Just a note to my friends who have a hard time finding a "home" in life after events which have yanked you out of your place and forced new choices.

I think this is part of your destiny, in a way, to learn how to make your own "home."

This is a Cancer speaking about the Moon problem.

 As a child I moved many times and I remember once during a transit period when my Dad hugged me and asked why I was crying. I was about 12 or 13. I told him I wanted to "go home." He had been transferred a number of times for jobs and this particular time we were in limbo--left one spot and not yet settled in the new one. He told me I was always "home" when the people I loved were with me. He said that home was in the heart, not the geography.

Now, after 30 years in one place, I realize more than ever how important a lesson that was. We make a "home" whenever we invest love in the relationships we have. We make a home whenever we care about the place we are, its problems, its beauties and its possibilities.

One day a few years ago I was talking to my son about eventually moving someplace where I didn't have to mow the grass and commented that the house wouldn't be "home" anymore for him either, if I did. His reaction was, "But Mom, home is always where YOU are."

Now of course he is married and home is where his wife is. I guess the lesson my Dad taught me got passed along to another generation, somewhere along the line. And isn't that what we are supposed to be learning?

Sometimes basic astrology techniques help us make a home. Here's some tips on how to be at home where you are.

Cancer rules food, right? So start cooking, baking, filling your spot with good smells. Buy and use a bread machine (man, does that smell like "home") if you aren't a baker and spend some of every week's grocery dollar on stuff for soup. (There are directions on packages, if you can read, you can make soup.) Then cook the soup. If you have fresh bread and homemade soup in your kitchen once a week, you will feel happy, safe and pampered, I guarantee you. Chocolate chip cookies you make are a bonus.

Second, it rules growing things, such as gardens. Plant chives, lettuce, tomatoes, anything. If you don't have an outdoors, plant them indoors or on your balcony. Mix in a few flowers. Grow SOMETHING. If it's a canary, or goldfish, that qualifies. Cats are good. So are dogs. Cancer rules nurture.

Third the sign Cancer deals with containers of all kinds--bags, baskets, bowls, buckets, bottles and the like. Put them around. All kinds. Fill some with candles, some with soap in the bathroom, some with reading material in the living room, with pillows or slippers in the bedroom, with "stuff" of whatever sort you have. Make sure every room has a visible container in it. At least one. The laundry room should have a basket for clean clothes or a hamper for dirty ones or both.

That's inside. Now go outside and look at what you have that is yours. Your spot, if you like. Put your name somewhere, even if it's only on the mailbox. Find a place for a chair to watch the sunset. Put a chair there. Figure out where you want to put your car. Put it there every day.

Next examine the neighborhood. Now obviously people aren't going to bombard you with presents and attention just because you're there, but they will be curious about you. It's human nature. Talk to them. Try to make a few friends. Find out who needs help. Offer to help, even if it's just picking up a loaf of bread for old Mrs. Whosit on the corner when you shop for those soup ingredients. Share some of the soup with her. Better yet, invite her over, put your plant (you do have one by now) on the table and serve the bread in a basket. Put a bit of yourself into the neighborhood and before you know it, it will be your neighborhood.

Check out the town. Find a place that needs you. Give of yourself. If you put a little love into a place, love comes back and that makes it "home."

Sure it takes time and effort. Follow the Cancer rules and the moon side of yourself responds and provides instincts that make you feel this is "home." It is the moon that is our emotions and happy, warm, safe comforted emotions are what we need to give ourselves.

By the way, it's not enough just to think about doing this. You actually have to do it. When you pamper you, the child in you responds. It's really a lot simpler than we think.

My first experience with Saturn hunting the moon came with the chart of one of my students who had a litany of woes happening to her.

Her alcoholic husband ran out on her, left her with a house and mortgage, young kids and just disappeared. Kids were sick, job didn't pay much, money was a disaster, etc. etc.

I saw her progressed moon conjunct transiting Saturn, where it had been for several months.

Now, despite what some people claim, this aspect CANNOT remain in force for "years" because Saturn retrogrades part of every year and the progressed moon keeps right on moving ahead. Saturn will not catch up with a progressed moon that has had several months to establish a "lead."

I do not use orbs on progressions. In my book, a progression is exact or it isn't in effect at all. Saturn hunting the moon has to be on the position by less than 30 minutes of arc. Preferably less than 15 minutes.

Anyway, I was pretty sure that when Saturn stationed she would start to pull out of the problems, and no new ones would fall in her lap once the progressed moon had moved one degree away from Saturn.

That's what happened. New bad things stopped occurring. Yes, she still had to deal with the old ones, and some of them took years to sort out, in true Saturnian fashion. She eventually had to go to court to have the hubby declared legally dead in order to sell the house she had paid for and cared for nearly 15 years.

I think when we use orb on lunar progressions we are setting ourselves up for error. I allow a Venus/Mars aspect, for instance, to be primed for action when it is within 30 minutes but not a degree and a half. Even then, the aspect only manifests when it is exact unless a lunar progression ticks it off again a month or two early or late.

Sometimes it is a parallel that ticks it off. Again, I do not use any orbs.

By the way, all the problems that woman had worked out in her favor. The job she had led to a happy marriage to a wealthy man years later. The children she raised alone adored her and made her later years rewarding. The house had a mortgage payment that turned out to be teeny after the whopping inflation of the 70s, allowing her to raise her kids, pay it off and live well on a not-too-sensational pay check, etc. etc.

But during the Saturn-hunting -the-moon months, life was a mess.

Hi all,

I noted that some people seem surprised to see a "good" aspect almost exact at the time of JFK Jr's death. This is actually pretty common. Many directions at the time of death seem to point to travel as well.

When I went over his chart, his progressions, his solar return for this year (1999) and the chart for the departure of the plane, there were many, many indications of trouble.

First, let mention that his Venus was dead trine his ascendant at birth--the closest aspect his ascendant had. It accounted for his looks and his law degree, but it was not his ruler nor career indicator.

His birth pattern contains everything I look for that indicates people will die young. Both his sun and his moon were heavily afflicted and from the 12th house.

This year's solar return put his natal moon/Uranus opposition exact on the MC/IC and every single planet in it was involved in a major stress pattern with his natal. There were a number of powerful inconjuncts (which usually shows a threat to life).

The chart for the plane's departure is awful. Neptune rises as part of a fixed grand cross and Uranus rises square Saturn exactly. The first house in a trip chart rules the vehicle. It, too, contains inconjuncts, including one for Venus, which rules the end of the trip, or the outcome.

I think the plane had a mechanical problem that was undiscovered and that possibly caused the engine to quit in midair and for electrical equipment (probably the controls) to fail. There may have been some slow leak of gasoline or oil or even battery acid (if there was such a thing aboard) that caused a fire which shorted out the electrical stuff. Something leaked, something broke, and there wasn't a thing he could have done about it, is how I read that departure chart. And by the way, it has some strong ties to his progressed chart--the sun for instance, conjunct his progressed moon, etc.

It looks pretty fateful, to me. He didn't do a thing to cause it and he couldn't have saved it even with more experience as a pilot, in my opinion.

<< Will you elaborate on how Venus trine the ASC indicates a law degree? >>

Ordinarily I don't think it would. However, he had a moon/Uranus opposition and a sun/Uranus aspect and Uranus is the planet of government service. He did not really want a role in politics, but the party wanted him and a lot of people thought he would do well there. He had a famous name and a long legacy to live up to.

(They didn't see his Virgo rising as a problem, but he did. By the way, that is a tough one for anyone in the public eye to overcome. But it gives a certain personal modesty that is very endearing to others. Tom Hanks has Virgo rising and he is one of my favorite movie stars--he doesn't see himself as "special" either, even if he is.)

Venus is the planet of politics and the law. If you want to be involved in government service, you have to have a law degree. Well, you don't have to have to, but it is considered almost "standard" these days. Anyway, his personal charm from that Venus is obvious. All politicians need charm. That's a Venus attribute. He told some political figures he might consider a run for office in 2004 or 2006, according to a TV show I saw.

So, it is clear that in combination with the charm and looks and the Uranus push into government service (His moon-Uranus opposition ran across 6 and 12, the houses of service), it was obvious he had to have a law degree. So he got it. But he wasn't ever going to be happy as a lawyer, even though his family pushed him into it, I think.

What he really wanted was a career in the arts. Another Venus direction.

But Venus did not rule his 10th house of career. He didn't get the acting career he wanted, and he wasn't any great shakes as a lawyer. He started a magazine instead, clearly his Gemini MC working. Mercury ruled that, not Venus.

Nobody will remember he did have a job with the DA's office. He will be remembered as the publisher of George.

And he never got the public service position either. He died too young.

<< My daughter has a stellium in her 4th house Capricorn, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (also her IC and Part of Fortune) . My question is this, these placements make for her Ascendant (Libra) to square these planets, but at the same time, they sextile with her sun (Pisces in the 6th), do the sextiles negate the squares to the ascendant or just soften them? >>

Pat replies:

Sorry, but nothing ever "cancels out" or negates anything else in the chart. Everything always exists side by side. The sextiles don't soften them--only allow your daughter other options for dealing with the problems implied by the squares.

But squares are not bad in themselves. Charts with no squares or stresses are weak charts and people don't develop much inner toughness. The effort it takes to solve square problems develops grit, stick-to-it-ivity and muscle.

Sextiles are opportunity aspects--she can use them or not. Squares don't give you an option--it's do it or else with a square.

and more on stelliums..

This is a type of stellium. When 3 or more planets occupy the same sign of the zodiac, it is called a stellium.

For most purposes, I don't use just sun, Mercury and Venus. Mercury and Venus are always close to the sun. I think a true stellium needs other planets--or at least one, in addition to those three.

When three or more planets occupy the same house, they have some of the same effect as the stellium in one sign.

Now, here's what I have found over the years in doing charts.

The house with the stellium has importance. A lot of the life focus will be there, in one way or another. BUT--and this is a big BUT--a lot of the energy "explodes" into the opposite direction. It is like setting off a firecracker. You light one end, but the thing shoots up into the sky with the other end.

This creates tensions and stresses, because opposite signs or houses have different needs and requirements in our lives.

Example: People with 10th house packages need a stable, secure home and family life. But it's a case of how much work vs. how much time at home for that person. If the north node is part of the stellium, the job will get top priority, with home just fueling the focus. If the south node is uppermost, the family will get it and the job will be "merely" a way to take care of matters in 4.

In order to tell which is which, you really need to look at the whole chart, of course.

Stelliums have power--they involve conjunctions of potent energies that are more complex than merely having two planets in the same space. Sometimes people with too much power are like teens with Ferraris--they wreck the car the first time out and spend their life in driver's ed.

Other times such stelliums fuel a life of accomplishment. It depends on a lot of other factors in each chart.

Hope this helps.

<< I am so grateful for Saturn. Without Saturn I wouldn't have a backbone!! Not to mention ANY other bones or teeth, ability to create with results, >>

It's late and I should be in bed but this reminded me of a wonderfully scary story I read years ago and I wish I remembered the name or author of it. The story is about a woman who hates her bones. They always ache and stick out and she gradually begins to think that if only she could get rid of them she would be a lot happier.

My memory is a little shaky on how she meets the slimy man who offers to help her with her problem, but at any rate, he pulls all her bones out through her mouth and she gets her wish. The story ends when somebody comes into her room, sees that gross, ugly puddle of gooshy stuff on the floor and throws it out in the garbage can. Of course that gross, ugly thing is all that's left of her once her bones are gone.

And that is my Friday the 13th contribution to the general edification of Festival.

Subject: Re: Astrological Indicators of Conspiracy Fanaticism

Just a few thoughts on this topic to put my two cents in.

Seems to me that almost all paranoia and conspiracy fears come out of fear. And that's Saturn's department.

Any planet's qualities carried to an extreme can be unpleasant, and Saturn represents the "flight" of the "fight or flight" reaction to perceived danger. Mars, of course, is the "fight" in the equation.

Now obviously when Saturn is part of a stress pattern--particularly to the moon, which rules emotional reactions and to Mercury, which has to do with how the mind works--the fears can get out of hand. What things are we afraid of? Well, throw in Pluto, Neptune or Uranus and you can get conspiracy, secret organizations and messages received by your bridgework (in that order).

When the houses in the natal pattern that rule the mind (3 and 9) are part of such a stress pattern, particularly from the 12th house of secrecy, it can get pretty sticky. Neptune can be responsible for the endocrine gland system going haywire, for instance. When the thyroid gets overactive (6th house stress maybe) and affects planets in or ruling the mental area, you can get really weird mental reactions. Throw in Saturn and Bingo--conspiracy fanaticism.

I've seen some of this first hand and when the physical was corrected, so was the mental. But they are so closely linked, that it's no wonder the reasons often go undiagnosed. The woman I am thinking of was thought to be just going senile until the thyroid problem was diagnosed.

And believe me, she had a bunch of conspiracy theories and was an incipient fanatic. No, I take that back: she IS a fanatic--about lots of things. Conspiracy fear is just one among many.

The Virgo-Pisces polarity is pretty finely balanced and involves the health/sensitivity sign and the imaginative/endocrine gland system and when you throw that into the package you are downright guaranteed to have paranoia.

I know a Virgo woman with a Pisces moon who suffered from anorexia (fear of growing up) and our musical weirdo Michael Jackson is another with such a signature of Saturn stress (that horrible father problem) and the Virgo sun/Pisces moon package. And is he a fanatic about secrecy and people out to get him? Sheesh, is he ever!

I always think of Pluto as the Ex-Lax planet.

It always forces us to eliminate the crap in whatever area it is transiting.

A lot of us build up wasteful spending practices over the years. Sometimes we buy far more shoes than we need, or excess clothes, or trade cars too often, etc. etc. We don't bother with budgets. We live from payday to payday.

When Pluto moves through it forces us to get rid of the outmoded in our life and rejuvenate what we keep. I see Pluto prominent in the charts of people who like to refurbish old furniture, resellers of auto wheel caps, antique storeowners, etc., etc. It is also strong in those who manage money and who manipulate money well to their own benefit. Any time Pluto makes an aspect to your moon, for instance, you may get the urge to clean the closets, or the basement, or the attic.

So, Pluto will put you on a sound financial footing one way or another. It will help you restructure you attitudes toward money and spending and giving and keeping. If you have a beneficial aspect from Pluto to the ruler of your 2nd (or a planet in it) in your birth chart, it can be a big boost, possibly even a big jump in income.

Go on a budget system ASAP when Pluto heads for 2. Start paying yourself first by putting cash off the top of your income into a savings account. Cut your spending and overhaul your finances.

You'll still have to clean house, but it will leave you better off.

<<I have found any Venus/Mars contact brings intense interest in the opposite sex, an awareness of the slightest of sexual innuendoes, and a strong libido..>>

The conjunction is the strongest of the contacts. However, it damages Venus
--the planet of love and harmony--to some extent because Mars is simply
stronger and physical urges are mighty tough to rein in. It takes some good
aspects to bring out the gentler side of Venus without squelching Mars.

I would not go so far as Ebertin does in saying it alone leads to perversions, but I think any contact by Venus or Mars to the outer planets does encourage a "twisting" of the norm, if you will. Throw in some Saturn stress and you may have strong dominance desires and those can get out of hand in a hurry. Mix in a little Uranus or Pluto and it can all get very, very murky.

Part of the problem of interpreting some of these more violent patterns is
lack of experience. I think I would need access to a lot of bad charts before I could pinpoint the precise mechanisms involved.

Last night I was watching the story of the Hillside Stranglers case where two guys with twisted attitudes to women would experiment with sex with their victims and then torture them in various ways before killing them. The shrink who was on the show talked about the dominance issue getting out of hand--in other words, strangling a woman gave these two weirdos the ultimate feeling of dominance over the female.--Mars damaging Venus, for sure.

Would like to get birth data on either of those two guys to see what happened to Venus and Mars but I would venture to say in both cases Venus was weak and in a muddle and Mars was powerful and afflicted. It doesn't take a genius astrologer to figure that out.

One of the more interesting progressed aspects in a chart is when Venus comes to natal Mars or Mars progresses to Natal Venus. In both cases the individual seems to face a decision: The spirit or the flesh. It may be disguised as something else, but often it is a quite clear choice to make.

Anybody who's experienced this care to share?

Pat replies,

Strange how these things come up in our lives just when we need them, isn't it?

Just remember about sexuality: God made us and he made us sexual, too. He
intended us to be full human beings and to be that the best way we know how.

The only rules on that that He reportedly gave us (10 commandments) were about not using sex in a way that hurts people: adultery hurts an innocent spouse and coveting what doesn't belong to us sours our soul.

Works for me.