VictoriaBazeley

Saturn/Neptune Opposition and the War in Iraq

I suppose there's no more potent symbol of the energy of oppositions than an actual war like the one the US is engaged in in Iraq. A war is about as oppositional as anything in life ever gets. This particular war has had to contend with the recurring oppositions between Saturn in Leo and Neptune in Aquarius over the past couple of years. That particular cycle is busy ending itself right this very moment, and perhaps that's slightly good news for a war-weary world. I have my take on what I think that could mean for this now long-running conflict. More…

Saturn and the Joys of Cutting Back

I'm looking at a couple of charts this week in which Saturn is "talking" about the joys of cutting back. In one chart, a person is overwhelmed by a busy career (common these days) and Saturn is suggesting that it would be a good idea to get a handle on things by restricting some activities. In another chart, Saturn is suggesting that some space might be opened for more rewarding activities if some seemingly useful but unpleasant tasks were eliminated. Saturn exists in everyone's chart--it partly represents the human impulse to control, regulate, manage and restrict, because these things make life easier for people to live. But we don't live in an age or society that respects Saturn too much. More…

Mars Attacks: Rosie O'Donnell

Astrological symbols (planets, signs, houses, etc.) essentially represent archetypes of human behavior or areas of life focus. If you want to understand the Mars archetype, you need look no further than at the recent life of a woman who has been in the news rather frequently of late--Rosie O'Donnell. Many of you may be aware that Ms. O'Donnell has endured her share of fights, controversies and arguments here lately. Her relatively short tenure on the TV show The View was notable for the number of spats and controversies it was able to provoke in rapid-fire succession. That's Mars for you. More…

Neptune and Online Romance

It has occurred to me that the symbolism of Neptune in Aquarius fits pretty well with the phenomenon of online dating and romance. The sign of Aquarius is associated with modern high technology, and it seems to be particularly correlated with the rise of the Internet. Neptune is associated with romance, fantasy, confusion, deception, imagination and escape. That combination sounds pretty much like what I hear about the world of dating online. More…

Sun Sign and Ascendant

Someone wrote in asking what it meant to have the sun and the Ascendant in the same sign. Did this make a person very "strong" in the characteristics of that sign? Most people would say yes. They would call that being a "double" Scorpio or a "double Aries," and so on. Of course, in reality, it's a little bit more complicated than that. So it might be helpful to talk a little bit about what the relationship between the sun sign and the Ascendant is supposed to be. That way, whether your sun and Ascendant are in the same, similar, or wildly different signs, you can start thinking about the implications for your own life. More…

Months, Memories, and Changes

I want to like the month of May; I really do. I want to like it for a lot of reasons. It's spring; the weather should be nice. Some of my favorite people are born in May. Astrologically, it always seems to me to be a perfect month for romance, an amorous time of year when spring budding makes people want to connect, flirt, and couple up. During May, the sun's in Taurus, a sign I associate with stability, and nesting, and the fruitfulness of flowers blooming. More…

Full Moons, Eclipses, Surprises and Timing

I know they have a lot of lore associated with them, but I ordinarily don't pay much attention to full moons, other than eclipse full moons. I like to go outside at night and look at them because I think they're beautiful, but other than that, they don't affect me much. This particular full moon (May 2) in Scorpio was scheduled to be more intense and surprising than most, so I decided to handle it the way I handle most full moons--ignore it mostly. Except that it proved to be indeed more intense and surprising than most.  (By the way, you can find out into what house the full moon in Scorpio falls in your solar chart by counting round the zodiac from your sun to the sign of Scorpio--e.g., for Aries it's the 8th house. That's an area of your life likely to be affected if you will be affected at all. If you don't know what the houses mean, I provide some keywords on my site Practical Astrology.) More…

Don't Let Astrology Support a Life of Fear

I have a pet peeve, and like most pet peeves perhaps, it's a bit hypocritical. My pet peeve is people who use astrology (or anything else really) to support a life run by fear. I've read that Nancy Reagan used to consult an astrologer before her husband did anything and wouldn't let him do things like sign legislation unless an astrologer gave the okay--which meant he sometimes ended up doing things at odd hours like 1:59 a.m. I don't know if she actually did this, but just reading about it irritates me. It irritates me because it strikes me as operating out of a combination of fear, dependence, and an excessive need for control. More…

Virginia Tech Shootings

I had planned to post this week on the topic of Mars in Pisces combined with the sun in Aries and how it can be a symbol for the eruption of hidden anger. In the wake of the shootings at the Virginia Tech campus this week, the eruption of hidden anger seems a far more sobering topic than I had originally anticipated. Obviously, the young man who shot all those people had a tremendous amount of hidden anger, and it erupted in a form that is far beyond the pale of what most of us ever experience, in fact far beyond the pale of what most of us can even imagine. More…

How Do Others See You?

If you know a little bit about astrology, then you probably know that your sun sign tells you what your personality is like. Once you get past the basics, you learn that your sun sign is not the indicator for your personality, your Ascendant sign is. In fact, if you know just a little bit about astrology, your next step is to find out and investigate your Ascendant sign, because you'll probably find it fascinating. The Ascendant has a lot to say about how others see you. It's very interesting to get a glimpse into how others perceive you. If you're old enough to be a boomer, though, there's another relevant element to how others see you, and that's your Midheaven. More…