VictoriaBazeley

Stock Market Thrill Ride

A lot of boomers have a significant amount of money in the stock market, thanks partly to the general societal push away from defined-benefit pension plans and toward 401Ks and similar retirement accounts that offer the potential of greater financial rewards along with greater risk. I know I have a lot of money in the stock market; so do my parents; so does my boyfriend, and others in my circle do too. Lately, global stock markets have been on a roller coaster ride, and my boyfriend periodically calls me up and says things like "my retirement account got killed today." Although not as dramatic as the dot.com crash of several years ago, the recent market upheavals due to problems with mortgage lending give us all a chance (if we choose to take it) to assess our personal tolerances for financial risk. More…

Can People Change Their Relationship Patterns?

I was talking to someone the other day about similarities in the romantic relationships they've had over the years. They brought up the question of whether or not people can actually change their relationship patterns, particularly their problematic ones. I believe people can. My personal example for this belief is my father. He had one type of relationship with my mother (not good) and a much different (and better from his perspective) relationship with his second wife. In some ways, the desire for this type of change is the driving force behind most remarriages. The remarrying person wants a new and better type of marriage than the one they had before. And yet anyone who's ever experienced a distressing and re-occuring relationship pattern knows how they seem to operate subconsciously. More…

Are Sun Sign Horoscopes Useful?

I post monthly sun sign horoscopes on my website Practical Astrology, so you can pretty much guess that I'll answer the question above by saying that they can be useful.  Lots of people disagree because they feel that sun sign horoscopes are too general to have any value, since a horoscope by sun sign theoretically applies to 1/12 of the population--a pretty big slice. Other people find them entertaining and nothing more--which is fine by me. I find them useful, though, in my own personal life, precisely because they are general. Let me explain. More…

Life Tests Come in Threes

I've often heard it said that bad luck comes in threes. Maybe good luck comes in threes, too! Obviously, neither bad luck nor good luck come in threes all the time, but there is an astrological correlate to the idea of life tests coming in threes. The correlate I'm thinking of has to do with outer planet transits. Most of the time, an outer planet (like Pluto) will pass over a degree that activates a planet in your natal chart once as Pluto moves in direct motion. Then, at some point, the outer planet will retrograde and pass over that degree again. Finally, the planet will turn direct in its motion again, and it will pass over that same degree again. Add it all up and you get three tests (or opportunities) with that transit, depending on whether you think of these things as bad luck or opportunities. More…

Menopause, Memory and Neptune

When I first realized that I would be having heavy Neptune aspects to my natal Mercury as I approached the traditional age of menopause, I said to myself "Oh no! I'm going to have the classic symptoms of memory problems, difficulty concentrating and feelings of fogginess." Female friends of mine had complained of such effects as they approached menopause, and Neptune in heavy aspect to Mercury is a symbol of exactly such problems. Alarmed, I put myself on a regimen of mental exercises, sort of trying to bulk up my brain in advance, in hopes of staving off the problems my friends had experienced. The result? So far, I haven't found myself troubled by the classic symptoms my friends had described (knock on wood). More…

How Shall I Approach Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

My sister is a great source of astrological inspiration to me because she's learning astrology and she asks so many wonderful questions. Recently she asked, "how are you supposed to approach a chart? I mean, I know the basic symbols and stuff now, but how do you start interpreting an actual chart?" I get this basic question from many people in many forms: "How can I learn astrology? What does Venus in my 8th house mean?" If someone's Moon and Ascendant are in the same sign does that mean they're more like that sign than their sun sign?" What all of these questions really mean is "I know a little astrology, but how can I understand what the symbols actually mean?" Okay, so how does one approach and understand a chart? More…

Health and the 6th House

There's been a lot of activity in my 6th house these past few weeks, and it's got me thinking about everything from going on a diet to getting to the dentist to having my eyes checked to cancer screenings to worrrying about my exercise levels....Seems like the older I get, the more health maintenance there is to do. But that's what the 6th house is all about--maintenance and prevention. This makes it an increasingly relevant element of astrology for people in midlife. The Ascendant and first house are said to represent basic health and vitality, but as one marches into the 40s and beyond, faith in one's basic health and vitality is not enough; conscious attention to healthy practices becomes important. So how do you use the 6th house? More…

Some Guys Have All the Luck

In the grocery store the other day, I heard Rod Stewart singing these words: "Some guys have all the luck. Some guys have all the pain. Some guys get all the breaks. Some guys do nothing but complain." The charts I've been looking at this week seem almost eerily coincident with this theme. I've been looking at charts that appear very lucky, charts that appear full of pain, charts that appear destined for all the breaks, and charts that appear predisposed to do nothing but complain. More…

Happy Birthday America! What's Your Sign?

Today we celebrate America's birthday with fireworks, outdoor activities, fun get-togethers, and, in my neighborhood at least, blazing heat. Having a birthday on July 4 makes the US a Cancer by sign. Our country is also said to have Sagittarius rising. The Cancer part would be an old expression I don't hear too often any more about the US--"God, mom, and apple pie." The Sagittarian part would be a certain frankness of spirit. Now this may be true; the US may indeed be astrologically a Cancer country with Sagittarius rising. But, as anyone who's read a few of these posts knows by now, sometimes I just feel like being a little contrarian. More…

Computerized Astrological Reports--Should You Get One?

This week, a few people have brought up the subject of the computerized astrological reports with me. These are reports you can order from many websites, and they're usually presented in "cookbook" style. That is, they're broken up into segments like: "Mars in Leo: You have a strong drive for success..." or "Character: Your Aquarius sun gives you a pioneering character more interested in improving the future than dwelling on the past...." And so on. Some sites will give you a short report like this for free and will offer more reports for relatively low fees. You've probably seen them. So--should you order these reports? Are they of any value? More…