are being challenged. It is time to make it or break it. Life may seem harsh and restrictive. You are facing an enemy who may be yourself. Saturn shows us that, at times, it is in our better interest not to have those things we want; and that, if we were to have them, they could lead us to our destruction.

If this is a time of sorrow or hopelessness, realize it’s all about diligence, sticking to what you believe in and adhering to your goals. Ibis is a period in your life that emphasizes toughness and work. It’s all about not giving up and following through.

Saturn also deals with power and control, often meaning law enforcement and the military. You may have encounters with law

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enforcement at this time—do watch for that possibility, although the encounter may not necessarily be a negative one. If it is though, you will need to play by the rules and do what is thought correct or expected. We are talking about conventions here. Any rallying against authority or tradition will not serve you well at this moment.

On the more positive side, you may meet a fatherly type who will help you advance with your goals. Saturn can sometimes herald the appearance of a sage or a teacher. This will be no small thing and can indicate a mentor arriving just when you are in most need of one.

Dealing with the aged may be an issue now or in the near future. Problems with the bones, joints or skeletal structure could crop up. Dental complications are a possibility. Feeling your age, no matter what your biological age is, will seem pressing and even worrying.

Why have I not accomplished more at this age? Have I wasted my time? Did I allow important affairs to slip by me while concentrating on nonessential matters? Many lessons are being learned and problems conquered, currently or in the near future.

The gift of Saturn is keeping you on your path, helping you face parts of your life you may dread but you simply must fulfill. They are your contracts toward more solid achievements and a better life. Circumstances may be harsh for a while but believe your sacrifices to be worth it. It is a good time to be diligent and not rush anything. Whatever you are asking about is likely to take considerable time and not come about too quickly.

Saturn Card in Brief: Restrictions; having tough luck; being put on hold, feeling denied; something flawed that needs to be corrected; the truth; what you need to know; what is solid in your life; working hard, a taskmaster; fathers, grandfathers, or husbands; authority figures; sages; wise persons; learning through hardship and emotional pain; staying focused on your path; teeth, skeletal structure, and bones;

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karma; paying ones dues; the colors brown and black; iron; fame and seeking fame; wishing to move up a notch in life, ambition; taxes and penalties; being responsible and patient; the world and the world view; reputation; slow build to success; old age and longevity; time and measure.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Three of Swords

Key Ideas: Restriction; penalties; shattering experiences; disappointment; growth.

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JUPITER* ABUNDANCE

The lips of the wise are as the doors of a cabinet; no sooner are they opened, but treasures are poured out before thee.

—Akhenaton

Expect doors to swing open.

By far the largest and most magnanimous of all of the heavenly Bodies in our solar system, in the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was referred to as the “king of all gods.” Jupiter corresponds to the Greek Zeus and the Norse god Odin. Because Jupiter is so vast and expansive, this planet is the gate opener for better luck. The earlier Greeks called the planet Jupiter “Phaethon" which meant “the brightest star.” Because of Jupiter’s immensity, it is one of the easiest planets to see with the naked eye. As the ruler of Sagittarius, the centaur, Jupiter has a dual role of being half-human and half-beast.

The planet Jupiter casts off more heat than it takes from the sun and thusly, this giant planet is one of generosity and joyfulness. In astrology, it is the great benefic, the soother of hurts and bruises, and promises a period of good fortune when hard luck is coming to an end. Similar to Saturn, Jupiter can represent the father and what you have inherited from your father.

When the energy of Jupiter enters your reading you can be assured luck is on your side and fortune shines on you. You are being given not only a gift but also a lift, if not divine help. Blocks are being removed

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as you wield influence through your own positivity and good will. This is certainly an astrological lucky break, but you won't be able to kick back and rest on your laurels. Instead, you will be required to attend to what you set into place and keep the positivity and attention flowing. You must continue to nurture the energies to the projects or events you have started; otherwise, they could fall into entropy or decay. When it comes to providence and fortune, there is always a payment due, some toil or sacrifice on your part, so do keep this in mind. You are on your way. Just don’t neglect things or become lax in your endeavors, which are traits ofjupiter as well, meaning the possibility of taking important matters for granted.

Because Jupiter can make you feel happy and complacent, you may have to watch out for weight gain and for other ways you indulge yourself and others. It is important to keep a watchful eye and not skim over the details in any matter.

Since Jupiter is strongly tied to the law and ideas of fairness, you may find your opinions and convictions rather strong at the present time. Jupiter is represented by largesse, so try not to become overbearing as this attitude could sabotage all you have worked for.

If you feel at the moment you are in a dark period of time, and you have drawn the Jupiter card, be assured blessings are on their way. Doors are opening. With generosity and in faith, it is time to walk through them, The Jupiter card gives a positive spin to any reading. Keep this in mind regardless of the surrounding cards.

Jupiter Card in Brief: Expansion; the wide, open range; moving on to better things; greener pastures; fortune; the lifting of obstacles; respite after a time of stress or turmoil; the high road; opulent objects; indulgence; the payoff; drunkards; recreational drug use; being excessive; being generous, showing generosity; humor; being kingly/ queenly; a benevolent ruler; religion; spiritual ideas; spirit quest;

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scriptures, religious texts; the higher mind; wanting to see the meaning behind life; churches; priests; the Catholic church; astrologers; places of learning such as universities; schooling; teachers; the law; being free; having a purpose: openness; showing tolerance; being all-inclusive; honor; having gratitude; having good will; the colors violet, purple, and royal blue; large animals, especially large dogs and horses; farms.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Wheel of Fortune

Key Ideas: Change in luck; fortune; high ideals; sense of purpose; the strength to go on.

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CHIRON ♦ HEALING

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

—Rumi

Healing must take place before you are able to deal with your matter.

Chiron is not a planet but a comet with a unique orbit that travels through the entire Zodiac over approximately fifty-one years.

“Chiron” is the Greek word for “man-horse.” In myth, Chiron the centaur, the wisest of all creatures, was the wounded healer and self­enlightened shaman. He was wounded in the Hank and was almost crippled, but was rehabilitated from his wounds and sickness to pursue the healing arts through the guidance of Apollo, god of light.

For astrologers, Chiron has a special purpose as a bridge between the inner and outer planets, a bridge between the animal and the human—the wisdom that lies in both life forms.

In the chart, Chiron’s place shows transition linking the mundane to the extraordinary. This heavenly body takes us on a journey through our darkness, where we pass through to the next side with strengths we did not realize we had until we pass through that black place.

Chiron has a relationship to the two astrological signs of Virgo (health and physical well-being) and Sagittarius (consciousness and spiritual well-being). Chiron lords over matters of health, illness, and disease, and especially how they relate to our personal journey through life. One must see darkness before there is light. One

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must experience sickness before there is lasting health. Chiron also represents resurrection so has some relationship to the Christ figure as the wounded healer.

This is a card of great transformation; therefore, in many ways, you are rising from the swamps. Chiron’s energy says that once we are able to “heal ourselves” we can also take this “gift” (or wound) and learn how to restore others. We can mend our wounds when we embrace, process, and understand the gift of illness or dysfunction. Chiron is also an expert in alchemy, which gives us the ability to transform the mundane into the marvelous.

Chiron is a blending of the energies of Saturn and Uranus, meaning “just don’t throw out the old.” There is wisdom there, but you should also embrace the bold and the new. In keeping with this, Chiron also governs quantum physics, medicine, and astrology.

When this card turns up in a reading, it can indicate health matters or that issues of a medical nature may be of concern. This matter may have to do with health concerns, most especially any emotional healing that is needed. At this time, you may find yourself visiting or having interactions with health facilities, or any place that has to do with the healing of body, mind or spirit.

Ihis is also a time of teaching and learning, so schools may figure in this matter.

Certain sorrows of the deep past may be surfacing, so be careful of repeating old patterns. These will tend to resurface unless faced directly, and if not faced, the pain will continue. This is an awakening time where you can resolve things.

The symbol for Chiron is a key, and this card says you have the key to open the right doors at your asking. To do this, you will have to work with the wounded or the downtrodden in some way. So if this is true, it is now time to save yourself and others.

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Chiron Card in Brief: A bridge between the tangible and intangible; shamanism; facing yourself; journeys; the higher mind; religious ideas; heeding the call; deep listening; being bold; a journey through darkness; spiritual growth after abandonment; a difficult or painful passage; deep, inner healing; therapy; having to seek medical aid quickly and unexpectedly; medical tests; homeopathic medicine; chiropractors; issues with spine, bones, and also internal organs; the need to heal or be healed; a wounding of trust; accidents; falls; someone getting hurt; feeling the pain of others; healing or teaching others via your own pain; empathy; kindness; duty; responsibility; unnecessary worry; what you do as a routine; tedium; job changes in connection with self-healing, publishing in the areas of alternative health or traditional medicine, home remedies, or learning about healths benefits through the natural world; writing; being out in nature; the colors green and brown; survival.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Hanged Man

Key Ideas: Healing; process; contemplation; medicine; illness; grief; redemption.

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URANUS ♦ GENIUS

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.

—Oscar Wilde

The sudden bolt of a surprise that causes chaos. Uranus, the great awakener, is here to wake you up.

According to myth, out of chaos emerged two expressions of deities: Gaia, Mother Earth and Uranus, Father Sky.

As the higher octave of Mercury, Uranus arrives to break the rules and smash established structures. It is the planet of not only genius, but also intuition which arrives in sudden flashes, just like lightning, seemingly out of nowhere. Uranus is the revolutionary planet, opening up channels to the higher mind and bringing about necessary changes which can no longer be resisted.

The great humanitarian, Uranus is not really personal, and its viewpoint is one that is detached and unemotional. It symbolizes the one who doesn’t really need a partner but is friend and soul mate to everyone. Those under the influence of Uranus are objective just enough to derive reliable insight into other peoples motivations. These types tend to be brainy and cool. Such detachment is needed when everything is about to be turned upside down.

Another very important element of Uranus is its link to technological advances and how the future is going to look and be.

When the Uranus card comes up in a reading, there will be jolts and surprises in regards to your question or focus. After all, Uranus

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is rhe upstart planet so there won’t be any smooth ride here. You can anticipate matters to turn rather eccentric, if not shocking, and not in the way you expected. Don’t look upon these manifestations as wrong for you. Instead, go with it and see how your life becomes transformed in ways not exactly as you predicted, but better.

You may feel excitable or nervous at present, especially when it comes to the things you are currently focusing on. It may seem as if everything is speeded up, even forced against your will, but it is not a good idea to resist. The best approach is to entertain the possibilities of what you are about to learn. You can anticipate this change to be a liberating force, offering a new course or path.

Since Uranus is the planet of technology, you may find yourself having to master a new tool, a machine, a computer, or even jobs involving the Internet. Since Uranus is the planet of air, storms and lightning, anything having to do with flight, messages carried via the air and electrical energies will be a major part of it. Phones, television sets, computers, artificial intelligence and bionics may also figure. Your surroundings may start exhibiting electrical malfunctions. It is important to pay close attention to the wiring in your home or office.

It is also important to point out the connection between Uranus and alternative forms of sexuality and gender identity. In fact, in Victorian England, homosexual and transgender people were referred to as “Uranians.” Therefore, you might find yourself among people with alternative viewpoints, sexuality and sometimes people of a different class or background.

All in all, this card means your life is about to be changed in big ways rather than small ones. The Uranus card says, “Go with it and see what happens.”

Uranus Card in Brief: Rapid changes; shocks; jolts; sudden transformations; the unexpected; revolution; government overthrows;

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rebellion; bucking against authority; turbulence; an upset in the usual patterns; unpredictability; being knocked off balance; relocation; feeling shattered; being erratic; not staying on course; innovation; originality; novelty; the taboo; the sense of being different; going against the status quo; counterculture; the avant-garde; alienation from your peer group; estrangement; autism; genius; intuition; intelligence; ingenuity; innovation; bolts of insight; a leap in consciousness; acts of discovery; computers; the World Wide Web; brotherhood and sisterhood; homosexuality and bisexuality; transgender people; skies; lightning, thunder, and stormy weather; pewter; electric blue; oddballs; nerds; science; physics; electromagnetism; research; technology; robots; science fiction; flight; space travel; planets; outer space; UFOs; aliens; foreigners.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Tower

Key Ideas: Change; revolution; shocks; genius; technology; alternative lifestyles.

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NEPTUNE ♦ SACRIFICE

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.

—Thomas Merron

You are being directed into an area which may feel like it is unknowable. Surrendering to the mystery may work best now.

Although nebulous, hazy and indirect, the energy of Neptune is one of the easiest to see. Where Neptune is placed in a chart is where we are most inspired but also an area where we deceive ourselves. It is the place of mishaps bringing on undercurrents of strangeness. For so many, Neptune is the source of many troubles since this card indicates escapism as well as beauty.

Dreams, film, art, disappointment and reverie all fall under the rulership of Neptune. Refusing to look at what’s real (or simply being unable to), as well as seeing enemies as friends and vice versa, are all traits brought on by this watery planet. This is a time where some may try to manipulate with their “crisis and rescue” cycles, exhausting friends and family with their many problems. There may be a lack of boundaries and confusion where some may orchestrate their victimhood. Be very certain that the victim is not you.

Neptune is a place of beauty and that which is ethereal and not so easily reached. Neptune is inspired visions coupled with nebulous

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thinking. Neptune represents glamour, the word “glamour” coming from the French word grimoire and connected to the word “grammar” meaning to create magick or to cast a spell.

This card indicates poetry, music, art and psychic mediumship, but also nebulous thinking. When it shows in a reading, any words spoken or promises given are either poetry from the gods in higher realms or words which may be lies. But more positively, these may be messages from spirits or the tapping in to your own higher awareness.

With the Neptune card, it will be difficult to get to the bottom of the issue. You may see smoke in mirrors, find yourself engulfed in nefarious mists with blame cast on the wrong person or reason. With this card you want to be absolutely clear and our front with everything. Neptune is the planet of sacrifice so you may be asked to sacrifice something—usually related to ego—for some greater good.

Neptune represents our link to the all and governs the last sign of the Zodiac. Pisces is connected to everything past, present and future.

Neptune shows where we are vulnerable and also where we want to escape to. There are opposites in all higher things. Lovers can become pornstars, reverie becomes drunkenness, and dreams turn into nightmares. Unfortunately, Neptune represents self-destructiveness and self-sabotage.

You may be caught in a situation which is unclear. The reasons behind it may not make sense or are being withheld from you.

Another manifestation of this card is that you may find difficulties getting on the right path or in clarifying a direction. On the other hand, you may be extremely tuned in at the present time, sensing emotions, having visions, and if this is the case, what is below the surface is now being brought out.

Be careful of trickery and playing emotional games. If a beautiful person enters your life, test the relationship—he or she may be too good to be true or the love of your life.

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Ihis planet also represents sleight-of-hand tricks, yet also a supernal type of creativity. You cannot be a poet or a mystic without the rays of Neptune influencing you. It is like falling off the edge of our universe into places we trust but have no concrete idea about. So beware of deception and confusion. But at least there will be poetry or reverie.

Neptune Card in Brief: Imagination: escapism: mysticism; divination: other realms and making contact with higher realms; communication with ghosts and other spirits; links to the universal mind; the ocean of consciousness; sudden flights of inspiration; artistic ability; the artist’s life; self-sacrifice; self-undoing; the creating of illusions; dangerous deceptions; narcotics; alcoholic drinks; toxins and poisons; medicines; the surfacing of allergens; physical ailments you can never get to the root of; the nerves and lymphatic system; needing to flee and become more private; sleeping and dreams; the colors blue and violet; burning of candles; glamour; television; film; set design; bodies of water, and living or traveling near them; the beach; mimicry and copying others; blending in; being too afraid to leave the fold; feeling overcome or intimidated; feeling mercy and compassion; emotional games in relationships.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Seven of Cups

Key Ideas: Mystery; confusion; enchantment; wandering; passivity; secret enemies.

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no fear of

PLUTO ♦

TRANSFORMATION

People living deeply have death.

—Anais Nin

Pluto, the smallest and outermost planet in our solar system, probably carries the most weight. It is the planet of extremes. Birth, sex and death are Pluto’s themes.

In Greek legend, Pluto was the god of the underworld. His earlier name, Hades, came to designate the dwelling place for the dead. The name “Hades” means “the unseen,” and is a good description of the energies of Pluto which tend to transform areas of the astrological chart without us knowing until the explosion or blow out.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and although it is now considered a dwarf planet, transits from Pluto are extremely powerful and bring on significant life changes.

In traditional astrology, Pluto is the higher octave of Mars, but has some similarities to Saturn which is also a force of oppression. Pluto governs renewal and rebirth. It brings to the surface things that have been hidden or are felt deep inside. These are sometimes painful to confront or they are embarrassing or taboo.

This dwarf planet tends to inspire unwelcome surprises. Pluto can be like a tower collapsing in your life, a life from which you must rebuild from debris and also inspiration. Many things you have relied upon for always being there may suddenly disappear or leave. More

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than anything else, Pluto represents endings and beginnings. It is not a card of physical death per se, since in our lifetimes we experience many deaths and new starts. This is simply a time when the decks are being wiped clean for new action. Most of the time, you begin to feel ill at ease with the feeling of “something” not right and things go down strangely with an eerie silence like the Titanic.

If you are in a relationship that has been difficult, it will either end or it will deepen and become more fulfilling. Any romance that starts at this time should prove to be intense. It is very important not to try and control things; instead, surrender to the ups and downs for a while although some of these changes may be painful ones. That said, this is a time of intense sexuality. It may come in various forms: great sex, not enough sex, strange sex, but most likely intense and consuming sex.

In terms of job or career, it may be time to get another.

When the Pluto card presents itself in a reading, you may have recently been infatuated with a hidden subject, certain mysteries, or the taboo. This could be a time when you are able to sense and feel spirits around you. Sometimes this card can indicate psychic attacks and thus, you should be very careful who you open up to. Be cautious if you are involved in anything paranormal or occult in nature. You are not particularly vulnerable—in fact, your strength is growing— but it is important at this point in time to spiritually protect yourself from anything negative, such as vampire types of people or lost spirits looking for a home.

You may become upset concerning something about your past that turns out not to be what you always thought.

On a more mundane level, you may have to be more careful with your finances, taxes, and inheritances especially. You might have the opportunity to suddenly move to a new home, but beware of foundation, water, or sewer problems, and also the possibility that the house might be haunted.

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Ihink of Pluto as left over things that tend to languish in a state of decay or decadence, but more positively, rejuvenation, healing, and birth.

Pluto Card in Brief: Destruction; creation; regeneration; passing away of the old and bringing in the new; people you know passing away; funeral homes; mortuaries; hospitals; sewers; latrines; bathrooms; dumps; graveyards; that which has been buried; decay; hidden or unseen things; ghosts; spirits; dark entities; hauntings; the occult; dark magick; sorcery; tunnels; the underground; vampirism; gothic culture; weather; the genitals, procreative systems, and the lower colon; crossroads; divorce; changes in finances; the culling back of nonessentials in life; a twisted outlook; profound rebellion; the colors black, purple, and maroon.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Six of Swords

Key Ideas: Transformation; endings; beginnings; new ways; the end of the old; intensity.

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BLACK MOON LILITH

♦ MYSTERY

In revenge and in love, woman is more barbaric than man is.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

It is time to be careful—think of what might manifest over anger, bitterness or

revenge. What you have worked so hard for may collapse.

Astrologicaily, Black Moon Lilith represents soul expansion and cosmological awareness, the force in aloneness and the path of the individual. Black Moon Lilith is a dark goddess. She is a ghost to the moon. As a shift in power and consciousness, she symbolizes destruction before creation. The name “Lilith” means “screech owl” or “night hag.”

Lilith is the ancient goddess of mystery and transformation. Stories of Lilith appeared around five thousand years ago in the area of Sumeria, where she was said to have been handmaiden to Inanna, the Queen of Heaven. However, most of us recognize Lilith from the Hebrew myth as the first wife of Adam. Lilith also appears in folklore in medieval Judaism as the rebellious first wife who refused to submit to Adam and enraged, fled to the Red Sea, an area of mystery and danger. There, Lilith procreated with other spirits, giving birth to demons. Later, Lilith became a succubus, appearing to men at night, sapping their strength, and causing wet dreams and impotency.

Throughout the ages Lilith was demonized—she was the first spiritual upstart—but in recent years her status has changed. Lilith is

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a feminine force of command and strength. She represents the powers we hold in secret.

When this card turns up during a reading, something lurks. Lilith appears as the dark part of the astrological chart. She is our shadow side, the dark face of the moon where mysteries and unexplained occurrences lie in wait.

This card indicates a call to wildness, even subversion. Lilith is the evocation of what may or may not be there. She can manifest as madness or self-realization. Lilith represents a refusal to submit. So it is not a good time to give in, even when the path seems a rough one.

There may be a tendency to isolate and focus on feelings of revenge. The hallmark of Black Moon Lilith energy is muteness and aloneness.

Lilith is a subdued power and complicated magnetism. Lilith remains awake while the rest of the world is asleep. She is the dark thoughts that enter our consciousness just before we fall asleep.

Black Moon Lilith suggests female rebellion. She can represent an angry mother, an enemy or an embittered woman, or even a stalker or a scorned woman.

You have a feeling you are waiting for something to happen, but you don’t have the entire information so the facts are hidden or mysterious. Something stalks. You feel it. But Lilith is sharp; she knows, she senses, she processes what is there. Because Lilith feels slighted she can represent a formidable foe or dangerous enemy.

Through Lilith, we discover creativity and the beaut}’ that can exist in the darkness, as long as we keep our own demons in check and under our rule.

Black Moon Lilith Card in Brief: Arousal; the magical elixir of sex; tantric sex; glamour; seduction; the other woman or man; an affair; bitchiness; the feminine force; an invisible force; complicated circumstances; stalking; the colors red and purple; shame; envy; guilt;

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rejection; feelings of being replaced; feelings of being slighted or overlooked; owls and bats; haunted trees; the cold of night; demands of power; control; outsmarting the opposition; winning; what survives; what stays alive; creativity; the safety of the womb; unplanned births; controversial art or creative expression; pausing to rest before the next action; the balancing of karma.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Queen of Swords

Key Ideas: Mystery; revolt; revenge; darkness; erotic obsessions; the witch’s wand of power.

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ARIES ♦ I AM

March 2X-April 19

I guess I’m just a natural warrior. —Camille Paglia

The Aries card says that it’s OK to push now. Just don’t push too hard.

Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac

and the energy of this card is that of a dynamic trailblazer. Aries is the fire of creation. This means Arians can be highly creative. Since they are impatient, they are also blunt and to the point. They make no effort to pretend to be something other than what they are—which in their eyes is number one. Everyone needs to understand this. Arians

tend to be genuine people who are not into playing games. They like matters to move fast. Since Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac it is represented by the primal human, one who must protect and defend.

Aries people are highly ambitious and want to accomplish things quickly and in a no-nonsense way. Competition is what Aries is all about. Many feel the need to compete when the other parry doesn’t

even care to.

Traditionally, Aries is a warrior sign which means being always on the defensive, ready for action. The Aries style of relating is that of a catalyst using force, not of a peacemaker. They’re interested in sports and a number of Arians have a fascination with weapons.

When this card turns up, expect things to move fast for there is no time to take it step by step. It will all be a mad jump. It may be a time of testing your will.

You will work best in situations where you make your own

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decisions rather than acting as an underling. You may even find a supporting cast to help you finish your work.

Be responsible and disciplined in all of your actions. You will want to get things started and forge ahead. Do not buckle under the dramas or trivialities of others.

This card marks a period where you are forceful and headstrong. You can now forge a direction or path as you have the vision and energy to do so at this time.

In love affairs, you will want to take the lead. You may attract spontaneous and enthusiastic lovers. Be ready to reach new plateaus; there may be the opportunity for more than one lover.

Be advised to think beyond acting with aggression, especially in emotional dramas. In relationships, you or your partner will expect total freedom. However, avoid being quick-tempered because when this card turns up there is a need for caution. Be steady and measured rather than hot-blooded or impulsive. This marks a time where you need to be sensitive to the concerns of others since you will want to move fast and strong without thinking things through.

You may find yourself running into walls. You will not want to compromise right now, but you should do just that. Sometimes it's best to allow bygones to be bygones and let it go. Any fighting or conflicts will not serve you at this time. In fact, it may poison the waters and make matters worse.

Care must be taken to not be too foolish or rash. However, it’s time to work for a cause and get things started. Just make sure you finish all you start.

Aries Card in Brief: Acting without thinking; assuming the role of leader; demanding to be the most important one; not wanting to be wrong; being rash; being in a rush; being provoked or tested; facing challenges that stir you into action; bumping your head; having

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headaches; sports; athletics; team players; being number one in the game; seeing everything as a competition; wanting to prove you’re the best; coming out on top; winning; taking chances with good results; being arrogant; losing your temper; combat; weapons; fights; troublesome people; dealing with insults from insensitive people; purchasing fast, big, or loud items; the colors red, orange, and bright blue; thunder and lightning; sudden storms; trips into the mountains; exploring uncharted territories; the vastness of nature; a love of large or strong animals.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ace of Wands

Key Ideas: Competition; zest; lust; speed; feeling stirred; being a leader; weapons; sports.

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TAURUS♦ I HAVE

April 20-May 21

There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.

—Leonardo da Vinci

You are about to grow something from which there will be beauty and abundance.

Taurus natives are ruled by Venus, the planet of loveliness and indulgence. They tend to be down-to-earth, but have a special eye for attractiveness and always have a need for luxury. Practical matters rule first with Taurus—taking care of the home and all the comforts before they move on toward what they truly love, which is pondering the meaning of their fates. As spiritual masters and teachers they never completely stray away from what is real and solid ground; yet, in their own way, they can be dreamy.

Sign of the gentle gardener, Taurus people take their time with feet firmly planted on the ground. They must be certain about everything before choosing what comes next. The world ofTaurus is the world of the senses—foods, fabric, color, skin—and very sumptuous they are. They are fond of lovely things, and place great value on money.

Most Taureans only believe what they can see or touch. Yet many gurus are born under the sign of the bull, so that means they’re spiritual too but tend to be dismissive over subjects they don’t know much about. They have a conservative nature so often must be "convinced.”

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They consider themselves realists.

That said, Taurus is the sign that rules the fairy worlds, so contact with fairies or elementals is possible when this card turns up in a reading. You may have fairy dreams, or even build a fairy home or garden. Sensing fairy presences is also possible.

When this card comes up in a reading money issues will have bearing on the matter, whether obvious or not so obvious. Bank accounts, counting change, accumulating funds, any matter to do with finances will come into play. It is a fortunate time to ask for a loan, a raise in pay, or to buy into stocks. It is also a good time to become involved in accounting or matters dealing with numbers and currency.

The sign of Taurus symbolizes the sensuous nature, sex, food and comforts, so a passionate lover may be on the horizon and long and fervent lovemaking sessions may be in store. You may connect with a paramour who wishes to take care of you or vice versa. The desire for comfort and relaxation will be a part of this relationship.

This card indicates talents in the arts, especially singing and music. Taurus shares rulership with Leo over the stage, so matters involving plays, musicals, theater, concerts, and those that are traditional, such as ballet or classical music, may have meaning now.

The Taurus card corresponds to The Hierophant card in the tarot, so this indicates tradition and not so much being brash, controversial or eccentric. Taurus, of course, is bullish so you may encounter a few stubborn or obstinate individuals. Anything offbeat won’t serve you at this time. Whatever you do now will take on a practical or conservative tone.

The Taurus card turning up in a spread is always a positive sign as it is highly stable and supportive. In a chart, Taurus stabilizes matters.

In general, Taurus is steady and reliable and hardly ever gets upset. One cannot rile a sensuous bull too easily, but if one does, the explosive results may be unforgettable.

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More than anything else, the Taurus card suggests dealing with finances, capital, investments, what is bought and what is owned. This card also stands for your possessions. It's a good time to build on what you have. It is also an excellent time to invest in real estate or properties.

Taurus Card in Brief: What you own and what you are working to own; banks and bank accounts; investments; money in hand and cash flow; credit; loans; accounting; stocks; real estate; sentimentality; elegance; ballet; singers and singing; paintings and art galleries; being stubborn; sticking with things; never backing down; appreciating what is material or practical; love of possessions; being skeptical; bullishness; sarcasm; not seeing the value in the nonmaterial; wanting to “parent” others; having to wait and be patient; procrastination; independence; doing things on your own; being honorable and responsible; being reliable; being tough-minded yet compassionate; being placid; the colors brown, green, and orange; fairies; elemental spirits; farms and farmers; being greedy; luxuries; comfort foods; seeking pleasure.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Hierophant

Key Ideas: Comfort; nurturing; steadfastness; materialism; money; what is owned.

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GEMINI ♦ I THINK

May 22-June 20

No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.

—Bob Dylan

Communication is key. Be versatile and quick at this time. You must also be

mindful because people are talking.

Gemini is a charming sign, full of whimsy and fun, and is ruled by the planet Mercury, named after the Roman god of wit and winged thought.

Geminis are chatty and their minds act like quicksilver. Geminis prefer to do things fast—not because they’re boisterous but because they become bored with anything tedious and not immediately fun. Words are everything to a Gemini. They adore books but hardly ever read them entirely.

What is most important to a Gemini is an exchange of ideas and communication. However, the}' like to discuss ideas but tend to be poor listeners; Geminis are fascinated by their own thoughts rather than the ideas of others. As Geminis are curious about everything, they tend to be experts on a number of different topics. They also love stories and gossip. Those intelligent minds should always be fed, whether with gossipy tales or the most erudite or philosophical pursuits—they like both. They usually have a small computer on their person to access social media and play games.

This twin sign is one of the smartest in the entire Zodiac. However,

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Geminis tend to be insecure in their views so change their opinions often. Geminis are not very patient, thus may not enjoy school that much, yet they thrive when studying something they are truly interested and invested in.

Geminis have a fickle and dual nature; they change their minds on a whim. What is true for them today may not be tomorrow. They get distracted easily and are highly nervous—a more appropriate word is “flighty”—so attention disorders can crop up.

A dual sign, many Geminis are left-handed or ambidextrous. Geminis are extremely deft at making things with their hands.

Gemini is the sign of the brain (they are always inventing) and also the eyes and the nervous system. Geminis have clear bright eyes that dart around and they have broad foreheads. They are forever youthful; and as they are all air, Geminis are light on their feet.

They do have passion, but sometimes they can’t find it. Even so, this is a most charming sign, and Geminis have many friends and easily attract romantic partners who share their sense of fun.

When this card comes up, you may be the object of discussion or you may have to talk your way out of a sticky situation.

Since communication is key with Gemini, you may find yourself involved with new forms of technology that help spread your ideas to a wider audience. Such technology would include cameras, computers, tablets, and the next invention to come along. Writing may also figure in, such as creating a blog, writing books, or just being involved with books and publishing. You may find yourself either to be a skilled diplomat or asked to teach or give a speech.

At the current time you may find yourself to be highly strung, nervous or excitable—as is the nature of Gemini—but still able to figure it all out with a probing mind. It may feel as if you are riding a high wind with a lofty energy. Multitasking may be required of you.

Gemini is also the sign of soul mates (corresponding to The Lovers

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card in the tarot), so this card can indicate an important romantic relationship has started or will figure in shortly.

But the bottom line with the Gemini card is this: words are important now so use them wisely. Words will be imperative regarding the outcome of this reading.

Gemini Card in Brief: The mind and the brain; being of two minds; fluency; deftness; being clever while a little superficial; double-talk; talking too much; giving out too much information; publishing; left­handedness; the hands, fingers, and spinal cord; siblings; immediate neighborhood; youth; twins; puzzles; games; learning and quick learning; school and involvement in education; mastering a new technology; computers; nervous conditions; being too highly strung to take any real lead, abandoning projects just before finished, leaving many things undone, restlessness and indecision; retail business and selling things; flea markets; used items; flirtation; friends as lovers, and lovers as friends.

Corresponding Tarot Card: lhe Lovers

Key Ideas: Paying attention; mindfulness; talking; writing; explanation; versatility.

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CANCER ♦ 1 FEEL

June 21-July 22

Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple.

—Chanakya

Rely upon the wisdom of what you feel right now.

Individuals born under the sign of Cancer are mysterious and alluring, just like their ruler the moon—a solitary orb that floats alone in rhe night sky, yet is still very much in sight.

Cancers have a depth of feeling not easily seen, as if in the deepest parts of the ocean, fathoms below the surface, but where there is great power.

Cancers are reclusive, and they tend to hide their feelings and have alternating moods. They are emotionally vulnerable and are easily wounded. They can be downright touchy, and when feelings are bruised, Cancers can come across as crabby and harsh. They feel for others deeply and are exceptionally sympathetic, but as they are highly empathic the emotions of others can exhaust them.

Cancers are resilient, endure much, and can overcome just about anything—which seems peculiar because they are so sensitive.

Cancer is the sign of the mother, and those ruled by Cancer tend to be overprotective of their offspring which means they also like to control and take over. After all, the child is an extension of the mother who also needs to be protected, so she must remain strong to take care of her young.

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Cancer is the sign of the imagination. They have a rich fantasy life, so they do well in the areas of creative writing, art and also music. And with their gut-reactions, Cancers can also be very accurate psychics.

When the Cancer card presents itself in a reading, you can be assured emotions are high. You may want to withdraw, or you may be dealing with someone who is withdrawn or depressed at this time. There is a feeling of being connected to the unseen world, and this includes the world of ghosts and spirits. This card can indicate inherited psychic abilities and even witch blood. There is a typhoon of power behind Cancers strong feelings.

But it can also mean you are in sync with other people’s emotions. You’ll instinctively know what to do at the right time.

There is sensitivity and emotional closeness indicated. If your question is about love, it may be a secret, or involve bonded souls as with a mother and child.

This card can also mean that family or domestic issues need to be addressed. A mother, or a maternal figure, is also indicated by this card. Women may figure prominently—women’s issues and how women get along. The sign of Cancer is known for good memory and for the ability to hold on the longest, either positively or negatively, so although it will be hard to overlook any slights, at this time, forgiveness is the best response.

Right now your moods may be changeable, just like the moon’s phases throughout the month, and you may want to hide and withdraw from hurt and pain. Perhaps this pain is real or imagined, but in this solitude you will build a greater strength to face whatever it is that holds you back.

Cancer Card in Brief: Women; kind women; female mysteries; the breasts; mother; pregnancy; early life; the soul; what happens at night; the night sky; witches and their powers; creative imagination; being

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drawn in by illusion and fantasy; what is hidden; being withdrawn; introversion; seclusion; wanting to hide away; loneliness; secret love affairs; clandestine encounters; culinary arts; nourishment; importance of food and diet; the digestive system; stomach issues; immediate family; the family tree; the tribe you belong to; the past, history and all it evokes; buying or selling antiques; taking an old-fashioned view; guilt; remorse; looking back instead of forward; issues with trust; moods; being overly sensitive; drowning in emotions; looking to save or be saved; ruminating over problems while not moving forward; doing the right thing; having compassion; sympathy and support.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Moon

Key Ideas: Inner awareness; memory; the past; hiding; seclusion; mothers; the womb.

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LEO ♦ 1 WILL

July 23-August 22

It is better to be looked over than overlooked.

—Mae West

This is the card of honor and strength.

Proud and strong, those born under the

sign of Leo are all about integrity. They are ruled by the sun which is a light and a force we cannot live without. We would be left in darkness. Like the sun, Leos are warm and vital personalities. They intend to make their mark on rhe world, have a secret wish to be admired, and they want their time on Earth to mean something. Not willing to be another link in the chain, Leos want to stand apart from the rest. Some may be known for their dramatic beauty while others are clowns or at least the life of the party.

The sign of Leo reigns over children, creativity, and the stage or public arena. Leos make great actors, television workers, book publishers, artists, salespersons, and posers. What they do must count and be unique. To overlook a Leo brings about great resentment in him or her; but generally, Leos are too proud to ever say so.

When the Leo card comes up in a reading, expect to be at the center of something and be recognized. It may be to do with awards, a television appearance, at a conference or a public forum, or any place where people gather. Your talents are about to be singled out for special recognition. Creativity should be a part of this endeavor. Children or youth, or the young at heart, may figure in too.

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This is a time for standing out and making sure you are counted. You are going to be appreciated for your unique qualities—it is about to happen. Your life is soon to be filled with creative fun, optimism and youthful adventure.

Since Leo rules the Fifth House, this card can indicate romance entering your life. It will be generous, open and playful. It may be a connection where you will work together on an idea, or possibly ventures with a vision that will create new things for the public to enjoy.

The way you appear to others is important now, and this card indicates growth in both reputation and career. You may opt for a new look. If you are looking to change careers, something original or to do with the public will be likely. If a job emphasizes team players, you will soon be one of the leaders.

Whatever is happening, you’re at the center of it and it will be an adventure. This might mean being a bit of a gypsy, traveling, going with the flow, and trusting in your ability to make it all work out—and it will.

The pleasure principle and a temptation to spend a lot of money may also factor in. You could take a gamble and win, but show caution.

You may experience strange and exotic circumstances where you will have to play queen or king. Your routine could come to involve changing hats and doing many different things. Odd or eccentric individuals may come your way, and if so you may want to give them a chance as they could help advance your cause.

This is a time of being spontaneous and living in the moment, and a grand approach is necessary. It is time to part the clouds and let the sun shine through. Be playful, be bold, and end up a winner because luck and light are on your side.

Leo Card in Brief: The spirit; personality; the heart; romance, the start

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of a romance; fun and crazy romances; romantic desires; flings; passion; the heart of the matter; grandiosity; that which is beautiful and makes a statement; creative invention—a work of art or being individual; cats; children, lots of noisy children; the classroom; excitement; play and where you go to play; bars; nightclubs; music; concerts; theater; circuses; parties; campfires; being with people while asserting your own unique personality; wanting to be the center of attention; the stage and screen; public persona; publicity; talent agents; being in the news; the ego; showing dignity; being honorable; problems with the upper spine and neck; heart palpitations; circulation issues; being there for others; breaking the ice; pride without arrogance.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Strength.

Key Ideas: The individual; creativity; play; children; the stage; standing out; the heart.

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VIRGO ♦ 1 ANALYZE

August 23-September 22

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.

—Benjamin Franklin

Worry and organization are the key traits of the sign Virgo and of this card.

Virgo is picky and exacting. They can be insanely organized. They are very helpful to others. They tend to be critical, but usually this criticism is applied to themselves. They are conscientious and highly intelligent. Virgo natives prefer to step back and analyze before moving ahead.

Virgos are true worrywarts. Much of their worry focuses on health, possible disasters, and any sudden change which they dread. They would much prefer a return to simpler times.

The sign of Virgo governs the Sixth House of health, natural remedies, and analysis. Diet and nutrition are also dominant themes for this Mercury-ruled sign.

Virgo natives make the best doctors, nurses, health workers, teachers, and librarians. They are excellent writers, but not so much public speakers. They abhor bringing attention upon themselves as they feel this might attract criticism.

They have brains that buzz like bees and this can be exhausting. Virgos are highly strung; they overthink, then plan against what might go wrong, and hate it when things do go wrong.

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Virgos shy away from chaos and detest disarray. It isn’t unusual for Virgo natives to keep books and musical collections in alphabetical order. The everyday chaos of life causes them to fret, leaving them restless and nervous. They tend to suppress what they are feeling which can bring on stress-related illnesses.

Those born under this sign love cleanliness and have diligent hygiene habits: they fear disease and germs.

If this card presents itself during a reading, look to concerns about health, lifestyle, and your job. If you are expecting things to go normally, or as planned, that will not likely be the case. Watch out for critical people who seem to pick at all you do, or perhaps you are now the picky person.

Your mind may be beleaguered by worries, some of them health related. Other worries may be that things have gotten out of control. This card sometimes indicates “hospital doors,” meaning medical tests and visits to the doctor. Alternative health approaches and a better diet may appeal to you now.

Dealing with health issues, the workings of your own body, as well as those of your family or friends may factor in, but you could be beleaguered by worries that border on hypochondria. You may feel you have every disease you read or learn about. You may begin to have symptoms with little explanation as to why they occur. You may go for medical tests, but this card does not necessarily indicate a serious illness.

This card also signifies a good time to get rid of your clutter. Living a cleaner life, focusing on details and doing what needs to be done are now your focus. Other concerns would be your daily routine, nine- to-five responsibilities, and mundane goings-on that may need your attention. Getting organized will enable you to get where you’re going.

This card also suggests you need to be more reliable in your approach. Problems won’t go away; you must work and they must be

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addressed.

Virgo is a gentle sign, typically mild in nature, with a fondness for small animals as well as feelings toward the plant world. Being at one with nature, noticing the important details, being fully present in your work, drawing upon the wisdom of the critical mind as well as attention to health and diet are all subjects associated with this card.

Virgo Card in Brief: Analysis; summing up a situation; evaluation; becoming organized; ridding yourself of clutter; correcting matters; being conscientious; medical visits; hospitals; nursing homes; health concerns; the workings of the body; the gastrointestinal tract; the nervous system; diet; jobs and career; the nine-to-five world; getting ready to work; working for others; serving others; being selfless; cleaning up other people’s mess; changes in job or workplace; opening a business; numbers and figures; shyness; feeling left out; not speaking up when you should; writing; books, bookstores, and libraries; growing a garden; obtaining a new pet; anxiety and worry; constant fear of not being perfect, or of underperforming.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Hermit

Key Ideas: Daily routine; the body; healing; worry; details; usefulness; hospital doors.

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LIBRA ♦ I BALANCE

September 23-October 22

All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.

—Andre Breton

Don’t go it alone. Linking up with a partner will serve you best.

Libra is the sign of balance, charm, and beauty. Librans are notorious for their wit, ability to weigh and judge as well as their appreciation for the beautiful things in life. They adore collecting striking things—that means objects and people. Librans are aesthetes with a love of art and literature that can at times be showy and vainglorious.

Librans are known for changing their minds and opinions. What is true one day may not be the next. Because they are so balanced they see all sides to every issue, but they tend to vacillate and have trouble coming to any final decision. Librans tend to have second thoughts and change their minds at the last minute. They will also float along waiting for matters to resolve on their own without pushing as hard as they need to.

Librans make outstanding judges and negotiators. They can be agreeable, but sometimes agree to things they don’t want, sacrificing what they truly feel and think just to get along.

There is also the sarcastic Libra who loves to test his wit against others. Their quick-witted retorts are filled with sarcasm and sharp accuracy. John Lennon and Oscar Wilde are examples of the acerbic wit that Librans are so famous for.

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They also love playing devil’s advocate, peculiar since this is the sign of balance and peace.

Since Libra rules the Seventh House of partners and marriage, those influenced by this sign do best in life with a partner. But it can be the sign of codependency, and many will pair up at the drop of a hat.

Libra is the sign of lovers and romance. Although Libra is a masculine sign, Libran men understand women better than any other sign.

When the Libra card turns up it indicates you are riding the fence over something and need to make a decision soon. If you do not make your decision, it may be made for you. The potential for you not liking the ending is high if you do not act and decide soon.

This is a favorable card for romance and relationships. It indicates a time where relationships are turning happier and more content.

Right now, everything must be fair and balanced. It's important not to sacrifice your own feelings or desires simply because you hope to avoid a conflict. It will feel as if the middle approach is the smartest one now, and this is probably right.

Courtrooms, law, and fairness should play into the matter. If you are involved in a court case and the surrounding cards are good, and the Libra card appears in the spread, it is a good indicator the issue will work out just the way you hope. The enforcement of rules may also apply. Legal documents will not only figure in, they will bring you benefits, especially benefits shared between you and a partner.

This card can represent an impending marriage or an engagement. Relationships are about to move up a level to a more serious one. Feelings have matured. Happiness is achieved when you pool your resources with a significant other. Achievement will be found when you find the right person who mirrors your own ideals and beliefs. All matters worked on within sincere and equal partnerships shall prove to be successful to the utmost.

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Libra Card in Brief: Partnerships; a wedding coming up; marital bliss; heart blessings; balance; seeing the danger in going to the extremes; weighing up both sides to come to the best conclusion; seesawing back and forth; staying in the middle; fence-riding: mediation; artworks, galleries, museums, and places with live music; not wanting conflicts; being agreeable; playing along; keeping yourself in check; law enforcement; courts, attorneys, and judges; bringing peace and acting as peacemaker; signing contracts; cosmetics and perfumes; fashion; hair salons; beauty; not seeing value in something unless it is beautiful; having a perfect eye and impeccable taste; creating something with great form and beauty; living the life of an artist; using wit; choosing a more laidback approach; letting things take care of themselves.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Two of Pentacles

Key Ideas: Merging; choices; romance; alliances; mutual support; coming to a decision.

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SCORPIO ♦

1 TRANSFORM

October 23-November 21

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.

—Anne Sexton

Acknowledging desire and surrendering yourself to the depths will serve you best at this time.

Scorpio is one of the most fascinating signs in the Zodiac. It is ruled by Pluto, planet of gutters and extremes, and is the sign of sex, money, and passion. It is a powerful sign.

Scorpios have a bad reputation for ruthless behavior which is not deserved. Like the other water signs, Scorpio is emotional but not in the sympathetic way of Cancer or Pisces.

When Scorpios enter a room they don’t have to say a word for the crowd to know; they can feel their energy. Their depth and their ability to understand others, all the while not revealing much about themselves, is profound. Scorpios inspire you to tell them your darkest secrets while revealing none of their own.

When Scorpios feel deeply they fear the loss of control and they will sting when threatened or cornered. Almost always, Scorpios will deliver the last hit. Scorpio does not roll over and play dead. They never forget a slight.

People of this sign will make their mark, even when they have to do it all alone.

If the Scorpio card comes up then you are being tested. You may

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feel isolated and on your own, without much sympathy or help from others. If so, it’s time to stand on your own and fight those forces gathered against you. You will likely win and come out much stronger and happier than before, but its still an intense time.

There are a number of positive changes with this card. You will soon gain what you have worked so hard for. 'Illis card implies karmic issues, even the resurfacing of past-life recollections, so many of your relationships now will be of a karmic nature, and thus, be tried as well. Your life may seem like a trial.

Matters involving inheritances and money may figure in, such as heirlooms, legacies, and what comes through family or people you are tied to from your deep past. You may have to deal with someone who may plot revenge over something you may not be guilty of. It could also be a time where enemies surface, so you would be wise to protect your reputation.

Strong sexual attractions may arise, whether wished for or not. Obsessions are possible. It is wise not to get wrapped up in intrigues with people you don’t know very well or have known only for a short time. Do not attempt to maneuver or manipulate anyone as this will surely backfire.

On the positive side, now is the time to be resourceful and guard that which you have worked for.

If romance is your question, expect it to be transforming, and not something you can leave aside. In some cases, your partner may seem aloof and hard to reach, and matters may erupt into unexpected passions. If surrounding cards indicate that things will progress, this may be one of the most important and transforming relationships you have ever had.

In dealing with jobs and careers, expect intensity, restrictions, and demands.

Sometimes when this card comes up it indicates you will be going

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through a period of deep self-analysis. You may seek out a professional or you may work through this time alone by reading or through reflection.

Be careful when it comes to finances in areas such as taxes, property, and shared assets. You could have resounding successes or tremendous losses currently, but the message is to take your chance then stick with your decision no matter what. You have the ability now to make it work.

Scorpio Card in Brief: A new thing born out of something thought dead; resurrection; love born out of the depths of passion; charisma; desire; sex; gutters; sewers; stagnant waters; funerals and graveyards; ghosts and hauntings; banks; inheritances; money or goods from a dead relative; the taboo; the unknown; secrets; blessings in disguise; therapists; going into the depths; Hades; autumn; when things die off; homicide; paranoia; suspicion; seeing into the heart of matters; being wise; not suffering fools; agreements, but with caution; resentment; severity; hidden aggression; enemies, secret or open; psychic energy; powers, curses, and magick spells; metaphysics; vampire stories; anything Egyptian; being innocent yet accused; feeling lonesome; aloofness; being singled out; not being left alone; stalkers; past lives; the idea that death is never final.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Death

Key Ideas: Transformation through desire; psychic ability; taxes; secrets; wins and losses; sexual attraction; secret affairs.

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o

SAGITTARIUS

♦ I SEE

November 22-December 21

Luck is not chance, it’s toil; fortune’s expensive smile is earned.

—Emily Dickinson (Sagittarius)

You’re just about ready to hit your mark. The sign of Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter and is a mutable (easy going) fire sign. The ancient symbol for Sagittarius is a half-man half-horse, known as the centaur, a creature trained in the art of archery who always manages to hit his target no matter how far he roams.

Sagittarians are honest, candid and not afraid to speak the truth. Since this freedom-loving fire sign is not offended by the truth, he is often surprised when others take offense to his words.

Sagittarians are drawn to religious ideas even though sometimes they deny it. They will go through periods of not being religious at all and claim not to believe in anything, even bucking against authority. Religion and philosophy are concepts they remain fascinated by though—they will argue for hours about religion—and usually at some point in life they return to some type of faith, but such a faith always remains an intellectual pursuit.

Sagittarians are highly idealistic, creative, outdoorsy, and have a great sense of play and fun. They are also extremely restless and would prefer not to stay in the same spot. Instead they would rather roam.

Sagittarians dislike routine so are encumbered by the usual nine- to-five job. They may end up as magicians, fire-eaters, tattoo artists,

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entertainers, publishers, literary agents, clergy, tutors, bookstore owners, and whatever does not require any set schedule.

Sagittarians tend to be rather lucky but have a habit of not handling money well and will sometimes squander any wealth that comes to them. They are confident, which makes them highly attractive and popular, drawing to them what they need. Sagittarians also have integrity and will not go along with anything unfair or underhand.

Wicca, paganism and the Catholic Church are all ruled by Sagittarius. When you think about it, these religions, with their pomp and ceremony, candles and incense, have much in common. Though not as showy as their fellow fire sign, Leo, Sagittarians tend to largesse by their nature and prefer what they do to be memorable. The archer sign does not want an ordinary life.

When the Sagittarius card turns up in a reading, freedom at the current time is essential. You will feel the need to fight against restrictions of any kind and want everything out in the open. You want to know where you stand.

If your question pertains to a relationship, you or your partner need to be given extra space and looser reigns.

You may find yourself especially philosophical at the current time and even studying religions which may not have appealed to you before.

Interestingly, Sagittarius is the sign representing large animals, especially horses and big dogs. You may soon be acquiring a new pet, or it may be that animals are already a big part of your life. Like these beautiful beasts, you love that sense of wildness and being in the open air.

You may soon travel to areas with vast countrysides, or regions with mountains and lakes that you want to explore.

You might embrace a new philosophy, enroll in classes of higher learning or begin to study churches or religions.

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A visit to a casino or another area where gambling takes place could likely come about. You will likely be fortunate and win in this venture as long as you don’t proceed recklessly. It’s a good time to take a gamble.

Your future looks promising because you’re ready to expand and grow beyond your limits. If you do encounter difficulties, you will surmount them easily and move forward to your next lucky break in life which should be coming soon.

Sagittarius Card in Brief: Good luck; favorable conditions: being open and broad-minded; going for the truth; being truthful; being frank and honest; being kind and helpful; allowing others to be who they are; seeking answers; becoming curious; psychic fairs; visiting areas of study, universities; lecture halls; churches; bookstores; court houses; feeling passionate; going on a big adventure; travels in a southeastern direction; giving others freedoms; gathering others together for a good cause; living for the moment; avoiding commitment; clumsy accidents; feeling loose inside the body; wine and beer; campouts; fireplaces; horses; the kidneys, buttocks, and upper thighs; gambling places; lottery tickets; panhandlers; the colors violet, magenta, and blue.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Six of Wands

Key Ideas: Freedom; exploration; lucky breaks; religion; travel; philosophy; honesty.

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©

CAPRICORN ♦ I USE

December 22-January 19

Time! The corrector when our judgments err...

—Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s

Pilgrimage, Canto Fourth

It is time to focus on your objectives and not let up.

Ruled by Saturn, the planet of hard luck, the sign of Capricorn is personified by the goat that climbs the steepest cliffs to gain worldly success. Capricorn is a resourceful sign, and those under its influence long for power and prestige. There is no one more ambitious than a Capricorn. They really do want to take the world by the horns.

There are more spiritual goats, of course. But the aim of most Capricorns is fundamentally practical in nature. With them, there are no careless wanderings into fairyland. This mountain goat looks for a physical niche, and through some glorious contact by which they can achieve, their aim is to come up in the world no matter what it takes. This is rhe reason behind the motto for Capricorn, “1 use.”

Since Saturn is their god, Capricorns are interested in what’s solid, what can be seen, touched, or bought. Capricorns utilize their energies toward some concrete purpose rather than daydreams and the imagination. When Capricorns do indulge in dreams, they always dream big. They are insanely ambitious and often good-looking. Capricorns appear mature early in life and then grow younger and younger-looking with each passing year.

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When the Capricorn card turns up in a reading, it denotes a time of diligence and hard work. There is a gaining in status and reputation. Whatever you’ve toiled over (and especially sacrificed for), you are ready for splendid results to be revealed. Keep in mind this gain may be slow and systematic but that you are heading toward something solid and lasting.

You are about to meet all the right people who will back you and your goals. Some may be greater in status than you but they will show you the ropes, or support you in some substantial way. By all means, do not lose them.

Capricorn is the sign of drive and ambition. Therefore, you may feel more driven than usual. In essence, this card is saying to put childish things away and take responsibility. Go for what you want in a systematic way. Beware of looking back and staying in the shadows. It’s time to unleash your talents upon the world. Do not let up. Go out on a limb.

If your question is to do with romance or relationships, then these may take on more serious tones. Matters should grow deeper and more committed. It could be that one partner is older, higher in social rank, or will be a guide or teacher to the other. It may also mean one is more serious than the other.

Since Capricorn is a methodical earth sign, your outcome may progress gradually, unfolding at its own pace. You won’t be able to rush matters. Everything must happen in its own time—not yours.

Career and your profession are also important and you can expect to see changes there too.

This card can indicate skeletal problems, such as broken or porous bones, spinal issues, strains, or even dental issues. Make sure you are getting enough calcium and vitamin D. Capricorn is the sign of time, maturity’ and age, so if you develop an illness it will be one that has been coming on for a long time.

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You could be awaiting an outcome or judgment, so look to the surrounding cards to determine whether it will be a good one. You may also be waiting for the answer or resolution to something long overdue.

With the Capricorn card, you can be assured the answer will be just and fair—especially if you have worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone. With this card in a spread, you will not be defeated.

Capricorn Card in Brief: Ambition; goals; the outdoors; mountainous areas; heights; cliffs; skyscrapers; publicity; fame and infamy; the father, or person who plays a fatherly role; judges; how others view you; power; using force; meeting people in power; the boss; bureaucrats; management; prudence; stubbornness; staying the course; determination; the payoff; willpower; staying strong; pewter and other metals; rubies and onyx; the colors black, brown, and gray; procrastination; antiques; time’s measure; old age; Old World traditions; world map; work; not being given any slack; karma; fatalism; tough luck; dwelling on the past; looking back not forward; using what you have; pine trees; dry wit; teachers and teaching; toothache, rheumatism, and other aches and pains; loyalty; commitment in marriage.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Devil

Key Ideas: Ambition; playing by the rules; moving up in the world; fame; infamy; bones.

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AQUARIUS

♦ I KNOW

January 20-February 18

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. —Alan Kay

Expect to be tested and shown waves of the future.

Ruled by the planet of sudden insight, Uranus (but in earlier times, Saturn, the planet of wisdom), Aquarians tend to have a natural aptitude for genius. Even those that are not geniuses are able to collect facts and knowledge far beyond the scope of those of other signs. Because of their vast intelligence, it doesn’t take Aquarians long to see that they are superior in intellect to most people. This gives them a certain disdain over anything they view as common or ordinary’.

As seers into the future, Aquarians are ahead of the game and have accurate visions of the way things will be. This is why the sign of Aquarius rules science fiction and anything brand new. In reality, Aquarians see waves of the future in a way the rest of us cannot.

Aquarians can be very stubborn in their views, even when those views appear off the wall to others. They will fight long and hard just to have the freedom to stay weird. And they will fight for the rest of us to stay weird as well. Whatever is taboo or outlandish greatly appeals to them, if only in the imagination; so often times they are artists, inventors and speculative writers.

As an air sign (meaning they are primarily mental and not

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emotional) they can be great humanitarians but not very practical. And inside every Aquarian, no matter how attractive or glamorous, lives a geek, the type who wants to escape the mundane world and enter the realms of fantasy cons, the graphic novel, appointment games and role-playing.

At the same time, they can be rational and tend not to get caught up in emotional dramas. Aquarians arc more interested in friendships over romantic relationships. In fact, Aquarians are at first a friend before being a lover, unless of course, you insult them by disagreeing with their far-fetched ideas, and then you’re history.

Aquarians are very attracted to people of other ethnicities and races, so if they do decide to couple with someone it’s generally a person who does not come from the same background—or sometimes even the opposite gender. Through all relationships, Aquarians will develop and grow, often as some kind of artist.

Yet there is always a disconnected quality to Aquarians. They are noticeably peculiar and in this they pride themselves.

If the Aquarius card presents itself in a reading, you can be assured friends and friendly alliances are about to help you achieve your goals. It’s possible you are to meet a group of people or become involved in organizations that will support you in unusual plans and ideas. It may be like a family group, but the emphasis will be placed primarily on the ideas of the crowd. If so, you can consider yourself the idealistic pied piper at the front of your group.

You may find yourself dealing with persons from an exotic or dissimilar background, those of a different ethnicity or culture than yours, from which you will learn greatly. Transgender people and cross­dressing may possibly mean something in your world right now. You will acquire different concepts and approaches through these dealings which are changing you. In the coming months, traveling to far away, exotic places is likely to factor in.

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Mastering a new technology and dealing with futuristic concepts will be of benefit to you. Whatever you accomplish in the near future will be based on how well you master these new ideas and approaches. Science fiction or fantasy may become subjects of an art form for you.

Another meaning behind this card is the meeting up of cutting edge people, those who challenge what you believe to be true or established though it may not be. Many times these people will be artists.

With this card choice, you’re likely to be mastering something new and untried which will lead you to greater awareness and success.

Aquarius Card in Brief: The future; speculation; visions; speculative literature; science fiction; planers, stars, and outer space; outside time and space; aliens; technology; computers; bionics; electricity; phones and other modes of communication; mental expansion; flights of genius; arrogance; flightiness; bisexuality’; cross-dressing; optical patterns; pewter, silver, and aluminum foil; taboo subjects; original ideas; free thinking; the unconventional; groups and associations; people of a “like mind” who may be of a “different mind” to the rest of society; a Bohemian crowd; going against the status quo; marching to the beat of a different drummer; daring to be uncommon; appreciating the odd and unusual; taking on a challenge.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Tire Star

Key Ideas: Eccentricity; surprises; standing alone; the future; technology; outer space; mastery.

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PISCES ♦ I BELIEVE

February 19-March 20

I must be a mermaid ...I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.

—Ana'is Nin (Pisces), The Four- Chambered Heart

In faith and trust you must surrender to what is.

Pisces, the double-fish, is ruled by Neptune, god of the waters, oceans, and seas. It is a mutable sign, its home being the Twelfth House of self-undoing. It is mysterious and unfathomable, but can indicate a life that needs clarifying as well as definition.

Pisces is the last sign of the Zodiac and symbolizes the old soul, one who has passed through many lives, has picked up much here and there and experienced almost everything along the way, but sometimes doesn’t process things well and tends to repeat mistakes.

Pisceans have trouble maintaining boundaries, sometimes even feeling half erased. If you have ever observed a Pisces you may notice they don’t appear as intelligent as they really are. You could even call them gullible or vague until they start cranking out works of genius, and they can be so psychically tuned in it’ll knock your socks off.

Pisces is a beautiful sign with much compassion, denoting true visions that link up with the collective. Those ruled by dtis sign know much, know it all deep down, but have trouble sorting matters out. They are able to sense deeply, except for certain things extremely bad for them which turn into mishaps and disasters. But through it all,

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Pisces still survives.

Dreamers, artists, composers, poets, mystics, victims, and prisoners, all fall under the rulership of this water sign. There is little doubt that higher consciousness falls under the domain of Pisces. In a superficial way, it looks as if the world is their oyster with their talent, beauty, sensitivity, and a connectedness with the unknown. Pisces sees the best and is an idealist, but the flip side of this is cynicism which can come in waves. So, dreams will lead you now but clear thinking is a must.

You may be extra sensitive to beauty currently. Poetry courses through you. You feel connected to the source. You like the idea of surrendering to what is. Compassion flows.

Take advantage of inspiration and channel it into a creative project. If you have a notion or a dream, swim to it. Capture that wave. A great idea from the past may reemerge, and you may want to return and finish it, but you will want to tackle this idea soon when you are inspired or the entire matter could disappear into the rushes of the deep.

About your question—you may be confused by rhe reactions of others or simply unable to get to the correct answer. Pisces can be like a pristine sea or the muck of a swamp, so getting lost is a danger.

Make sure you’re not being pulled under by other peoples complications. It’s even possible you have someone in your life who saps you. Usually this is not intentional, but because of some delusional way of unthinking or viewing the world, that clouds the issue. Don’t fall into this same confusion. Make sure you are protected and have the proper boundaries.

You may have physical symptoms but find no reason for them. Be careful when this card comes up, especially in regards to medicines or drugs, because allergies and strange reactions to medications may develop.

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When the Pisces card is involved, circumstances may be covert or at least obscured from view.

Pisces Card in Brief: Dreams; visions; surrender; paranoia; confusion; a sense of being erased or having fragile boundaries; sensitivity; compassion; serving others; linking up with the collective; wanting to "merge”; knowing all, but having trouble sorting it out; trouble getting on track; floating and feeling adrift; the sleaze factor; self-undoing; getting caught up in the wrong crowd; being caught in a snare; seeing enemies as friends, or friends as enemies; sensing much, except for really bad stuff obvious to others; being gullible; lacking critical thought; joining the crowd when it’s not a good idea; seeing the best then turning cynical; candles; perfumes and intoxicating smells; oils; art, painting, music, and poetry; voice of the universal consciousness; the spirit world; speaking to the dead; being sucked in by odd religions or beliefs; interest in God or spirituality of all kinds; toxins; drugs; allergic responses.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Hanged Man

Key Ideas: Compassion; oneness; art; the unconscious; music; water; being a victim.

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FIRST HOUSE ♦ THE BODY

I am not the perishable body, but the eternal Self. —Ramana Maharshi

Move ahead with confidence; you are rising.

The First House in astrology begins with the Ascendant, the astrological constellation rising over the eastern horizon at the time the chart is cast. In the natal chart, the Ascendant represents the moment you were born.

Like the sun and moon, the First House is one of the most important parts of a horoscope. The First House represents your physical appearance, how your body works, and where your strengths and weaknesses lie. It is the beginning to everything. The First House is also the “mask” that everyone else first sees. Although the First House is the “house of self,” it is also the persona you project. It is how you relate to the world first.

If the First House card presents itself in a reading, it means you will soon be feeling your own strength. Although it may feel natural just to “take over” and assert your power, you may need to pull back some. Try not to control or dominate certain situations as this could backfire.

More positively, people may feel comfortable now with you as their leader and they won’t mind following your lead.

It’s important that you don’t abandon your goals now out of

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boredom. Presently, you will start things with great gusto. But you must follow up; you need to finish all that you start.

The First House shows your image; so, how you come across to others is of utmost importance now and bears greatly on your success. Perhaps you may opt for a new look and indeed, this can have a bearing on how successful you will be.

Since this house opposes the Seventh House of partnerships, it is a good omen regarding relationships of all kinds. It can mean relationships are about to mature or become more serious. Marriage may be on the cards, or it may mean you are transitioning into a better place concerning other people in general.

As the First House is also about your physical body, its important you pay attention to your health and the signals your body is sending you. Your body is your ultimate container, the first place your soul passes in to.

The First House card also speaks of beginnings and starting anew. It implies it is time to honor your gift of being distinct. It also suggests a position of leadership.

When this card turns up in a reading, it may be time to defend something of value to you, perhaps your reputation, your authentic self or your chosen life path. You may be challenged where you must stand by your convictions. You could have conflicts with certain authority figures and thus, need to go to some extra measures to keep a cool head in any given situation.

This card marks a period of being tested or challenged, and indicates who you are and who you will become. Whatever is implied in the surrounding cards will indicate what must soon be faced and met.

All in all, the first thing to consider with this card is how healthy you are and your stamina, then your role as a leader or just you as a person who is about to start something significant. Always look at

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surrounding cards to determine what comes next quite directly and unexpectedly.

First House Card in Brief: The physical body-—the head and the circulatory system; fluctuations in blood pressure; health regimes; bodybuilding; working out; improvements in physical appearance; your attractiveness; presentation before the public; the self; the concept of “I am”; recognition and reputation; personal strength; vitality; defense and battles; challenges; being singled out; mannerisms; getting upset; feeling excited; working on your own without help; realizing a dream that is yours alone; a solitary path; issues brought forth from early childhood; destiny in the making.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The Fool

Key Ideas: Appearance; the subject of your question; the way you come across; beginnings; new projects: new starts; the body; the face you show to the world.

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SECOND HOUSE

♦ OWNING

Wealth is the ability to truly experience life.

—Henry David Thoreau

You will own it.

The Second House is about being grounded in the physical. It is the “house of money,” and is about what you own and movable goods. Ruled by the sign of Taurus, the Second House is also about solid reality, creature comforts, lifestyle, and areas supported primarily in the physical realm. It is also the key to your power in the world, how you feel empowered and disempowered.

Tire Second House isn’t always to do with money and possessions. It’s about ownership of talents, maintaining comfortable shelter, living up to personal values, and self-esteem. It is also about what we decide to utilize or manifest in the physical realm—the desired result of which will always be quantifiable rewards, comfort, and also familial happiness.

When this card turns up, it’s time to concentrate on more practical issues. How do you handle finances? How do you look out for yourself and yours in terms of shelter? How are you being rewarded? Are you making a good living at what you love?

It’s a time where you need to protect resources, to manage those things you own in a mature and equitable way. When this card presents

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itself in a spread, it’s about sowing seeds for a good harvest. It is time to build, accumulate, toil, and manage. You may be at a stage to take the beginning steps ot opening your own business or embarking on a path that will not only enable you to realize your dreams, but could also make you a fortune in doing so.

Meeting up with stubborn individuals or being unyielding yourself could also be an issue. It is important to stay the course, but also to be flexible when dealing with others, especially concerning goals or any financial matter.

Music, especially the human voice, or issues concerning the voice box, may somehow figure in. Beauty, maintaining a good appearance, and having a sense of fashion at this time is also imperative.

No matter what your question or focus, money, earnings and material assets will play a part. Usually this is an extremely positive card, indicating significant financial rewards if you stay on your path and remain diligent and committed in all you do. Since the Second House is ruled by Taurus, with patience, gradual advancement and solid achievement is on its way.

The only warning is to be cautious where finances are concerned. It’s possible, ifyou come into money, you may meet some unscrupulous people who will work to take it from you. However, do consider the other cards in this spread in relation to your question.

The Second House card can at times indicate stubbornness, slothfulness and developments that come about slowly or seem to drag. You will not be able to rush things. In most instances, this card indicates an abundant harvest. No matter how fast or delayed it may be—it will arrive.

Second House Card in Brief: Money—how you make it, and how you spend it; being able to afford what you need to progress and move forward; getting a raise; bills; coins; money orders; checks; credit

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cards; credit unions and banks; integrity; buying or owning land; building; carpentry; a cozy home; real estate in demand; old houses, or businesses in an historical setting; the responsibility of owning things; career; extravagance; desires for luxury; objects of beauty and elegance; cosmetics; music and singing; ballet; the finer things in life; what you value; what you hope for; being stubborn or fixated; self-esteem; the colors brown, forest green, and yellow; the woods and wilderness; art objects fashioned from nature; culinary arts; overeating; dining out.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Two of Pentacles

Key Ideas: What is owned; spending; value; money; business affairs; the building of a home, laying down foundations, recognizing what is valuable.

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THIRD HOUSE

♦ MESSAGES

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

—Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of

Writing

Words have power. Now is the time to get your point across. With this card, you may also get a clearer direction in the way to proceed. The Third House also represents neighborhoods and siblings.

The Third House is the area of the astrological chart that reveals how we think, speak and communicate. It signifies our need to know and demonstrates how we put our concepts and thoughts into words.

You are in search of answers and in need of unlocking mysteries, but your mind is agile and you are able to grasp every detail right now. You may wish to express this mental suppleness through writing, speaking, and researching subject matter which has always intrigued you. Libraries call to you. You may suddenly wake up with an idea that could turn out to be very lucrative. You may even be toying with the idea of writing a book, starting a blog, perhaps a screenplay, or a position at a local news media outlet. There couldn’t be a better time than now.

As well as dreamy or imaginative writing and poetry, the Third House also represents dexterity, swiftness, curiosity, and figuring out the mechanisms of what makes things work. So this could mean expressing yourself about something rather technical.

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The Third House, more than any other, is the house of the mind. Mercury is about giving and receiving information. When this card turns up in a reading, there is a need to uncover all that you can and relate the information to others.

Also an area of commerce and sales, when the Third House card presents itself in a reading, it can indicate a time of buying and selling, and becoming involved in retail or transactions made over the Internet.

Issues dealing with siblings may come up. There may be questions you must resolve to do with brothers or sisters. Your neighborhood may even be going through some changes.

The Third House also signifies your neighborhood, so expect events that will make a difference there. For more in-depth information, look at the surrounding cards. If the Moon card is also in the spread, it might indicate secretive actions carried out at night, perhaps meetings, or even vandalism or burglaries are possibilities. If the Mars card is present, look for noise and radical changes you may not be so happy with. With the Saturn card present, it could mean that an area may start to appear old or decrepit. Also, with the Saturn card, be careful how you put your thoughts and feelings into words. Other persons may not be as warm and receptive to your words and ideas as you hope them to be.

This card can also mean you‘11 be talking your way into and out of tough situations. However, you will be mentally able to grapple with issues and sort them out well. Important documents and other paperwork are indicated. This isn’t your everyday type of paper shuffling; the matter will be more significant than the usual.

This card also indicates a fortunate time to start a business of your own, perhaps working in translation, creating software, or something to do with deciphering codes and messages, for example. You may also become involved in studying other languages, or anything related to and working toward a common good.

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Meditation and relaxation are suggested when this card presents itself. If the Neptune or Pisces card falls in the spread along with the Third House card, your thoughts are likely inspired ones, and you could be having psychic or mediumistic communications.

Third House Card in Brief: Finding the right words; discussion; being of two minds; vacillation; hesitation about stepping into situations; coming to clearer choices; objectivity; short trips; air travel or taking flight; mastering something new; neighborhood events or changes; connecting to the greater mind; owning what you know to be true; being chatty or talkative; closing down emotionally and relying on common sense; turning cold on someone, or someone turning cold on you; hand-to-eye coordination; games, and figuring out puzzles; intelligence; inventions; numbers and letters; needing to do math; early schooling; scripts; codes; siblings; bargains; signing of contracts; sales and commercial transactions.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Three of Pentacles

Key Ideas: Short journeys; the neighborhood; siblings; signing documents; communication; rumors.

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FOURTH HOUSE

♦ ROOTS

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

—Pablo Neruda. Sonnet XVII, 100 Love Sonnets

Your question may somehow be rooted in the past.

The Fourth House is ruled by the moon and governs the feelings, all the ways we are touchy and emotional, dreams, and our soul yearnings. It signifies the home, family, and rhe earliest phase of childhood, even to the time shortly before birth when we are still in the womb. It is the babe within the womb; it is cover that protects us from the world. This house represents nurturing, giving nourishment, and safety. It symbolizes mothering and motherhood—and also the father who is able to mother and nurture his offspring.

The Fourth House shows the beginning of the family and holds the memories of our ancestors. It represents the putting down of roots and the foundation to everything in our lives, our heritage and tribal affiliations.

In the Fourth House, the “self” is centered and grounded, but also likes to hide away. As well as caretaking, it also represents hidden treasures and a place to retreat.

There is both gentleness and emotional rawness in the Fourth House.

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When this card shows up in a reading, home and family issues may have something to do with your query. And as it represents your current environment, family members, and where you live, real estate and land might also figure in as in putting down roots or buying or selling a home. This card can be the predictor of a birth or new members in the family, a pregnancy, and can sometimes mean care for the elderly, including nursing homes and hospital stays.

Uris card can also indicate the presence of angels and being directed by heavenly means.

Events or appearances of persons from your faraway childhood may suddenly be relevant again. You may reconnect with someone and pick up again just where you started, even if it has been years since you’ve seen your friend. Memories of past lives may surface, transforming areas of your present life. Depending upon the surrounding cards, the results may be uplifting and perfect or shattering to the core. These memories will change you and the way you view your life.

Again, look for reunions and reconnections with persons from your past, such as grammar school days, or even relatives you don’t know very well or had long forgotten. You may dig up some fascinating news about your family or ancestry. Inheritances may figure in, where you receive something that has been passed down to you.

However, the home is the primary meaning behind this card, so buying or selling a house, adding on to a house, selling real estate and managing properties, as well as creating a secure home base all relate to your question.

As the Fourth House is also the house of dreams, imagining and relying upon magick could feature. After all, the Fourth House is lorded over by Lady Moon, mistress of magick and the unseen world. It is now time to use your imagination and make things happen. What you think now is what will be. As long as you don’t worry and fixate, your magickal intentions will grow organically just like a silvery plant under the sacred moon.

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And finally, whatever is being asked about may occur around the time of the Full Moon.

Fourth House Card in Brief: Who you are in secret; how you hide, or where you hide; wanting to hide, not wanting to face matters directly; withdrawing to recuperate; retreating to the womb to gather strength and begin anew; finding safety in the familiar; ancestral memories; inheritances; family secrets; gardens, and things that grow; earliest memories; feeling sentimental; happiness found in what is old and familiar; domestic issues; adding to the home; having a baby, newborns in the house; bruised feelings, touchiness, being too sensitive; anxiety; real estate, land issues, and buying a new house; mineral rights; bodies of water; leaks and damage due to water or floods; delays due to rain or snow; magick and kitchen witchery; angels and angelic guidance; dinners, and celebrations involving good food; nourishment and the diet; stomach problems.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Four of Cups

Key Ideas: Home; domestic issues; the mother; the father; ancestry: the tribe; old age; the end of a matter.

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FIFTH HOUSE

♦ CREATIVITY

Every child is an artist.

The problem is staying an artist when you grow up.

—Pablo Picasso

Be happy—give yourself the gift of happiness.

If the Zodiac had a “fun house” it would be the Fifth House. Pleasure, creativity, and children are all elements of this house. Being ingenious and in the limelight is another element. We find our childlike imaginations through storytelling and fantasy. Playing is very much what the Fifth House is all about. That’s why this part of the chart also rules over romance, especially the beginning stages.

As children, our imaginations know no bounds and we indulge in creative performances. When as adults we dip into this field, we allow our minds and hearts to roam free and produce masterpieces. When the Fifth House brings romance, we also enter into a kind of playfulness, a sensual joy that happens inside the playground of adulthood.

This card turning up in a reading indicates that you have created, or will begin to create, something to be proud of, something that will bring others joy. It may have you on a stage, or just an area where adults can let down their hair and become as children—responsive, joyful and free.

You can expect the completion of a project, or the accomplishment

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of a significant goal for which there will be a celebration. You have put hard work into a project and will now see the results. Gifts, parties, gatherings, premieres, galas or even a wedding may figure in. You could become involved in a school setting with children or mostly young adults.

Since the Fifth House is the natural house position for the sign Leo, someone close to you, a potential lover, a mate, or the two of you together, will make a striking appearance. Its time to go out and be seen. This card may turn up during the time of a budding romance. Perhaps, your current relationship will go through a positive transformation, or perhaps there is a new potential mate on the scene.

The Fifth House is also strongly tied to artistic expression, meaning art of every kind, from painting, to drawing, to creating stage sets, costuming, writing stage and screenplays, making films, as well as music.

If you’re a parent, the Fifth House stands for your children. It also stands for other offspring, such as grandchildren, and sometimes even the friends of your children. This card turning up could indicate that a younger relative is about to be singled out for special acknowledgment.

Ihe Jupiter card appearing next to the Fifth House card in a spread points to awards and rewards, while the Saturn card next to the Fifth House card could indicate a depression, or the slowing up of energy, or the feeling of being “stuck.” If it were the Leo or Neptune card it would designate creativity in abundance.

The Fifth House card is all about finding joy in creativity, and self-expression with promise of a jubilant return to childhood. It can denote a carnival-like atmosphere where life becomes a three-ring circus, but usually in the best way possible. It is all about multitasking, taking on more than is expected and then making a spectacular success of it. This is the card of the mastery and victory, in a deep way, such as that which you already carry inside your heart. All is possible now. The

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most important thing is to move forward.

Fifth House Card in Brief: Pleasure; laughter; parties; getting a rush; attraction; the early stages of romance, or the joyous element found in healthy romance; flings; lovemaking; weddings and marriage; children; childlike delights of the soul; being proud of offspring or students; pride; acting in a dignified or noble way; being of pure heart; art and the creative impulse; creating for dramatic or public purpose; the public; appearing in front of an audience; the stage; applause; stage plays at schools; making movies and videos; B movies; the entertainment business; graphic novels; games and puzzles; expressing your creativity in unique and inventive ways with a view to presenting your work in a public forum.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Six of Cups

Key Ideas: The bliss of childhood; creativity; the stage; staying open; hobbies; having fun; festivities; free expression.

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SIXTH HOUSE

♦ ROUTINE

The body is a sacred garment.

—Martha Graham

You must change your usual way of looking at things.

The Sixth House is ruled by the

mutable sign Virgo and the planet Mercury. In the horoscope it is the area of routine and everyday life. It is not so much a dazzling place as it has to do with the ordinary. It also rules the body (differently from the First House) and specifically your health, especially the digestive tract.

This house reminds us what we should do to maintain good health, and in this, diet figures in. Anything that comes under alternative health or various approaches to strengthening rhe body and supporting a healthy lifestyle all falls under the category of the Sixth House.

The Sixth House is all about duty, responsibility, and gainful employment. It shows how hard you work, how organized you are, how much you worry, and what you do on a daily, nine-to-five basis. This is why it is also looked upon as the house of the job—how you earn a living as an everyday citizen. When this card turns up, a job change is possible.

When the Sixth House card presents itself in a reading, an important thing to consider is your state of health. Medical appointments and buildings (such as hospitals and health centers) may figure into your reading. For your future plans to progress smoothly you must be strong in body. An area to look at closely is your diet.

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An alternative health approach may work best for you now and you may End yourself interested in Reiki, acupuncture, chiropractors, health supplements, herbs, and visits to health food stores. Becoming involved in these matters professionally may also develop.

As the Sixth House has everything to do with your routine and what you do regularly, you may experience changes and disruptions in your schedule. It would also be to your benefit to become as organized as you can since at this time any type of disorganization could defeat your plans.

It is time to pay attention to the small particulars, rather than the larger picture. The larger picture cannot develop without the minute details. You may find yourself worrying over little matters, which is exhausting. Visits to libraries and schools may somehow assist you in your plans. It’s important to be analytical in your endeavors or they may come unraveled and not turn out in the ideal way you want. Perfection is not necessary to success. Completing what you start is more important. However, the Sixth House card does suggest you insist on quality and usefulness.

You may find yourself critical at this time or others will seem to be critical of you. You may want to clear up or correct matters which may have become unhinged or are at least off track. Efficiency and doing the right thing at the right time will serve you in the coming days.

This is probably not an easy time because it is not meant to be. For something to really serve you in the best way possible (with the outcome you are wanting) you will have to go step by step, and have patience. It is not likely to happen fast. But whatever you manage to accomplish will stick and serve you well in the future.

Sixth House Card in Brief: Your job; how you work, and what you are working on; responsibility; duties; diligence; volunteer work; making sure all details are covered; looking at the small things, even trivialities;

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organization; making sure everything is in the right order; analyzing the situation; efficiency; productivity; the body’s condition; digestive disorders; the colon, stomach, and esophagus; health foods and diet; a focus on physical, mental and/or spiritual healing; alternative medicines and healing modalities; forming plans; keeping matters in order; medical buildings, hospitals, and nursing homes; doctors; shamanism; nature; cleanliness; antiseptics; purification; the colors brown, tan, green and off-white; keeping the books; numbers and letters; studying; learning; books; bookwork; libraries; editing; being alone; logic; small factors.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Seven of Pentacles

Key Ideas: Daily work; healing; thought; discernment; small animals; employees; orderliness.

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SEVENTH HOUSE

♦ PARTNERS

Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.

—Abraham Lincoln

Bindings, whether emotional and domestic, or lawful and what is right or permissible, are indicated now.

The Seventh House is the area of the chart that represents “the other” since it is opposed the First House of “the self.” Traditionally, it has been thought to be the house of marriage and marriage partners, and although this may still be the primary meaning, “the other” can also include friends and family and peer groups. So it can mean significant others such as coworkers. Since it’s the traditional house of Libra, it governs fairness, balance and the law. It is also the house of open enemies.

When the Seventh House card presents itself in a reading it usually means one of two things, either issues dealing with partners or significant others, or court cases and legal issues. The card itself is neutral, much like the actual Seventh House which strives for balance, so the surrounding cards will indicate the basic meaning, whether positive or negative or something in between.

The Pisces or Neptune cards nearby would imply that a relationship could be slowly dissolving or fading, much like a shoreline with the sea erasing names written in the sand. Misinformation or lying could be

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a part of it. If the card is referring to a court case or legal issue, it’s not a good time for that. The end result may not be what is hoped for or is one that might drag on, again ending over time in a dissolving way with no real closure.

The Scorpio or Pluto cards close by to the Seventh House card would indicate power struggles, and even ruthlessness would figure in. There could be issues of domination and control with these two cards. This could apply to partnerships and legal rulings. The Venus or Libra cards nearby would sweeten this up a great deal, so (along with the Sun card) would be the most positive to have with this card.

The Uranus or Aquarius cards close to this card could indicate dispassionate or odd partners, maybe even bisexual lovers, or those from an entirely different background; or, a court case could get disrupted or have an unusual or totally unexpected result.

The Taurus or Cancer cards surrounding the card would indicate a full heart blessing in your romantic or domestic partnerships. It could also denote coming out well in a financial, or at least a material, way in a court case.

On a mundane level, the Seventh House card can mean an engagement, a marriage or a relationship moving to the next level, as in a partnership becoming more settled and gaining maturity. It can also imply getting ready for a more serious relationship. In the case of dysfunctional or unhealthy relationships, you can look to surrounding cards to see how they will fare in the near future.

Seventh House Card in Brief: Others; becoming more attractive to prospective mates; preening; flirting; committing to the love of your life; taking relationships to the next level; romantic and domestic partnerships; tying the knot; marriage; spouses; soul mates; duets; partnering; creating alliances; engagements; contractual relationships; long-term alliances; signing contracts; law; legalities; attorneys; legal

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help; court cases; justice; a fair outcome; negotiations; agreements; coworkers; open enemies; becoming whole through others; codependence; cooperation; the reason behind a partnership; societal expectations; judging; weighing and balancing.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Justice

Key Ideas: Marriage; partners; true love; the other person; rivals; open enemies; courts; lawsuits.

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EIGHTH HOUSE

♦ ENDINGS/

BEGINNINGS

From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.

—Edvard Munch

This is where it all goes dark and becomes mysterious.

In astrology, the Eighth House represents the long dark night before light comes, where a new dawn is on its way but you need to grapple with the darkness and the unknown a while longer. Traditionally the Eighth House is about sex, death, psychic powers, control and material things, such as money and inheritance (that which belongs to other people), but such things you will end up owning or at least partly. It also represents the time of year when Halloween or Samhain takes place, and involves all dark, gothic things associated with it.

When the Eighth House card turns up in a spread, the meaning is clear. You are in a period of great transformation. Your matter in question may seem like a life or death issue. Ibis is not a time of superficialities. You may be evaluating your life’s choices and the need for change is great. Something that has been in your life for a long time crumbles like a tower. It must be built back up but in a different way. You will not be able to forge ahead without taking care of this matter. A certain change must be completed before you can move ahead. This adjustment may feel uncomfortable or will not be an easy one.

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Sex and death are major issues of the Eighth House, the beginning and the end. This card means serious business. The Eighth House shows what a relationship will bring after commitment is made to a partnership represented by the preceding Seventh House. If love is your question, it is a deep and transforming love wrought with passions and sexual jealousies. You may find yourself sexually irresistible or reborn through sex into greater levels of intimacy and passion.

An alternate meaning could be that there is a doorway you should not pass through.

Having this card present does not mean someone is going to die. This is unlikely, but it does mean you may end up dealing with things being passed on to you—inheritance issues, deeds, trusts, insurance policies, goods of the dead, alimony, child support, and even taxes.

The Eighth House card also indicates what a partner owns, his or her resources and finances, but can also concern something passed down from parents and grandparents. These are assets acquired from a relationship.

Psychic ability, in all of its forms, is also one meaning behind this card. It suggests premonitions, visionary dreams, and seeing into the past, present and future. But even more so, it indicates communications from spirits. It may be that your home environment experiences a haunting, or you become involved in paranormal interests such as ghosts and other types of spirits. Past-life information is also filed away in the Eighth House, surfacing as unexplained phobias or sudden attacks of anxiety. In any event, with this card you are quite connected to the psychic realm.

Healthwise, the Eighth House card can mean a long-term illness with an extended period of recovery for someone who is connected or important to you. The Eighth House indicates where the elderly or very sick go to die, or a place of healing but where there is no cure.

Jealousy, rivals, sabotage and stalking are also issues of the Eighth

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House.

However, there are more positive meanings of this house of sex and death. You may experience penetrating insights. Or you may go through a time of renewal, a time where you are given a second chance. Your life is made over and you become a builder. Darkness comes and a tower falls, but there is a better one to replace it.

Eighth House Card in Brief: Transformation; the afterlife; the beginning or the end; being born again; witchcraft; candle burning rituals, spells, curses, and jinxes; psychic gifts; premonitions; the darker side; power and control; people driven by power; sabotage; issues of trust, who to trust or what to trust; keeping secrets; graves and cemeteries; sewers; nighttime; ancient Egypt; the Celts; seeing rivals or competition where there may be none; guarding your little acre; what a partner owns; being investigated; being either clever or sneaky; sharper focus; spying; oil or gas wells; pollution; blight; serpents; illicit love affairs; never feeling loved enough; feeling strongly tied to someone; sexual joy; orgasm; heavy petting; the Kama Sutra; the genitals, lower colon, and anus; fame and money; hauntings; spirit entities; ghosts of relatives who have passed on; failed relationships, being led on to new ones.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Nine of Swords

Key Ideas: Passing away; shared resources; legacies; dangers; the occult; ghosts; debts.

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NINTH HOUSE ♦ FAITH

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.

—Anais Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, 1966-1974

Obstacles are being lifted.

The Ninth House in astrology is the house position for the sign Sagittarius and is ruled by the planet Jupiter, the planet of openness, luck and expansion. This area of the traditional horoscope wheel is the house of travel, philosophy, high-mindedness, and also religion. The Ninth House represents a search for meaning through established structures. Things to do with government and religion may come about whenever the Ninth House is included.

Destiny, fate, and karma all come into play, as well as your view of what God may or may not be. It is the house of erudite knowledge, higher learning, lawyers, doctors, and astrologers. It is most definitely of the higher mind and our need to unite with something greater. In this way, the Ninth House represents churches and schools, especially ones that are old, established, and scholarly.

Since it opposes the 'Third House of communication and writing, the ninth house represents publishing and influences through the written word. It speaks of a forum for written ideas and concepts, also of joining a reputable literary world. So this house is important in the charts of writers or anyone who wishes to bring their ideas into a

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forum, usually planerwide. It is the house of open ranges, journeying and opportunity.

The Ninth House also represents esoteric matters like psychics, psychic fairs, the New Age, counterculture gatherings, or places where offbeat people gather together for some visionary cause. It also represents the relevance of obtaining psychic information. The Rosicrucians, an esoteric organization based on ancient structures, are symbolized by the Ninth House.

With this card it is time to consider your impending plans in the broadest terms. It means you will have to go outside of your ordinary life to achieve your goals. Long-distance travels, journeys, and voyages to unknown places may figure in regarding your question. The Ninth House is the house of explorers and pilgrims, where there is a quest and a destination. It is where we seek guidance and understanding. The possibility of returning to school and furthering your education is likely in the near future.

lhe most mundane meaning behind the Ninth House card is traveling to distant places. Usually, when this card appears, the reason is for knowledge or for broadening of understanding. There will be a desire to visit places of arcane wisdom and knowledge, where you can expect the history behind the area to be very well documented. The journey will be an uncharted one of deep or mysterious exploration. Scriptures or religious books may figure in. There will be longing to connect with something greater than the individual self.

Occasionally, this card indicates a temporary disconnect from close family where you depart from your known life into another one as a pilgrim or a seeker. The Church of Rome is represented by the Ninth House card, and also represents alternative religions like modern Paganism, Wicca, Asatru, and so on.

If your question is about love, one or the other person needs freedom; there won’t be commitment anytime soon.

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In shore, this card indicates that you are about to depart on an important journey. It may be an outward voyage; it may be an inward excursion. Either way, you will be changed through the process. This card has to do with what has been tried and tested and what is already established. No matter how expansive or broad-minded, it will be rooted in the traditional.

Ninth House Card in Brief: Travel; shipping; long journeys; passengers; a sense of adventure; exploration; new frontiers; traveling outside yourself; spiritual journeys; relationships with foreigners; understanding other cultures; philosophy; a common mysticism; occult explorations; esoteric knowledge; mysterious wisdom; visions; astrology; divination (the older forms); science and scientific institutions; Ivy League colleges and universities; professors; teaching; old churches, temples, and courts; documents; bibles, religious books and texts; publishing and publishing houses; editors; magazines and books; card games; vision boards; the Old World or Holy Lands; priests, nuns, and holy people; prayer and asking for prayer; grace; spiritual protection; religion, but usually not the fundamentalist kind; religious ceremonies; horses, dogs, and livestock; good or bad luck.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Three of Wands

Key Ideas: Media; publishing; long-distance travel; education; churches; divination; astrology.

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TENTH HOUSE

♦ THE WORLD

The desire for fame tempts even noble minds.

—Saint Augustine, The City of God

Fame and the world at large.

In astrology, the Tenth House, which is at the top of the Zodiac, embodies the masculine principle and represents the father or a primary male influence, or at least a very powerful influential man. It can also represent the man in a womans life. Because the Tenth House opposes the Fourth House, it can sometimes represent the woman or the mother in your life. But mostly, the Tenth House stands for reputation and standing.

This is an ambitious card. It’s about owning the world and being on top of the world. It is the ultimate card to have for when you need to be confident in what you are doing and to go for what you want— and nothing less.

Because the Tenth House is the house of Capricorn, it indicates you are about to put forth a diligent and concentrated effort. The climb and the advancement of your reputation is what the Tenth House card means when it turns up in a spread. It also suggests looking at everything as the big picture. Since the Tenth House is ruled by Saturn, being required to tell the truth, or to be honest, will have great bearing on how you advance your goals.

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People will discuss what you're doing, what you have started or are about to make. You may be contacted by the media, become recognized, or at least you will see your efforts in some public forum. The matter in hand may have something to do with governments, traveling to other lands or encountering foreigners. Or it could just mean your ambitions are about to gain momentum.

Layers of illusion will be removed; your essential self disclosed. This could be in relation to the public or a possible love interest. If a love interest, they could be older or more established; or, they will work along beside you in meeting your goals.

If this card comes up it can sometimes mean playing along with the status quo to get ahead. It could be to do with paying your dues, grabbing what you can and taking advantage of a situation. This card suggests how high you can go in this lifetime, or at least, concerning the issue at hand.

Since it symbolizes the world, it also represents the earth, so working the land or acquiring land is something that may come into play, and can therefore denote growth, crops, plants, farmers and farming. Since Saturn plays in, this card can also represent a reaper, such as in “you reap what you sow.” So with the Tenth House card, you get back what you give.

In essence, though, this is the primary card of fame and infamy, your legacy, and what you will become known for. It is rhe house of success and failure. And this card will tell of what will likely come about, depending on the surrounding cards and upon the energies that surround you at the current time.

Truth and honesty will decide this matter. The universe is supporting you now.

Tenth House Card in Brief: Power; your position of power and how you are thrust into it; reigning powers; influential people; meeting

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persons in power; the world; world travels, the public; the masculine principle—the father, the husband, the most important man in your life; the subject of the reading, if male; your reputation, how you are viewed; fame and infamy; your legacy; the upper spine; physical endurance; aging; measure; time; clocks; using others; sucking up to others; the sycophant; hard work, or not working hard enough; planning; diligence; step-by-step success (not overnight success); being methodical and efficient; banks; privilege; the elite going where the money is; achieving success; people paying attention; the voice of wisdom; ownership; destiny and your place in the world at large.

Corresponding Tarot Card: The World

Key Ideas: Life's calling; what you have to do; career; the mother; the father; glory; reputation; fame.

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ELEVENTH HOUSE

♦ FRIENDS

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

—Anonymous

The three graces of hope, faith and charity—the bonds of friendship. Rely upon support from friends and other associations. Don’t attempt to go it alone. You will need help.

The Eleventh House is all about associations and how we connect to others. It is the house of group alliances, ideals and our aspirations in a public or social arena. This Eleventh House is commonly referred to as the “house of friends," but it is so much more than that. It has everything to do with the collective that comes from groups, people who identify and align with each other to make social change. By combining our energies with others we can make our world, but more importantly, the domain of others, a better place.

The Eleventh House has much to do with our destiny, what we decide to give before we leave this earth, our soul’s purpose. The Eleventh House deals with the greater good and living up to an ideal.

The Eleventh House card says that we are not in this world alone, and that it is time to aim higher and go among the broader society, to work with others or share energies, as it’s not a good time to work on your own. The support of allies and other groups are necessary.

The Eleventh House points out how we are distinct. It is a reminder

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that we are unique among groups and friends.

When this card turns up in a reading, the focus is on friends, what groups you belong to, and who you associate with. To achieve your objectives, pooling your resources with those of others may be necessary. There will be changes in your friendships and associations or possibly, you may be able to achieve an important goal or desire based upon who you know. It represents a collective creativity. A friend may have the very information you need to further advance your cause and goal. Or it could be through the friendship of lovers or spouses that will allow you to attain your dream. This means, you are to hook up with the right people at the correct time. Now, it is all about rhe people you know and what organizations you associate with.

Even though its a fortuitous time to join a class, a club, a society, or a group, it is also important you be a standout. Others will support your individuality.

Sometimes this card indicates the sudden appearance or disappearance of an old friend.

The Eleventh House is also the house of stepchildren or children who belong to your lover. Issues involving such children may arise. Look to surrounding cards for the meaning of the issue.

The appearance of the Eleventh House card means “the collective,” those who support you as friends, but can sometimes indicate open enemies and rivals. It could just be a spirited competition between you and another, bringing out the best in both of you. But in the end, what works out is what works out best for all. So it is not a good time to serve your needs only. It is time to be a comrade and give consideration to friends.

Eleventh House Card in Brief: Friendship, friends of all kinds; allies and alliances; social contacts; organizations and clubs; gatherings; dreams, hopes, and aspirations; destiny; compassionate acceptance: the

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place where we discover we are not alone; being different, individual, one of a kind; foreigners; other cultures, and people with a different ethnicity or background; tribal connections; suffering from rejection or banishment from the tribe; traveling to foreign lands; entering a new field; misfits; artists; stepchildren; children who are also our friends; technology; connecting through electronics; going with the flow; trusting in the flow as well as in your own wild and unique self.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Three of Cups

Key Ideas: Sources of help; alliances; groups; friends; the black sheep of the family; goals; hopes; wishes; dreams.

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TWELFTH HOUSE

♦ ESCAPE

The lunatic, the lover and the poet Are of imagination all compact: —William Shakespeare, A Midsummers Night Dream

It is time to get “on point.” Its not a time to ignore or overlook what’s there. Things may get fragmented.

The Twelfth House of the Zodiac is rhe most mesmerizing of all of the houses. Mysticism, dreaming, drowning, vast seas, and surrendering, are all themes that belong to this “house of self-undoing.” It is also the place in the chart where we lapse in our judgment and make had choices. Like the sign of Pisces that rules it, the Twelfth House falls at the end of the Zodiac, which indicates a type of passage or rebirth. This house contains the meanings of all the signs and planets and all the other houses within it—the Twelfth House stands for the ALL.

Even though astrologers refer to the Twelfth House as the gutter or garbage dump of the Zodiac, it is still distinct in its meaning. Evolved souls and the doomed live here. Within the Twelfth House are the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. Ruled by Neptune, the planet of confusion and drunkenness, prisoners, shut-ins, saints, artists, and mystics call this home. Imagination, linking up, and connecting to the unknown, are all facets of the Twelfth House. It is where the material and nonphysical worlds connect; it is both the beginning and the end.

The Twelfth House offers bliss, spiritual fulfillment, the meeting

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up with twin flames. It promises of losing yourself in some beautiful “other.” But it might be like trying to hold on to a cloud. This house of poetry and oceans is enchantment. It is where we lie to ourselves as well.

Ulis house also represents water, toxins, poisons, perfumes, candles, hidden chambers, secreted desires, Christ consciousness, and martyrdom. The Twelfth House tells us to forget about ourselves and live for others. But this may bring confusion and also peril. It is fear and paranoia. It is beauty and love. It teaches us to write poetry and understand rhe messages from the heavenly spheres. The Twelfth House inspires us to show great kindness.

When the Twelfth House card comes up in a reading, something is amiss. There is something about the situation you are unsure about or at least are not privy to. All is not as it seems. Without information, it’s difficult to move forward. The signals you’re getting are probably wrong ones. Thar medical test you’ve just had, the diagnosis, is not likely accurate. What seems obvious right now is only a mirage, or obscured.

The Venus or Libra card with the Twelfth House card may indicate the emergence of an important love affair or relationship. With rhe Saturn card, you will soon be shown something you were mistaken over, and the results may be shattering. With the Moon card, your visions are profound. With the Mercury or Third House card combined with this card, you either write beautifully or you have deep psychic gifts.

The warning with this card is to not look to others for fulfillment or to others to give you your purpose, at least not at the current phase. It’s either the incorrect time to attempt this, or you are looking to the wrong crowd.

While the Tenth House gives us the truth, the Twelfth House gives us magick. Each is important, and you cannot be all that is without the other. Take heed and search for clarity. Watch out for deception at this time.

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Twelfth House Card in Brief: Dissolving of boundaries; lack of definition; being under the influence of something/someone; being a victim; seeing friends as enemies and enemies as friends; not having a clear sense of things; being lost in the fog and mists; glamour; falling under a spell; sleight of hand; being led; mermaids; ocean life; beaches; leaks; cancellations due to wet weather; hospitals: the end of life; shut-ins; psychiatric issues; being charged, but not guilty; prisons; criminals; con artists; bringing bad luck on yourself; karma; fate; poetry; music; showing kindness; compassion; being converted to a religion, hopefully not a cult; the call to spirit; saintliness; hypnosis; mediumship; clairaudience; spirits; intoxication; old souls; the valley of miseries; the answer to love.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Four of Cups

Key Ideas: Solitude; charity; begging; hospitalization; secret enemies; exploitation; visions.

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FIRE ELEMENT

♦ DESIRE

Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life

There are changes coming, new movement. Look for them to be quick.

The element of fire in astrology is all about beginnings, our passions, and how fast we get our energy moving. It speaks to how rapidly we react and how long it takes us to accomplish what we set out to do. Fire is burning determination. Fire scorches away impurities, clearing a landscape for new growth and leaving an area healthier and stronger, lite signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius fall under the influence of fire.

When the Fire Element card is involved, expect changes to be dramatic in an unforgettable way. A situation is about to be transformed through a wake-up call or a personal epiphany.

The element of fire is spirit-moving and a great indicator of creativity, so now is the time to apply your energy wholeheartedly. Step into this path and find your way. Look at your issue from another perspective and try a unique approach.

The Fire Element card also denotes honesty and suggests you act assertively. You are about to get upfront with someone or vice versa— at least you should—and this card says to push it. In any event, you will soon understand where you stand as all of your cards will be put on the table. Then you can expect less mystery.

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Watch out for bossy people when this card comes up. It can indicate a type of bulldozing that will be hard to deal with. Others may claim they are speaking to you from a place of truth and concern, whereas they may not understand the situation very well and not offer the best advice. Also, be careful of others attempting to take over and claiming as theirs what you have created or started. This card can imply the ego going out of control. But, its important to keep yours in check as well.

Since you are now thinking in larger terms, details won’t seem to matter as much, but it’s important to get everything nailed down. You may be tempted to fly by the seat of your pants and rely upon spontaneity. This is not a bad idea. Tire Fire Element card says you have good instincts at the moment and will be able to carry it off, as long as you are also grounded.

This is a card of passion; therefore, if romance is your question, this is a compelling attraction, at least on the part of one of you. However, don’t make the mistake of attempting to make your love interest iealous if you feel you are not getting the attention you crave—this will surely backfire. If the attention strays though, don’t be afraid to have a backup plan. In romance, this card can indicate a sudden attraction. If it is not meant to be, it will burn out fast. But if the relationship has legs, you will be great supporters and protectors of each other.

The Fire Element card is one of new starts—often after the past has been burned away—and denotes a period where you start anew. Be honest in your approach. Any arrogance will be your enemy. You will have the zeal to get things done in the way you want. As far as your life is concerned, the pot is being stirred.

Lastly, show caution with objects that have a fiery or electrical nature.

Fire Element Card in Brief: New starts; sudden change in direction, usually dramatic in nature; a shift in drive; a dare; being spontaneous;

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knowing what to do in the moment; competition; reactions; being challenged; selfishness; enthusiasm: fires and fire fighters; electrical problems: kitchens: the hearth; bossiness; dynamism; speed; openness; whatever is over the top or ostentatious; philosophy; priests and priestesses; being number one; heartbeat; blood pressure; the male erection; the colors red, scarlet, purple, and gold; sunlight; motorbikes; being a rebel; bucking authority: noise; busy places; steam; smoke; candles; candle spells; displaying courage; having confidence; being singled out for showing wisdom; having a great heart; abundant creativity.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Two of Wands

Key Ideas: Getting started; pushing ahead; strength; courage; daring; passion; arousal.

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EARTH ELEMENT

♦ STABILITY

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.

—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Now is the time to draw upon your strength. Think of yourself as solid and sure as a rooted tree. You are firm. Nothing can knock you out of your spot.

Earth is the element of the signs Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. These are the signs that keep us centered, but more aptly, fastened to the ground. Our spirits become stable, our souls deepen under the influence of earth. The earth element reminds us that we are engaged in the five senses. Our dreams become manifest in what is real, not what is imagined.

Earth is the element of practicality and wisdom. Earth signs are about what is real, what can be proven and what is solid in our lives. They have to do with certainty, what can be seen and felt, rather than what is imagined or dreamed. Earth tells us to take our time, there doesn’t need to be a rush. We can achieve what we want while going through methodical steps. It all depends upon how determined and measured we are—how strong and self-assured.

The Earth Element card is about finding meaning in the physical world, living free among nature, being animal and also human. The warning here is not to become stubborn. Allow others to be who they

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are. It is not time for rushing or criticism.

When this card comes up in a reading, it can indicate that matters are becoming rock-solid and sure, or it can mean you may have to prove yourself in some tangible way at this time, or very soon.

The Earth Element card is about being practical and landing on your feet. You will want to look out for stubbornness at present, either in yourself or others. This can indicate being fixed in your views and not willing to try something new. It implies you may not feel it is time to change your ways or your course. However, action is needed. It is time to stop plodding and to let go of your fears. This card is about building blocks, building a home, or building a foundation for your life; in this way, you are finding a master plan and what works.

This card also solidifies the focus of your reading. It is a good omen because it means you are constructing a solid base that will last. It is also about duty, and being measured in all that you do. It also denotes standing fast for your truth.

The Earth Element card is also a sensual card, having to do with appetites where sexual need and expression are concerned, and this may have some relevance to your question. At worst, this card can represent hoarding and not being able to let go of things. Materialism may play into this. It may indicate working for tomorrow while not living in the present. So you are encouraged to relax, take a break and return to the garden.

It is not time to rush things. Patience is needed to get where you want to be and a mad rush could cause your tower to collapse. Remember, the foundation must be solid. Your happiness is dependent upon this structure, and that means matters will likely progress at a slow pace with maybe a few steps back before you eventually get there. The Earth Element card says, “This matter is essential, so you want it to last.”

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Earth Element Card in Brief: What is tried and true; what has been, or what will be proven; mountainous areas; crossing over lands; land deeds; real estate; buying or selling land; growing your own food; eating healthier; the woods; tending to creatures; being closer to the Earth; setting down foundations for life and love; worrying over small details, or over what’s not there that should be; being—and the need to be—orderly and organized; ambition; going out on a limb to get what you're after; meeting the right people; connecting up with powerful individuals, those who can make a difference in your life; the bottom line; going into business; learning to trust, giving trust, and asking for trust; stubbornness; reality; metal; earth; dirt; the colors brown, gray, and black.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ace of Pentacles

Key Ideas: Stability; accepting responsibility; the body; becoming organized; nature.

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AIR ELEMENT ♦ COMMUNICATING

All action results from thought, so it is thoughts that matter.

—Sai Baba

Think it over first. Put some mental

effort into it before you put your talk into action. Be logical. Sort it out.

The air element is about being objective and becoming mentally inspired. When we think of air, we think of clouds and sky, and what connects us to the beyond. Air is all about lofty thinking, being broad-minded and expansive. Air sign people—Geminis, Librans and Aquarians—sometimes come off as a little cool and detached. They weigh everything, mull the situation over, decide what they think, and then process what they feel. Air also reminds us of flight, and flights of the mind are what the air element rules over.

Those governed by air signs, are mentally inclined and tend to distance the emotions. Air can represent overthinking, and distancing the heart and emotions with abstractions and mental puzzles. But this works well when things do need to be sorted out and clarified. Air also represents “clear-seeing” in all its capacities, so can signify clairvoyant abilities, as well as seeing things for what they truly are, without emotions involved.

When the Air Element card presents itself in a reading, it is time to put into words what you want, what you desire, and what you expect. The good news is, some issues you’ve been working on at the current

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time, and possibly from the past, are now being resolved. You are able to face them without pretense, but most importantly, with honesty.

Air is all about being quick on your toes, how curious you are, and how ingenious.

Air also gives us the power to apply our energies in diverse ways. It’s all about being spontaneous, in the moment, and landing on your feet, and where you are able to approach things with precision and sharpness. There is also freedom now to take a new path.

Air signs look young, so this card is all about feeling young, looking at things anew, having energy, and being young.

When your question is about relationships or romance, someone may not be willing to commit as much as the other at this time. It is possible that they are embarrassed or not as comfortable about sharing emotions as the other. So the Air Element card can mean there is a type of impasse in relationships. It can become a type of weighing of all the angles and odds, and being unable to reach a decision. But this will only be a temporary matter.

You can expect travel in the near future when this card comes up, and it should be a major trip, not a trip that might be routine. It will take planning and air travel may be involved. Learning about new things will also feature, either through cultural experiences or visiting educational places. Mountainous regions may also play a part.

Sometimes this card simply means ambition and the need to soar as high as you can which is now possible more than ever before.

Ideally, this card indicates the powers of manifestation, the magick of mind and thought bringing ideas into being. What you think might be, can happen, so guard how you think and be especially careful as to rhe words you choose. To “spell” a word, that is to say a word, is to cast a spell. The ancients knew that words held magick within them. So do thoughts. If nothing else, the Air Element card indicates that your mind and words have power. Use them well.

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Air Element Card in Brief: Travel, especially air travel; airports; weather; being in the clouds; using words; getting a piece of news; gossip; writing; speaking; lectures; classes; publishing; getting the word out; getting your point across; vacillation; having a divided mind; balance; testing theories; fairness; impartiality; science; music; wind instruments; the voice; the hands, eyes, and brain; ability to think things through, to analyze; intelligence; finding a solution; being inventive, cleverness; being humane; being humanitarian; overlooking prejudice; blowing hot and cold; towers; aloofness; having a cool exterior; motion; suspension; clarity and mental acuity; magick wands; feathers; birds; winged insects; smoke; incense; smudging.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ace of Swords

Key Ideas: Travel; flight; writing; abstract reasoning; science; technology; impartiality.

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WATER ELEMENT

♦ SENSING

Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.

—Roger Ebert

Let matters flow.

In astrology, the element of water represents our emotions and our talents of the imagination. Water characterizes the realm of vision taking us into the quintessential depths of feeling where intuition is more appropriate than acquired wisdom and knowledge. We get “carried away” on water. We have feelings of floating or being “adrift” over water. When looking at the shimmering surfaces of water we cannot see to the bottom, but we know and sense what is there—deep things too obtuse and transitory to explain, fathoms of moods and insight. Water is the element of the signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, lhe planets of water are the Moon, Pluto and Neptune.

When the Water Element card presents itself in a spread, you can trust what you feel as the best course to follow. What you are sensing right now may not be based on any logic, it’s just that what you are sensing is correct. Right now, it’s best to go with the flow and, depending upon the cards surrounding it, to trust that movement, although these changes may seem gentle and gradual.

Sometimes the Water Element card indicates a need to withdraw and fight another day. It is time to gather resources and gain strength

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before moving ahead. This can at times indicate trusting too soon or the passive acceptance of other peoples shortcomings when you shouldn’t accept them. You may have the tendency to want to allow things to pass you by without fighting for them, to let go of something that is rightfully yours. Water is the element of compassion and understanding. But avoid being a doormat. It is possible people or forces may take advantage of your benign and accepting nature.

This is a good time to imagine, write, paint, play, or create anything, since water is the element of the imagination. It is the ability to quiet your conscious mind and allow yourself to be taken over by an idea or a dream. Water is painting, poetry, and music.

This card represents being connected to the How of all things. It is also the ability to keep a secret or to work alone in privacy. It is probably best to now allow people or circumstances to not pin you down or hem you in. Frankly, you now have the ability to How or drift out of any situation in the way water is able to move around obstacles very gently and easily.

Currently, you may also have the feeling of floating or being adrift. In a sense, it is a type of surrender. Maybe it is the surrender to a dream. At present, you may have little energy and want to withdraw. You are in fact doing a lot of inner processing which will take you where you want to go. There are deeper levels working and developing inside you, but the work is not seen on the outside. Expect a pause but forward motion soon.

Look inward. Don’t worry about the drama that surrounds you. Avoid the commotion, sit still, float, and trust your inner wisdom. It will not steer you wrong.

Water Element Card in Brief: Being led by feelings; what is felt, and what is known to be true directly through emotions; intuition; letting go or just going with the flow; extreme sensitivity; feeling shy or out of

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place; being quiet and introverted; subtle changes in circumstances and environment; the creative imagination; psychic dreaming; currents of emotion; confusion; fears of confronting a problem directly; feeling avoidant; mysteries and secrets; acting in a solitary or secretive way; having doubts; experiencing loneliness; walking your own path without help; timidity; feelings of guilt or shame; leaving things to chance; not pushing hard enough; giving up before time; travel near or over bodies of water, oceans, lakes or rivers; beach vacations; sea life; sea shells; overcast days; cancellations due to rain; flooding; water leaks in the home; essential oils; perfumes; candles; gentleness; feminine powers; the nourishment and nurturing of others.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ace of Cups

Key Ideas: Emotional nuances; trips across water; lack of energy; sensing what is accurate without being told.

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NORTH NODE ♦ LIFE’S PURPOSE

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

—Tenzin Gyatso;

The 14 th Dalai Lama of Tibet

The North Node points out the best areas for us to direct our talents and our wills.

The North Node shows the area of gifts. It represents destiny. It is directly opposed to the South Node which is much more serious and restrictive. Dre North Node represents where we benefit from good work done in past lives and how that assists us in the here and now. The North Node is the place in the chart where life becomes easier. It acts like a karmic Jupiter where a doorway opens and suddenly you are where you need to be.

When the North Node card presents itself in a reading, you can be assured destiny has a place in your situation. Through many life lessons, you are about to arrive at a place for your highest good. Your life is expanding and opportunities pour in swiftly, catching you quite by surprise. This card also represents past-life memories and karmic connections.

You may meet people whom you have known over many past lives, perhaps in a soul family where bonds form very quickly. You are taking on a larger view of your life, which not only emphasizes your talents, but aligns your talents with like-minded souls. It’s a fortuitous time to begin a privately owned business or other professional venture that will

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bring in extra finances. Whatever this venture may be, fun, creativity, and optimism, will be a part of it. At this time you will feel less limited, and your goals and plans will have far-reaching potential.

Keep in mind, the lunar nodes always bring shifts and changes. For instance, a relationship with someone who has “destiny” spelled all over him or her, may suddenly walk into your life. If so, this relationship will start rapidly and be life-altering. One job may end swiftly and you will find yourself in a much more suitable position. If the energy is used correctly, it will promote greater optimism and prosperity. This means finances are also likely to increase.

This energy is now telling you that the schooling part is over for now, lessons have been learned, and you are now to act on these lessons toward a greater destiny. At this time, it is evident where you need to go and where you need to be.

As the soul’s messenger, the appearance of the North Node card in a spread indicates growing into what is called rhe larger unknown, meaning you are moving toward a point that promises greater fulfillment. The nodes are karmic; therefore the lessons are not easy ones. Matters will develop suddenly but there is still work to be done. Luck is on your side with an opening toward greater things. Karmic lessons learned and processed bring fulfillment and happiness.

North Node Card in Brief: Life’s purpose; the soul’s enlargement; balance; karmic rewards and karmic bonds; memories of previous lives; reinforcement; support; movement forward; being right; the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; undiscovered talents; fulfillment; the things we can fall back on; being in the flow; trusting destiny; meaningful exchanges; inner balance; the foundation for future success; achievement; giving credit; considering the other side; working with others; emotional security; the path of least resistance; adaptability; inner strength; playing games; wisdom; trust; working

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well with youth; understanding children; optimism; a stroke of good luck; generosity; charity; wealth; the color deep red; kind authority; the exploration of ideas; expansion and growth.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ten of Cups

Key Ideas: Positive karma; rewards; the soul's enlargement; being in the right place at the right time.

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SOUTH NODE

♦ LIFE’S DEBTS

Karma, when properly understood, is just the mechanics through which consciousness manifests. —Deepak Chopra

The South Node represents a karmic point in our charts where certain matters must be discharged or cast off in order to develop and move on toward greater things.

Ihe southern lunar node is also called “the Dragons Tail” and this is where most past karma lies in the astrological chart. The South Node is the place where we are challenged and growth occurs through some kind of pain. At the same time, the South Node is realistic and is the area of the horoscope that shows how we can know and understand who we truly are.

While the North Node opens doorways, the South Node represents karmic debts which can make life’s circumstances hard. But neither the North Node nor the South Node are all good luck or bad luck. In fact, when it comes to the nodes, what will be given is what has been earned. There is no other way of getting there without the toil and effort. Ihe South Node is also a key to what has been left unfinished or unresolved in your life. What lies therein is what we bring from not only our childhoods, but als'o past lives.

When the South Node card turns up in a reading, it is a turning point. It is a time of endings and beginnings. Understand that there is something about to close that has been held in place for a long time.

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Familiar ways will end, ushering you forward in new ways and through different developments. You are ready to step out of the rut and align yourself with a higher vision.

You may be evaluating certain aspects of your life to realize there is no longer any connection there and that it is time to move on. Be assured you will have a stronger foundation for your next venture. Doors slam, but in recognizing what needs to end it helps you to move on toward further maturity.

A major turning point, this is a period to maximize the advantages of these changes, difficult though they may seem now. You will want to leave your comfort zone and make as many new contacts as you possibly can. Even though the South Node is not as congenial as the North Node, they are still in balance, having things in common, so when you face resistance at a particular time, that is your South Node telling you, “Over here. This is a better way.” Blocks and obstacles, especially in this case, are letting you know you are not on your right or “golden” path.

The South Node is all about being prepared for what comes next and that means being experienced. There is no “winging it” at this time or your plans may truly sink. Sometimes, when the South Node is activated, it will take several tries to get what you're after. You could receive an unexpected rejection, one you weren’t looking for. You could even be asked to do extra tasks while working longer hours. The good news is, even though things are a bit tough at rhe current moment, it is still an advantageous time. You are about to hook up with people in your “soul tribe.” You are setting down a foundation for your future marvelous life.

South Node Card in Brief: Restrictions: challenge; inborn gifts; dramatic, sweeping change; doors closing while others open; breaking free of fetters; psychic breaks that bring on full potential;

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endings, usually without long-term trauma; letting go; wake-up calls; repetition; skills performed without much thought or effort; deeply- held beliefs; the law; karma and karmic relationships; cause and effect; fate; previous states of existence; what you have failed to live up to so far; memories of previous lives; lessons not learned or processed; old patterns; the shadow side; what is beneath the surface; addictions; becoming trapped in a situation; feeling chained; unresolved conflicts; insecurity; depression; doubts; instincts; growth; thoughts and deeds; the souls journey through space and time.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ten of Swords

Key Ideas: Endings; the closing of doors; beginnings; a shocking loss, but then a fresh start.

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ll/N/XR ECLIPSE - LI- ANtiE

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LUNAR ECLIPSE

♦ CHANGE

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

—Attributed to the Buddha

A Lunar Eclipse takes place when the earth is directly aligned between the sun and the moon. The earth blocks out the sun’s light causing the moon to be in the earths shadow. This can only happen during a Full Moon, and while a Solar Eclipse lasts only for minutes, the Lunar Eclipse lasts for hours. Ancient peoples were extremely frightened by eclipses because they believed a great serpent was taking bites out of the sun and moon.

Eclipses can bring on times which seem shadowy and disordered, but they are not necessarily bad and should not be viewed as such. We are meant to be thrown oft balance to make necessary changes. It is a time of seeing the light, and focusing on something you have either put off or didn’t exactly notice was coming up.

When the Lunar Eclipse card presents itself in a reading, dramatic changes are in store. Such changes will likely be unexpected ones, the kind that might seem hard or will take some special effort on your part. These will not be gradual, easy, barely noticed transformations; your world may be rattled somewhat. It will seem more like a revolution. Do not be alarmed, however, because this altering of your life is essential in getting you where you need to be. We are all here to share our gifts and lead others to theirs: it is never an easy path.

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Any number of things might happen: the ending or beginning of a transformative relationship, a change in life’s path or job, or a change in where you live. Whatever it may be, it will be abrupt.

Lunar Eclipses herald times of a new way of looking at things. That is why they can even bring on changes in eyeglass or contact lens prescriptions or, if you are lucky, a marked improvement in your eyesight. The moon also has a connection to the brain; thus, you may find yourself more in tune with unseen energies or experience moments of revelation.

Whatever the issue, it has been brewing for a while and things are about to bubble over. It could be a partner, or would-be partner, who wishes to take a relationship to a new level. Since the moon symbolizes our emotions, you probably already sense what this change should be and will nor be completely surprised by it, but the force and dramatic nature of the shift may be unexpected.

Expect to be thrown off balance. If the situation is something you have taken for granted and it collapses, then you will need to make a new start. In any event, you should start to see these effects within the next six weeks and expect for an outcome to be completed within six months.

This card also indicates cycles, and whatever seems lost at this time, you can be assured will return to you, perhaps in a different form, but most certainly better.

Lunar Eclipse Card in Brief: Shifts; cycles; things brought out into rhe open; changes, perhaps radical; transformation, sometimes through crisis but for the best; diverging paths; getting hit by a curveball when challenges turn up; relationships that deepen, transform or end; feeling disoriented, not being sure of having made a correct choice: big purchases; a new home or change of residence in relation to a plan or goal; endings; exposure; sacrificing things and giving up old habits;

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sudden awareness or enlightenment; possible medical operations; changes in eye glass and contact lens prescriptions; strange, puzzling dreams; getting and receiving messages of a divine nature; taking a calm, active approach to sudden developments.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Five of Cups

Key Ideas: Inevitable change; bringing in the new; memory; dissolution.

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SOLAR ECLIPSE

♦ REVOLUTION

Revolution is actually something that starts in individual hearts.

—Bill Viola

This card spells out change.

Eclipses, both solar and lunar, are the earliest forecasting tools used in astrology. Through these dramatic sky events, the ancients understood major transformations were about to happen, and since these eclipses looked so dramatic, ancient people greatly feared them. Since during an eclipse rhe sun and moon give the impression they disappear, the ancients associated eclipses with serpents they believed were devouring the lights in the sky. From this, the ancients formed the idea of death and rebirth, which is what eclipses are all about. In other words, when it comes to eclipses, something has to die for better things to be born. In the case of the Solar Eclipse, the effects are longer lasting.

The Solar Eclipse occurs during the New Moon, when the sun and moon are in opposition but perfectly aligned. For a brief time, the moon obscures the sun, blocking it from view. In essence this is a blackout, and means we must focus on what is directly in front of us. Usually a change or a shock is in store, which may not be welcome, but is necessary to move us forward.

When the Solar Eclipse card turns up in a reading, you can expect

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swift changes that end one chapter and start a new one. You may have felt something would eventually happen, not having recently paid much attention to the situation, then you’re presented with a shock or a jolt and you’re reeling over the sudden change. This upheaval takes away what has been familiar and safe so you can embark on new territories or even venture to a strange new terrain. But it will be daunting.

These events may seem like negatives at first: a divorce, the end to a relationship, being forced to move, or even losing your job. Eclipses tend to affect relationships foremost, however, and so you may soon see stressors and upsetting changes in the relational supports you have counted on. For whatever reason, these may be taken away, either for the time being, but perhaps permanently. So the one thing you can count on is that your life will go through a complete rearrangement of sorts. The energies are saying that it is necessary to be cruel before being kind.

But eclipses are not always about the downside. Instead, you may find yourself having to dive in, change something, fix something, or create something you hadn’t really thought of but will work out brilliantly, that ends up transforming your life all the ways you’ve hoped for, maybe beyond your wildest imaginings.

All in all, when the Solar Eclipse card turns up it implies you are being forced to make a decision, to act on it. There will be no stepping away from it. Even though you may not have been consciously aware of just how much certain issues were not working, it’s time to look ahead and finally resolve what has held you back. Now it is time to begin anew, and start that new chapter in the book of life.

Solar Eclipse Card in Brief: Rapid change in direction or life path; rising to sudden challenges; changes in job or residence; major adjustments in home and family situations; breaking old patterns;

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being pushed in new directions; self-mastery; working with the shadow; feeling lost; being in the dark; facing what needs to be faced; willingness to reinvent; being thrown off balance, then finding your balance once more; a shakedown; starting a new path; being zapped into awareness; becoming present; being required to awaken; being no longer able to rely upon the familiar.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Two of Wands

Key Ideas: Crisis; change; divorce: dissolution; breakdown; buildup; relocation.

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PART OF FORTUNE

♦ INCREASE

Fortune favours the brave.

—Attributed to Terence 190-1159 B.C.

In early mythology, Fortuna was the daughter of Jupiter, the god of good luck. She is the Roman goddess of destiny and

bounty. Her name in Latin is Ferre and means “she who brings forth.”

The Part of Fortune is just one of the “Lots” among several used in astrology; however, it is considered the most important one. Lots are also known as “Arabic Parts.” After the fall of the Roman Empire, Western astrology picked up the Arabian and Persian practice of

reading Lots in a horoscope.

Lots are based upon mathematical calculations—the distance between two points, with the degree of the rising sign (Ascendant) added. The Part of Fortune is the same distance from the longitude of the Ascendant as the Moon lies from the sun. So, if the sun and moon

are conjunct, that is, almost perfectly aligned, then the Part of Fortune will fall on the Ascendant. If, on the other hand, the sun and moon are in opposition to each other, then the Part of Fortune will fall on the Descendant (cusp of the Seventh House).

Many look upon the Part of Fortune as moon energy, which means the talents and gifts it endows upon an individual are both nascent and unconscious. It is as if its powers are waiting beneath the surface of water, and when that water is stirred by action or thought, those talents and gifts emerge.

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When the Part of Fortune card turns up in a reading, it means a time when things begin to flow more easily and you will have your success. But success, and how it will come about and how long it will take, will very much depend upon the surrounding cards. You may want to take advantage of this time of easy flow to resolve conflicts. It is time to heal that toxic situation which has been so difficult to overcome.

Since the Part of Fortune mostly means “gifts,” you may want to take on another area of study or master another art form. You are more creative and in tune with your imagination as well as your emotions.

This card also means that benefits will suddenly be placed in your path. Since fortune is fare, it will very well seem as if you’ve just stumbled onto them.

Disagreements are improbable, but if they happen you will likely take the high road.

Another area that looks extremely fortunate is anything to do with public relations or promotion. This is a period of recognition and achievement. Your overall popularity is increasing, and some type of recognition is on its way. It is also a favorable time for learning, teaching or taking exams. You may want to “do good” and honor others. Through this, you will gain respect and opportunity. You will heartily share what you have gained for yourself with others. Injustices of any kind will challenge and rouse you into action.

If your question is in regards to romance or any other type of relationship, know that the situation is a fated one. It is meant for both of you to help fulfill each others calling. This will not be a relationship you can ever move away from easily. Destiny is involved, so together you are called to achieve and master higher things that would be more difficult had you not met each other. In this, there will be challenges even though the love will always remain.

Your desire to fly is strong at the moment. Any shackles previously

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placed are being smashed and you are experiencing a release.

Moving ahead is what this card is all about. Madame Fortune smiles upon you.

Part of Fortune Card in Brief: Inherent talents, the gifts one is born with; what comes easily; what is natural; instincts; perception; desires; success; gains; where one has good fortune; happiness; wealth; creativity; what flows in easily; having your needs provided for; encountering success; increase; generosity; openness; public recognition; acclaim; good health; being virtuous; habits; patterns; sensation; a sense of belonging; the gifts of childhood; family issues; cycles; finding balance; anxiety; fear of failure; taking on more than you can handle; repairing what needs to be fixed; working oft the grid; being responsible solely for your own victory.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ten of Pentacles

Key Ideas: Where you are lucky, fortune, karmic triggers, destiny, fate.

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GRAND TRINE

♦ BLESSINGS

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. —Kurt Vonnegut

A Grand Trine is when three planets aspect each other at a hundred and

twenty degrees. This creates an equilateral triangle (if you are to draw lines between the three planets). These planets will usually be in signs of the same element. A Grand Trine is considered to have an easy- flowing energy, either in the natal chart or by transit, and to be an incredibly lucky aspect.

Trines (when only two planers aspect each other at a hundred and twenty degrees) always inspire harmony in the skies, so there is a sense of wholeness and completion when a Grand Trine happens. Although Grand Trines do not always spell out easy fame or fortune, those with one in their natal charts can be born into wealth or are at least momentously talented. The only downside with a Grand Trine is that those influenced by them tend to become lax or so contented that it leads to laziness and inertia. It is like a child who is given everything he wants and thus, doesn't know the values of responsibility or appreciation.

When the Grand Trine card presents itself in a spread, be assured you are entering a time of easy flow, or that at least many of the impediments you are experiencing are being lifted. This speaks of a period of harmony and ease that may inspire you to take the path of

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least resistance. But it is best that you keep your eye on the prize and not let go of your original purpose. Do not leave it on a shelf. There is a possibility that your success may be lost if you do.

On the other hand, this is a time where you can expect yourself to be “in the right place at the right time.” What may seem like a lucky break stems from the wants and desires you have been consistent about. It isn’t, however, time to coast. You must continue to give a little more effort in order to keep that wheel of fortune turning. Also, don’t pass up any opportunity that may fly by—not every one of them will be right for you, but a few will facilitate you coursing a flowing river of success.

When it comes to love, when the Grand Trine card turns up, your existing relationship should improve. Your social popularity will increase; and if single, you are about to meet a person (or have already) who will be a true partner, not only supportive of you and your successes, but someone who will help advance you in your goals. It could indicate meeting up with your perfect mate, but this would only be as long as both of you are willing to nurture the relationship. If not, it will still be an overall good relationship, just a short-term one.

This is an excellent time to apply for a loan, to ask for a raise or to expand in terms of finance and career strategies.

Whatever the subject of your question, your path is being cleared. There are few road bumps. But the most important thing is to follow through on everything you start. There is harmony with this card, but things will not take care of themselves.

While it may seem that luck is on your side, you have been diligent and worked consistently to bring this about. Your diligence and hard work may not be visible to others, but you deserve the success that is soon to be yours. Stay in the flow, trust in the universe, but continue to do your work so this fortuitous time does not pass by before you can reap the harvest. You will need to apply real effort.

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Grand Trine Card in Brief: Being gifted; being blessed; creature comforts; good luck, but with no guarantee of success; receiving gifts; winning; having faith; being in the moment; indolence; inertia; wanting to play instead of work; unrealistic expectations; avoidance; escapism; fantasy; easy flow of energy; lack of complications; easy enhancement of natural gifts; taking the easy way out; seeing no need to push the limits; artistic sensibility; dream catchers; hidden potential; contentment; euphoria; harmony: innocence; childhood; getting along with others; being empathic; being at one with others: sweetness; gentleness; privacy; the inner world; acceptance; satisfaction; striving lor peace; experiencing disconnect; stasis.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Temperance

Key Ideas: Harmony; completion; being in a good place; easy-flowing energy; opportunity; contentment.

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GRAND CROSS

♦ PROVOKER

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. —Helen Keller

The Grand Cross is an area of tension in a chart, thus becoming a great catalyst for movement and change.

A rare astrological configuration, the Grand Cross (also called the Grand Square) occurs when four planets form a perfect cross in the skies. These planets are around ninety degrees from each other, meaning there are four planetary “squares” (ninety degrees apart) and two planetary “oppositions” (a hundred and eighty degrees apart).

Squares in the astrological chart cause tension and restriction. Oppositions, as well, are seldom “soft aspects.” They come with the pressure to grow and the will to exceed any limitations put in one’s path. But the Grand Cross is the most rare and intense of all.

In mythology, this alignment represents the "four directions.” The Grand Cross, also called the Cosmic Cross, is symbolic of the four seasons, equinoxes and solstices, as well as rhe cross-quarter days, indicating a period of time when your life may seem at cross purposes. Usually, when a Grand Cross occurs it indicates a crisis; yet, through this calamity will be the painful process of growth, then renewal, and eventually, a greater foundation for happiness and success. Strangely, it is almost as if the planetary energies are in competition with each other.

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This may be a rather exasperating time where you feel provoked and frustrated over booby traps that seem to have been set in your way. It’s as if everything is working at cross purposes; you feel pulled in many directions. Such false leads and failed plans may leave you unable to produce concrete achievements.

An area to look at when the Grand Cross card comes up is how you communicate. Are you communicating as well as you should? Are you abandoning a worthy project the minute it loses its shine in an effort to capture a larger, glossier prize? But more simply, in your effort to accomplish more, arc you juggling balls in the air? Do you notice as you juggle, if you are stuck in the same spot, that not much has been achieved?

When this card presents itself in a reading, it suggests there are multiple talents you are able to access, as well as numerous paths you can take. Focus and organization are key. Until this matter phases out, expect resistance, since opposition is the main energy field of the Grand Cross. Once on track, the momentum toward the attainment of what you desire will be impossible to stop, It mainly has to do with the shifting of energy and switching into gear.

In regards to relationships or love, they will have a fated quality. You will not want to let go of a person no matter how hard it gets. There will be sacrifice and compromise with this relationship, and it will be one where you may want to bump your head against the many walls that seem to fly up out of nowhere. You are being challenged; and if you do not weather it out and see what the future brings, you will likely always regret letting this relationship go.

If the question is about business or career, know that it will happen, but it will be hard. You have to be willing to walk the miles. Diligence will be required.

What is positive about the Grand Cross card is, you are becoming more realistic and focused. You won’t be attracted so much by glitz and

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glitter, but looking more toward stability and long-lasting success. A good thing to remember is that it’s best not to fight the hard lessons at this time. In fact, this is a period where you need to take stock of all that has brought you to this place. It is time to draw upon your own strength. In doing so, you will move from uncertainty into a place of peace and contentment.

Grand Cross Card in Brief: Frustrations; being overwhelmed by the reality ofsituations; balancing things out; analysis-paralysis; unreadiness to move or act; the mulling over of matters; building a foundation; keeping an eye on the prize; identity crisis; focusing on self; self-worth; initiation; needing to act; poverty; the need to scavenge; hard luck; not being given a break; direction; focus; earning trust; implementing change; the need to be more flexible; encountering resistance; time for healing; time for reasoning; feeling hurt; victimization; feeling misunderstood; a realistic look at the future; going through the motions; an unfavorable time to act on impulse.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Nine of Wands

Key Ideas: Pressure; discipline; frustration; growth; defensiveness; competition; victory.

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YOD ♦ DESTINY

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. —Jean de La Fontaine

Hie ancients believed that the Yod was an area of fate in the chart, and not a particularly favorable one.

Also called the “Eye of God” or the “Finger of God,” the Yod is a peculiar astrological configuration in a chart. It is a triangle formed by two planets sixty' degrees apart while both are a hundred and fifty degrees from a third planet. This creates a thin, pie-shaped aspect.

The Yod configuration is linked to the Hebrew alphabet. “Yod” (or yud) is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet which has mystical implications signifying the omnipresence of God and often denoting humility because the energy is locked in that triangular configuration, causing matters to be “fated” and often difficult, but not without their rewards.

Yod configuration is influential and implies that there is a disruptive force at work. In a sense, this astrological placement of planets is somewhat in exile from the other planetary energies because they are not harmonious with each other and therefore cause tension. This can bring about feelings of intense stress and restriction. There can also be a sense of being different, feeling alone, and of being out of step with others at times. A Yod in a natal chart can even indicate being the black sheep of the family.

When the Yod card presents itself in a reading, it means that the

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situation may be chaotic, or may soon turn that way. It will be hard to see any clear path because of this chaos, but it will be important to weather through it all. This is not always bad because it is a process of finding what works and what isn’t functioning, and now will be the time to be scaling things down and weeding out what is unnecessary'.

But more than that, this card is about finding your own truth even though that truth may not be reflected through others. You may wish for more support when this card comes up, and will have to manage this all on your own. Another development may turn up and that is, you will prefer to work it out on your own without any interference from others.

This card can denote a time to voyage inward and come to your own truth. There really isn’t anyone who will have the tools to figure this out more so than you at this time. So now may not be the best time to take advice from others. Your inner knowing “has it” already; you just have to take the time to process the information to come to your own answers.

At times, when the Yod card turns up, there will be health issues that need to be dealt with and solved before moving forward. It can be indicative of autoimmune disease, celiac disease, fibromyalgia, thyroiditis, everyday allergies and other ailments. Although these diseases would not be life-threatening, they could still be a crucible of sorts with a need for drastic changes to be made for relief or for symptoms to subside.

More positively, this card means that circumstances are good for achieving your goal; but be prepared for sacrifices on your part, and not just one but several. It will not be an easy path, but it is a time to expand your focus. You have a desire for greater awareness which will come through dedication; but patience and adaptability are necessary in making this situation work to fulfill your greater purpose—the one you were born for.

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Yod Card in Brief: Needing to make adjustments; being inventive; being unique; having a special purpose; trusting all will work out as it is meant to; the eventual success of destiny and fate, even amongst chaos; self-examination and discovery after a period of confusion; missed opportunities; increased awareness; humility; being shown factors you are currently blind to; making up your mind; making a choice, learning from adjustment, and flowing with the change; a conduit of energy; profound blocks; stop and start motions; it is best not to force the issue at this time as there is fate involved; allow matters to unfold before acting; bringing everything together; answering the call, as the ordinary life is released into the spiritual.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Ace of Swords reversed

Key Ideas: Destiny; doing things on your own; standing strong; making a difference.

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JUPITER RETURN

♦ BENEFITS

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

—Attributed to Seneca

A Jupiter Return occurs every twelve years. This marks the time the largest and most expansive of planets returns to the original place of when you were born.

Turning up the Jupiter Return card indicates a period when doors are open to you and obstacles are lifted. You are given the freedom to advance your goals with absolute abandon. It suggests you will soon be entering a time where you encounter less resistance and life should flow much easier. The Jupiter Return card is the “green light” that gives the go ahead. All paths are now clearing and you are to take the utmost advantage of this.

Goals or plans you started more than a decade ago will begin to bear fruit, either right now or at least very soon. Something very good is about to emerge from the debris of the past. It could be a thing you felt you lost or something that did not work out exactly as you hoped. It may even be a plan you have forgotten about, that once again comes into your life to make some remarkable changes and advances.

In short, the Jupiter Return card implies good fortune and prosperity in many areas, not just financial or material.

Dreams manifest into reality at this time. Gifts flow in easily. It is also a time to be aware of how you approach matters of your own

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spirituality, faith, and destiny. There is a rapidness to Jupiter, so it’s important to grab a hold of anything that surfaces. So don’t let go; investigate the possibilities this might bring. It is not a good time to get carried away though. It is always important with Jupiter, to keep a clear head.

Jupiter, named for the Roman god—or Jove, as he is also named— is a jovial planet, open-hearted, optimistic, and flirtatious. The god Jove brings a multitude of blessings, while the planet Jupiter is the Santa Claus of the planets. The Jupiter Return is like Christmas Eve. This card marks a stage when you are to receive opportunities and then rewards. This is the time many areas of your life begin to bear fruit.

The only negative to this card is that it’s not a good time to indulge or become reckless with anything. It can indicate too much of a good thing or of being overly confident things will work out on their own. But like the Saturn Return, only hard work with perseverance will bring the payoffs.

It is time to take a broader reach and to show gratitude. See the possibilities. Trust in your fortune and give thanks to the gods. Making light of a situation and realizing it’s not as bad as it seems is the best approach; in fact, something will be rescued from the darkness.

New experiences trigger a desire for travel and inner development. Communications with angels and higher spirits are more possible now. Higher education calls to you. Publishing your ideas or bringing them before the public are a probability. Relax, let go of control, and allow things to unfold. Be wise and pay attention. Don’t take your eyes off the prize.

You are in a kingly or queenly place right now. Bigger goals and plans now rule your life. It is time to put laziness aside and buckle down for some dramatic changes, mostly positive. Great fortune is ahead of you, so don’t back away from it, and proceed from the dream in an outward way.

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Love and romance takes on a sweetness, a sense of freedom where you can be who you are with the addition of acceptance and generosity. You may attract many potential lovers at this time, so choose wisely or the relationship could be very short-lived. And also, be careful of indulging in too much to eat or drink.

So in short: love others with grace and patience; know that generosity is its own reward; keep the expansive energy of Jupiter flowing, but with discernment; and, in answer to your question, yes, but only if you are wise in your choices.

Jupiter Return Card in Brief: Positivity; openness; seizing the moment; rising to the call; preparation for great opportunities; being a success: grand achievements; significant improvements in money matters; new love or revitalization of old romances or relationships; signposts to the future and all the possibilities it may bring; release; freedom; happiness; buoyancy; excess; sugary foods; weight gain; rescue from suffering; the ace up your sleeve; happier times; alignment with the souls calling; drawing the finances you need as well as the wisdom to know what to do with it; a check in the mail; debts repaid.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Tire Chariot

Key Ideas: Earned luck; fortune; rewards; profits; an auspicious year; the future; aspiration.

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SATURN RETURN

♦ AGE

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

—Andy Warhol

Saturn as the Lord of Karma, shatters all illusions.

It takes approximately twenty-nine years for Saturn to orbit the sun, so the first Saturn Return happens around the age of twenty-nine. It marks a period where childish things must be put away. There is no more “getting ready to live your life,” it is time to live it, and be responsible for your own dreams, goals, and affairs. If you hold on to things with no basis in reality, your suffering will grow and depression may follow. You cannot escape this truth-seeking energy. You must face it.

Ihe second Saturn Return occurs around age sixty, when you become aware of your own mortality. You may become keenly aware that you may not have enough time left to achieve your goals. Often there is a paring away of what is not essential; but for those who have not acted wisely, this will be a difficult transition.

When this card is drawn, it will feel as if nothing goes right for you, and you may feel very discouraged. Just as it seems things are progressing, there are obstacles. What this truly is, is Saturn showing you a part of your life that may not have been based upon anything real. It may have outlived its purpose, or perhaps you’ve misjudged a

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situation, thinking it better than it was.

In truth (and Saturn is the planet of truth), Saturn Returns are all about correction. Saturn corrects any area which isn’t based on reality. It might be romance, business deals, educational paths, partnerships or marriage. This card is pointing something out to you that may not have been genuine in the first place and that should probably be let go. Whatever is shaky in your life won’t last, and probably isn’t meant to.

If this card is drawn you will not be given a “pass” and the matter in question will not progress as easily as you might want it to. But more positively, this marks a time when things are solidified. Whatever you accomplish currently will have permanence to it. You will have worked hard and your hard work will pay off, gradually growing more successful over time.

You may feel a sense of time running out. If any partnership is now being formed, that lover or partner may be older or in better standing than you. Pessimism may figure in, and you may be compelled to give up on something you believe in dearly.

Saturn is the planet of time and measure and signifies hair turning gray or skeletal or bones problems. Dental problems are common with this transit.

Saturn Returns tend to bring on rough passages, but also a harvest.

You are now at a time when you understand things better than you did even a year ago. It is time to be brave and face this important passage. There are no quick fixes when this card turns up. Know what you can and cannot do. Take life in a measured way, much like this planet of time already does. Let go of your illusions for they do not serve you. You’re down to the brass tacks now—time to see what you are made of.

Saturn Return Card in Brief Weight; earth; the physical world; the feeling of life’s immensity; life’s harshness; moving past hardships;

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another chance; paying your dues; what lives beyond the dream; ambition; late December and January; doing things in a measured way or at the right time; building a foundation; being steady; responsibility; waiting it out; bleakness; aging, and dealing with the aged; nursing homes; sickness; endings; fortitude; endurance; releasing what does not work; feeling pressed for time; feeling stuck; being boxed in; frustration; father, and older males; deserved success; the colors brown, black, and gray; what endures; facing the truth; a time to get real, a reality check; stripping things bare; clearing the past; karma; fated relationships; emotional coldness.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Judgement

Key Ideas: Difficulties; paying your dues; moving to the next level; putting the past behind you; correction.

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MERCURY RETROGRADE

♦ REINVENTION

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or by the handle.

—James Russell Lowell

Mercury Retrograde is regarded as a time when things tend to go wrong. In actuality, it marks a three-and-a-half-week period where any important actions should be postponed.

About three or four times a year, Mercury goes through a motion called “retrograde,” which means to “go back” or “retreat.” But although Mercury, the planet of slippery wit, fluency and adaptability, this inner planet so close to the sun, appears to be going backwards, it’s not. The retrograde movement of a planet is just an illusion because the earth is orbiting the sun at a different speed than Mercury and the other planets. Still, from an astrological point of view, planets in retrograde motion cause potent effects on the earth below. No planet goes retrograde as often as Mercury because it is never more than twenty-eight degrees from the sun. And because of this it has given us the dubious phrase that when something goes awry many exclaim, “Mercury must be retrograde!"

Mercury isn’t a predictable planet going along its normal direct path anyway. But once it goes retrograde (it’s akin to trying to drive a car backwards), all things ruled by Mercury suddenly begin to

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wobble and go off kilter. However, if you’re a writer, when Mercury is retrograde, it’s the perfect time to revise your writings.

Mercury is the counterpart of Hermes, the Greek Olympian god, the sly trickster, who is not only big on pranks, but also false moves. He is the god of transitions, roads and boundaries. The very name Hermes has to do with speech and implies he is a translator. Mercury, as Hermes, conveys information. When that information comes to us wrongly, because of Mercury’s unpredictable retrograde motion, nothing seems to go right.

Firstly, when this card comes up in a reading, back up all of your equipment, your computers, cell phone numbers, and address book, and anything to do with technology or mechanics. Electrical appliances purchased at this time may end up needing to be returned. Any sale items will often turn out to be massive duds. Don’t make the mistake of purchasing a vehicle at this time either. If you are to have your vehicle repaired, expect making another visit to the shop to have something revised or corrected.

How long will this period last, when the Mercury Retrograde card comes up? Give the matter one week and then ask the same question after that week.

You will want to carefully go over any contract you sign, and check any email or letter you send. If you are about to leave on a trip, leave early, because you must expect unusual delays to occur. And make sure you have clothing for all types of weather because the temperature and conditions are likely to change.

Mundane matters aside, retrograde planets are said to be more “empathic” and that means that strangely, we are more silently and internally keyed in to their energies. This causes unusual and fated meetings and occurrences to happen. You may meet up with someone you haven’t seen in years at a most unexpected place. You may have a conversation with someone with whom you only have a superficial

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relationship with, when suddenly you connect to that person causing a much deeper rapport.

If you are asking about the strengthening of a relationship, this is not a good time to get married, but it is an excellent time to renew your vows. It is not a good time to initiate a divorce or end a relationship though, considering how soon Mercury moves forward again, because if you do, then the relationship will soon move forward again too. If you are feeling hopeless, and worried that a relationship is never going to work, the Mercury Retrograde card is actually a good one to turn up in a reading. It means there is more than what you know about the situation at the current time, and that the possibility of the relationship getting on its legs and moving ahead is very likely. It is also a fortuitous time to connect with a lover from the past. It is a time to revise, reinvent and renew.

Mercury Retrograde Card in Brief: Glitches; screwups; missed communications; carelessness; cancellations; misunderstandings (unfavorable time for explaining or solving arguments); eruption of quarrels; mechanical failures; missed flights; faulty computers; difficulties reaching a decision; poor judgment; mistaken purchases; unfavorable time to launch businesses; fixing what is broken; a job accepted not turning out as planned; life slowing down; comtemplation; changes and unforeseen changes in schedules; revision; reinvention.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Two of Swords

Key Ideas: Blunders; cancellations; unexpected failures; getting off track.

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VOID OF COURSE MOON ♦ MISSING

The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to. —Carl Sandburg

All is not as it seems. This Void of Course

Moon card can be daunting; it may not be a good or appropriate time to answer your question. As it is now, the results may not be what you want.

What is a Void of Course Moon? The moon travels through the entire Zodiac in twenty-seven and a half days. There is a moment when the moon makes its last major aspect before leaving one sign and entering the next. It’s as if the moon has gone to sleep. Her wisdom is being withheld until she moves into a new sign and the moon begins a new chapter or story.

Tlte usual axiom for starting things on a Void of Course Moon is, “Nothing will come of the matter.” Matters will not go as you planned; in fact, most of the time it will end up far worse than you planned. You have been caught blissfully unaware. You’ve missed something or you weren’t paying close enough attention. But you won’t be able to set the situation right ar the current time.

This card says to sit still and stay as you are. Take no action at the current time. Wait for the storm to pass over. It is time to be patient and allow matters to settle before beginning anew. Allow this matter to resolve on its own without your help, work, or interference.

Don’t bail anyone out or make loans currently because it is unlikely

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you will be repaid. Medical results will probably not be accurate. If your question is about a job or career move, then it’s not the right one. If you apply for a job and get hired, it will not be long-lasting. It’s possible you will get hired and then a more suitable job will come along and you will have to leave the first one.

After a long and costly effort, your matter in question may fail. People around you may start behaving like screwups. It could be that great passions are playing against you. Discipline is needed. It is not a time to act impulsively. Whatever you do as your routine will stay as it is. However, matters that are unplanned or spontaneous will tend to work out for you.

A Void of Course Moon can be used to your benefit, so keep this in mind when this card shows up in a spread. For instance, you can work on something you really don’t want. You can interact with persons you don’t really want to become a fixture in your life. Embarking on anything new or untried will tend to go wrong. In other words, when the Void of Course Moon card presents itself in a spread, if you agree to plans you don’t really want to come about, then it will be very likely they will not come about.

However, meditation and any type of psychic or spiritual efforts will work out better when the Void of Course Moon card turns up. It’s a good time to dream and even make plans; just do not act on them yet.

Also, do not plan a wedding if this card comes up. Keep in mind, the time is not yet ripe.

Void of Course Moon Card in Brief:

Weather cancellations; frustrations; delays; vagueness; hollow feelings; a sense of everything being “unreal”; emptiness; making mistakes and other bad decisions; promises not met; unfulfilled plans; rhe sleeping mind; not paying attention; false starts; matters remaining unresolved;

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a time to wait awhile and start over; a time to float or rest; serendipitous occurrences; a time to disconnect; things begun requiring adjustments later; inconclusive or wrong medical results; an unfavorable time to apply for a job, get married, or for nonroutine medical procedures.

Corresponding Tarot Card: Eight of Cups

Key Ideas: Silence; failed judgment; false readings; wasted effort; the wrong choice; missed opportunity; sleep; recovery.