John Townley's AstroCocktail News Archive 2011

This month arrives on the tail end of the biannual eclipse period, with a lunar eclipse at 18 Gemini-Sagittarius on December 10, making the onset of the holiday season somewhat topsy-turvy, especially with already in-place Mercury retrograde ending two days later. So it’s a little crazy. Add to that full-tilt Mars-dominated skies and you’ve got an active month where you’ll need to be aggressively on top of things before they get on top of you.

But the real news is, this month is just the beginning of a tidal rush of planets swinging from retro to direct which will add a rare month-long no-retro period starting Christmas (when Jupiter goes direct) and ending January 24 (with Mars retro). Combine charging Mars locomotive skies with all planets direct and you’ve got the equivalent of an onshore wind (Mars) driving an incoming tide (no retros), meaning events continue to speed up with wind and tide behind them, making retreat impossible, so you have little choice but to steer with the incoming flood of events until the pressure begins to abate.

Periods like this, of alternating all-direct and no-retro skies, happen rarely, when bowl or bundle patterns reign above and high-intensity events predominate below, usually in periods of great social, economic, or military change. Think WWII and also the fall of Communism – both happened under these kind of skies. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of it coming up, so stay alert and be ready for the unusually high tides of events washing your way like some crazy tsunami. Stay on top of the crashing waves with your eye on the lighthouse beyond, and you’ll make it safely through the storm.

Last month we warned of Mars taking over, and it did, putting its burning breath on everything it touched, and catching a lot of folks off-guard. If you weren’t on top of it and riding the situation, it was riding you, into the ground. Just ask Qaddafi. November brings more of the same, except this time it’s more familiar – and it’s also holding a flower of beauty and creativity up as a prize, the conjunction of Mercury and Venus running together almost the entire month. Beginning at the end of Scorpio and then sweeping through Sagittarius, the union of technology and taste brings everything from pretty personal pictures to works of art in progress.

But don’t expect stability, with Mars still kicking out the jams and a partial solar eclipse (Nov. 25) flipping everyone’s coins toward month’s end, with its double-or-nothing full Moon mate to come in December. Expect another very intense month, in which you can again be sure that if you’re not on top of the wave, you’re likely to be under it. And it’s not like you can get out of the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat – so pick up your pan and start cooking over a hot flame, throw those buns into the oven, and with Mercury and Venus smiling, you could find yourself birthing a new and particularly piquant life cuisine…bon appétit!

October is a month of opportunity, and actions taken to pursue it. The long-awaited multi-direction splash sky is fully underway, with a distinct Mars accent that actually turns into a Mars bucket during the last week of the month. Any way you turn, there’s a planet to hang on to, at least one in every section of the sky, and with Mars injecting a high-energy boost to it all, efforts quickly pick up speed and intensity. If there’s any problem here, it’s that you may have to tend to an overload of input/output for some time before any one of the many things you have to deal with actually pays off.

And this may take some getting used to, as growing Jupiter dominance laced with Mars forcefulness can bring out the dark side of the positive, and the greatest trap is not missing out but pushing things too far. The key maneuvers are to coolly cover all the bases, make multiple investments, follow up numerous leads, and get a piece of everybody’s action without regard for total commitment or instant returns. Putting all your eggs in just one basket will only get you lots of broken eggs, when what you want is a piece of chicken in every pot.

So get ready for a crisp, upbeat fall, likely to rock your boat and perhaps sweep you off your feet unless you make sure you’re centered, well-braced, and ready to roll in any and every direction…

After a very busy August, September marks a new trend: splash skies with multiple possibilities and Jupiter becoming king of the sky for some years to come. Well into the ‘teens of this century, the heavens will alternate a splash pattern (in which the planets are scattered all over the sky) with a Jupiter bucket, where Jupiter (or Jupiter and one other planet) will occupy half the sky and the balance of the planets the other half, with only the occasional Saturn locomotive cooling things down between phases.

That means it's time to get familiar with that great benefic planet (the strongest next to the Sun) during difficult and explosive times marked by Uranus square Pluto. You'll have to pick the right path among multiple choices, and change directions in mid-stream when momentary benefits run out. You'll have to get to know the darker side of Jupiter to avoid blindly following inflated promises to unexpected disappointment. Just as traditionally malefic Saturn, ruling the skies for the last several years, could be at times supportive, so Jupiter’s rosy reputation for good fortune is not always what it’s cracked up to be. The next few years will be a primer on the difference between the benefits of Jupiter and the inflated disasters it can also bring.

The quicker you learn, the better, as with this full-tilt giant taking charge, life will speed up and choices crowd in at an ever-greater pace. There will be bigger payoffs than ever, along with a higher price for picking the wrong number in life’s lottery. Stay tuned, as we’ll be ladling out good tips on how to do it as each month goes by…

In August the heavens explode into a new sky picture that will be with us for a long time to come, as dour Saturn moves away from center stage and bold Jupiter takes over, alternating splash-pattern skies with a Jupiter bucket pattern well into 2017. Retro Mercury right at the starting gate (August 2) makes change of plans the order of the month, so previous crises will suddenly come to nothing while others materialize and take center stage, only to become fraught with delays. With four planets retro all month, compromise and exploring new options is the name of the game, as the splash sky opens up new vistas and alternate choices become available.

Much of the month will be spent in awkward readjustment, as this is the opening salvo of a totally new reality rhythm that most are not expecting. If you are ready to quickly spread your efforts in a broad, scattershot mix-and-match approach you will reap the benefits, while those still tightly focused on all-or-nothing past patterns begin to trail behind, missing the changing winds of opportunity. If you’re already in a flexible stance at the beginning of the month, it will go well for you. If not, it will be hard to catch up with developments until September…

“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend” was China’s slogan in the spring of 1957, when just the opposite was about to happen in the sky, with a severe and crazy bundle chart about to manifest with dreadful consequences. We see quite the opposite this month, as the heavens literally bloom into a spread-out splash of planets that continues on until nearly the end of 2012. After this year’s dire period of Uranus disasters and revolutions, compounded by a severe Saturn bucket holding down progress, it will be a relief to see the freedom of multiple opportunities all vying for attention, even though resources to pursue them may still remain scarce.

July begins, however, with the final drama of this added-eclipse season, marked by the July 1 partial solar eclipse at 9 Cancer. It’s a weak one, but it’s part of a big cardinal grand cross involving the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto. The last blast of the passing difficulties, it can cause trouble for those with planets early the cardinal signs of Cancer, Capricorn, Aries, and Libra. Get through the first week or so, and then start hunting down new possibilities as they begin to present themselves in previously dry or dormant areas.

As the month progresses, the usual summer heat and wildfires will be blazing, but along with them will be new prospects, like a rain of seeds carried in the wind, looking for fertile ground. Choices will no longer be limited to the severely restrictive (Saturn) or crashingly risky (Uranus)…more reasonable alternatives will abound. Keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to welcome in the ones that will bring you new life…

Three eclipses (!) in the course of a month make June a topsy-turvy, constantly-changing, applecart-upsetting month. Jupiter enters Taurus just four days in, and the whole pace of expansion changes style from fast to slow, from fire to earth. May was a time to sparkle with Venus and Mars running together, but that’s history and now it’s time to shake the fruit from the trees with the help of a bracket of partial solar eclipses (June 1 at 11 Gemini, July1 at 9 Cancer) around a central knockout lunar eclipse June 15 (24 Gemini). That’s one more eclipse than the normal biannual set, so boats will be rocking all month. The solars are a bit less intense than usual, though the second one is part of a cardinal grand cross, but batten down for the lunar, which is smack on the nodes.

Saturn still calls the shots, a bucket handle commanding half the sky, with Moon joining it for a see-saw in the second week, but this is the last month for it to put a serious face on things, as by July the sky will be a splash of planets all around the Zodiac, enabling lots more summer play and freedom to choose which way you’re pointed, where your bread is buttered, and by whom. But that will only be after June’s choppy waters calm down a bit. In the meantime, enjoy eclipse season – the lunar is visible in Europe, Asia, and Africa (but not the Americas, where it’s still daylight). The first solar eclipse can be seen in high north latitudes, from Siberia, through Canada, to Sweden. The second can only be seen from parts of the Antarctic Ocean.

May brings a celestial explosion as Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter race along together across Aries and Taurus, with the sparkling and sexy Venus-Mars conjunction at their center. Because Jupiter is at the heart of it, it means anything that happens – events, births, commitments, even daily activities – will be suitably oversized. So this spring may be a late one, but it could be a great one, as the whole Earth sparkles in response. More important, it’s an important one, as that rip-snorting stellium is all opposite Saturn, which is the handle of the month’s bucket-chart skies, so everything swings around serious commitments. Don’t make your moves too lightly or they’ll just get shot down.

That could happen anyway, as this bustling month is just prologue to a particularly intense three-eclipse month following, where you can expect triple reversals of fortune until the pace settles down and directions resolve themselves. So make hay while the Sun shines, and step quickly and surely while super-sized opportunities are knocking and before they get knocked off the block…

This month’s skies welcome Neptune into its home sign of misty, moisty Pisces, for the first time in a century and a half, and just in time for April showers (where appropriate, of course). In the best of all possible worlds, that would mean a peacefully limpid spring when buds turn to first flowers and children go puddle-jumping with colorful umbrellas. But with the month opening on a fiery weekend stellium in Aries including Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, and Jupiter, you can expect those puddles to be more like steaming pools, a springtime sauna strewn with hot rocks that you may not want to walk on with bare feet. The cruelest month? Maybe not, but if you’re looking for peace and quiet, try the eye of the storm as the rest swirls around you.

That’s also because there’s a literal sky-splash on its way, as the monomaniacal Saturn bowl and locomotive skies of earlier this year are about to give way to a much broader, more equal-opportunity splash pattern as the inner planets leave the outers behind for the summer. The Mars-Uranus conjunction of April 3, if true to form, will show us where the next set of tumultuous activity will appear, after the current sweep of the Mideast has had its time in the Sun. Of course, Mercury will be retrograde most of the month, so you can add a dose of uncertainty on top of everything. But despite all the turmoil, at least the big outer planet shifts are finally done for a while, and for the next seven years (until Uranus exits Aries), we can spend some time getting to know the changes they are bringing, before they switch yet again.

Jupiter and Uranus are both aggressively back into Aries this month, and that combination of Mars-ruled striking power coloring the expansively explosive duo is being felt all around the world. Revolutions, uprisings, earthquakes, storms, and every conceivable form of blasting extremity seem to be the currency of the moment. A long-predicted time of tumult has arrived right on time and will continue apace at least until Jupiter moves into Taurus in early June. Depending on your neighborhood, hunker down accordingly, flee, or roll with the revolution.

Adding to the mix is Jupiter’s opposition to Saturn this month, with establishment or rearward-moving forces putting up as much resistance as possible, especially as the Moon makes the square to both, right on the Ides of March. Julius Caesars, beware. To the unwary, it surely seems like the gods are angry.

And, it’s just another major step in the total sky change that began with Pluto’s entry into Capricorn three years ago. Next month, Neptune will enter Pisces for the first time in over a century and a half, completing the change of all three outer planets, plus Saturn and Jupiter. And April skies will also see the explosive Mars-Uranus conjunction as well. So the much-vaunted message of change has become manifest, whether it’s the kind you want to believe in or not. For those ready to surf the leading edge of the wave, it’s an exciting time, indeed…

Last month was topsy-turvy, thanks to skies alternating between an inward bowl shape and an emotionally-volatile lunar bucket pattern, and February promises more of the same. The difference will be that discovery and opportunity, led by Jupiter beginning a race through speedy Aries with Uranus on its heels, are waiting for you to recognize their appearance, despite the otherwise rocky weather, inside and out. It’s as if you’re being handed a golden rose for Valentine’s Day, but it’s so small that you overlook how precious and important it is.

That’s compounded by the Sun, Mercury, and Mars slipping by misty Neptune at month’s end, so things aren’t what they seem and it will be even easier to mistakenly gild your old lily when the new rose is where the future lies. Next month, as Uranus reenters and finally stays in Aries, it will be more abundantly clear which way the tide of fortune is flowing, but those who recognize the gifted rose this month, floating in Neptune’s shimmering pool, will be ahead of the game…

Last month's topsy-turvy eclipse-season craziness muddled with Mercury retrograde ends with the January 4 solar eclipse at 13 Capricorn, bringing relative order to a chaotic period of external and internal storms. A peaceful, cold winter stillness will belie the fact that the first 27 days of the New Year see all planets rushing forward direct, until Saturn finally comes to a halt near month’s end, just as Jupiter leaps into Aries.

So expect the volatile Moon-bucket skies of the second half of the month to start stirring things up and swinging new trends into place like a drawn-back slingshot to be released in spring when Uranus falls finally into Aries and Neptune slides into Pisces, a major energy shift indeed, with all kinds of social and economic implications both in style and substance. January’s sky pattern is similar to last month’s, but without the cantankerous eclipses crashing systems all around and generally impeding progress. But more important, it begins the windup to a spring and summer of major changes from high government structures to the intimate deals you strike with your lover that will have you wondering if you’re entering frighteningly unfamiliar yet excitingly adventurous territory.

Enjoy the illusory hiatus, as the groundswell is already rising…

November Doomsday (Nigerian Compass) – Actually, more like a near miss, but some interesting observations…

Free At Last (Westminster Patch) -- To cast a chart, tell a fortune, be an astrologer, as anti-astrology law fades from the books…

Happy Anniversary, Neptune! (Holland Sentinel) -- Neptune was finally sighted for good, just one Neptune year ago, July 12,1846...

Lunar Goodbye (Pravda) -- Is the Moon leaving? Eventually, says Russian scientist quoted in the ever-reliable and always-amusing pages of Pravda…

When The Sun Strikes (NASA) – In 1859, our home star spat at us so fiercely that even the telegraph lines went down. What will we do the next time?...

From Dr. Dee (YouTube) – Damon Albarn performs one of the songs from his new opera about astrologer John Dee…

When Will You Die? (Bhaskar) – Will you kick off on a Friday, or earlier in the week? Or Sunday morning before Saturday night’s hangover takes effect? Here’s a fill-in table, based on your lunar position and ruling planet…

Comforting Crystals (The Sun) – Brit celeb starcaster sends a soothing silk purse to X-Factor victim of Simon Cowall’s axe…

Calendar Conundrum (Himalayan Times) – Astrological committees in conflict over 24 missing days, as Nepal stuggles to make Gregorian change…

Losing Its Spots (AAS) – For the first time in observed history, the sunspot cycle may fizzle out, and no one knows why or what the implications are for us on Earth…but it's causing panic in the press in the UK about a new ice age...

Juice Signs (Patch) – Sun-sign juice drinks? What will they think of next? Spare us…

Killer Stars (Pravda) – More celestial alarums from the former Soviet Union’s mouthpiece…

If the Sun Were a Pumpkin (Physics Central) – “That’s about the size, where you put your eyes…” – more similes for the solar system…

Google X (Subversify) – Is Google censoring information about the deadly Planet X? A scientific conspiracy…

Guru’s Guide (Sydney Morning Herald) – Pathways to political fame are punctuated by seers and starcasters. It’s the same in business, as these newly-published guides outline…

Politicians’ Peril (The Telegraph) – India is not well-served by its powerful spiritual pundits…

Astrologer’s Warning (Mid-Day) – One politician should listen to starcaster’s cautions about his sexual inclinations, or just turn on American TV for a lesson…

Bubbles (NASA) – For those who always thought we are floating in a cosmic champagne glass, it appears we are…

Balls (La Moda Dubai) – No, not a comment from Craig Ferguson’s robot Geoff, but some more barely affordable baubles for the astro-minded…

Dee On Display (Londonist) -- Astrologer John Dee’s tools of the trade are subject of a new exhibition at the British Museum…

Starry Ice (LA Times) -- Zodiac baubles for a mere $1,000-2,000, very sparkly, indeed…

Bunko Beat (Indian Express) -- Astrologer in real estate scam, this time in New York City…

Jupiter Shrunk Mars (Eurekalert) -- Jupiter’s early wanderings may have diminished what could have been a proper-sized Mars…

Moon Rocks (BBC) -- With rocky planets come big rocky moons, just like ours…

Dog Bites Man (Deccan Chronicle) – All because of the shifting lunar nodes…who suspected?...

Obama A Shoo-In (Myanmar Times) – Burmese astrologer is already into the 2012 election…a little confusing, but he’s probably right…

Midnight Sun Eclipse (NASA) – That’s what happens when an eclipse is above the Arctic Circle…

Manhattanhenge (MetroNY) – This spectacular sunset happens but twice a year, since the founding of the Apple. This is the first. Next on July 12…

A Different Sky (Thunderbolts) – Do ancient petroglyphs reveal that the planets were doing something quite different, not so long ago?...more evidence for that now being found on Mercury…

Venus Unmasked (einnews) – New study shows that the planet of love is, indeed, just that…

The Hitler Effect (NDTV) – Politician shaves his head because his horoscope is too much like Hitler’s…

Runt of the Litter (Science Mag) – Mars may be aggressive, but that could be because he’s little…and that’s because he started out too early…

Saturn Superstorm (NASA) – All hell is breaking loose on the surface of Saturn…we should note that when this happens on either Jupiter or Saturn, their rulerships here tend to get similarly crazy…

Freelance Planets (NASA) – It turns out there are unattached planets drifting all over the place…could one be passing our way?...

Doctor Dee (SMH) – Elizabethan astrologer John Dee is the subject of a new opera…

Melting Core (Our Amazing Planet) – EM effects thought to be coming from above might be coming from below, as our core melts beneath us…

Big Alignment (Time) – Time Magazine weighs in on this month’s stellium…ho-hum…

Crop Circle Prophecy (Crop Circle Connector) – Does a multiply-evolved crop circle in England foretell a new, bright object in the sky on the next new Moon?...

Declining Stars (Express Buzz) – Marriage by the stars is less important to Subcontinental men, says new survey, but divorce is up…

Monsoon Futures (Indian Express) – Agricultural university will be studying possible astrological effects on India’s economically-critical yearly drenching…

Astrology To Run (Thoroughbred Times) – Our equine fave will be hoofing it in the Preakness…

Dubai Glory (Gulf News) – Astrologer predicts Dubai will regain previous status, among other Mideast states, in new cycle…Arab Spring?...

Gunter Sachs (The Telegraph) – Commits suicide at 78…many knew him as a multi-nillionaire playboy, few as an astrology researcher…

Dark Seasons (New Scientist) – Dark matter in space may vary with Earth’s seasons. What’s going on here, sounds very Zodiac-y…

Gripped By Fear (News24) – The Eternal City is in a panic over a possible earthquake next week, prediction of a long-dead seismologist, based on planetary motions…May 11 is D-Day...

Osama’s Death Chart (Blogcritics) – Astrologer speculates on the time of the killing and VOC Moon…would help if she had a chart for the victim, too…

The Marriage Itself (Blogcritics) – Wrong time here, it was declared at 11:20 AM, but the Moon was still VOC. Hmmm…

Bad Omen (Babble) -- Diana's astrologer doesn't think much of the engagement ring, says it's trouble..

Pluto’s Tail (Technology Review) – It may be only a dwarf planet, but it’s got a tail…

Moon Zapper (NASA) – It turns out Saturn is in an electric circuit with its moon Enceladus, as April showers hit Titan…part of strange goings on aboard the dour planet…

Formerly Planet X (UFO Digest) – A new take on the ever-elusive Planet X: it’s not there anymore…but it used to be…

Crystal Clock (JustLuxe) – If you can order from the left, here’s the perfect gift for the astrologer who has everything…

Paid Gurus (IOL) – Mix-and-match spirituality has women picking and paying for everything from astrologers to bioenergists to improve their circumstances…

Sun Didn’t Do It (AGU) – Sun radiance wasn’t entirely responsible for the Little Ice Age…

AstroFraud (Journal and Courier) -- Psychic astrologer on welfare made off with $181,432 and is on the lam in Texas…where did she find such generous clients?…

Astro-Architecture (Business Standard) – Method for building skyscrapers goes a step beyond traditional astrology and vaastu…

Anti-Witchcraft Law Tabled (Hindustan Times) – In order to appease both astrologers and those who favor animal sacrifice…

Earth’s Companion (Red Orbit) – Newly discovered asteroid has been hanging around our orbit like a twin…

2012 Wrap (CNBC) – With help of new book, here’s a list of the multiple convergences that have produced the 2012 doomsday anxieties…

Mazel Tov (Jewish Week) – Who knew it means “good constellation”…and more interesting notes on Jewish astro-roots…

Science Spars with the Supernatural (Book Tryst) – If one thinks the planets are somehow supernatural, that is…Newton didn’t think so, nor did a lot of other folks in this venerable library collection…

March Madness, Jupiter Juggernaut (FX Street) – A follower of Ray Merriman’s approach explains the current state of the market…

The Five Elements (Manila Standard) – Philippine journalist looks at environment through the Chinese elements, first of a thoughtful five-part series…

A Cosmological Journey (Hancock) - How modern scientific data is taking us back to the wisdom of the ancients, starting with fractal black holes right next door…fascinating…

Global Warming Ice Age? (Helium) – Yes, we’re going to get both, in a one-two punch, same as before, says major paleoclimatologist, thanks to solar cycles…

Potato Earth (European Space Agency) – Gravity variations around our planet are tuberlike, with wonderful animations here…

Final Four (Houston Press) – Figgy Jones figures out how the hoops will fall…while in cricket, Subcontinental starcasters pick India… -- ...and in breaking news, they were right...

Chinese Classic (People’s Daily) – Grand history by court astrologer is now available in Russian…

Hunt and Tell (Express Buzz) – Fortune hunters make a beeline for fortune tellers…could there be a better match?...

It’s Not An Asteroid? (NASA) – Vesta, one of the “big four” asteroids in every astrologer’s ephemeris, isn’t one? No, says space researcher, it’s too evolved…

Pundits In A Row (Afaqs) – Animal astrologers, and a sixth sense poll, compete to predict India-Pakistan cricket match…

Breaking Predictions (Brandimposter) – In very broken English…WWW3 will be broken after end of world…is making hard to read very perhaps scary…! This one breaks the mold for machine translations, from what language we’re not sure…

Don’t Leave Home Without It (Times of India) – Without your astrologer telling you when to, if you want to pass your school admission exams, that is…

Candy Floss (Eurekalert) – That’s what planets are (well, used to be) made of…

The Fairer Sex (Times of India) – Which seems to be making inroads on previously male-dominated Subcontinental astrology. Quite the opposite of the West…

High Horse (Racing Post) – Every time we Google “astrology,” we get the racing news, for good reason…look out Kentucky Derby…

Quake Windown (Suite 101) – Experts say seismic window is late March as ground and sky cycles coincide…

Volcanoes and the Moon (TreeHugger) – Hawaiian astronomer is looking for links from above to eruptions below…

Magnetic Madness (Salem News) – Do rapidly-shifting magnetic poles drive animals and humans crazy?...

Pole Wondering (Thunderbolts) – Does increased magnetic pole wandering affect visionary developments in world culture?...

The Usual Suspects (Paranormal Old Pueblo) – That would be the supermoon, Sun, and Uranus…variously credited/blamed for troubles…

US Next? (Epoch Times) – Quakes coming in US next? More from the NZ predictor...

Tread With Caution (India Times) – SuperMoon finds Subcontinentals being extra careful, as well we all might…

Quake To Come? (Fox) – This one for California, in a prediction from a geologist, but connected with that superMoon…

Perigee (NASA) – Details of this unusually-close full Moon, including a video…

A Reporter’s Stars (St. Louis Today) – How many journalists have to get free readings, just for a story? Well, here’s another one…

Guiding The Terrestial Life (NY Times) – Well, this one’s about the astrologer and not the reporter…of course, it’s the NY Times…

From The Horse’s Mouth (Astropro) – Forget the media kerfuffle, here’s the lowdown straight from the astrologer who invented the term “supermoon”…

Shorter Day (Fast Company) – Thanks to quake, we’re rotating faster…

Shooting The Stars (The Triton) – The joys of astro-navigation praised at length…they help you know where you are, and where you’re at…

A Fortean Light (Death by 1000 papercuts) – Charles Fort had something (a lot!) to say about things like supermoons, earthquakes, and associated phenomena…

Did Supermoon Do It? (NY Daily News) – The Japanese earthquake, that is. Of course not, as the super Moon is still over a week away…

Nothing Special (Red Orbit) – That’s what astronomers say about the coming “super Moon” which has hit the news circuit…but just in case, might be best to stay at home…

The Market Will Crash (Hedge Fund Live) – In just fifteen days…start counting…must be that super-Moon...

The Soothsayer Was Right (Deccan Herald) – Scarily right, and not the way one would like to have imagined it…

Astrology Songs (Boise Weekly) – If you can sit through these pop monstrosities, you are a better man than I, Gunga Din…

Astrology Show (Coast Weekend) – Art speaks to the skies in this new NW collection of visual creations…

Art To Astrology (BU Today) – Star-inspired efforts that took a NE artist into astrology…

Kiwi Moon (Scoop) – Was the Moon responsible for New Zealand quake? Scientists discuss, and demur…

SuperMoon (Accuweather) – The next full Moon, at perigee (closest to Earth), may bring chaotic weather, really or metaphorically…

Meteor Tracker (NASA) – A new satellite network tracks exactly where visitors to our planet came from…

On the 17^th Day… (Lauren Colemen) – …all hell breaks loose. These Jupiter-Mars-Uranus themed revolutions keep kicking up on the 17^th…

Indiana Crackdown (JConline) – Lafayette DA leans on dubious fortuneteller making off with big loot under astrology sign…

Leaf Tales (The Star) – Editor explores history of palm leaf astrology manuscripts…

Mystic Mentor (Indian Express) – Politician is back in favor thanks to astrologer’s ministrations…

Parrot Predictions (ExpressBuzz) – Following in the footsteps of Paul the octopus, Mani the “parrot astrologer” has a bird’s eye on the World Cup of cricket…so far, he says India, India!..

No Numbers (Gulf News) – Also in the cricket world, astrologer claims not wearing his number boosts champion batter’s score…

Light Lamps, Avoid Doomsday (Times of India) – Astrologer sets off scare that has hundreds scurrying to temples to avert the worst…

Bigger Quake (Gisborne Herald) – That’s what’s in store for Kiwis in March, according to maverick prognosticator…

Top Cycle Analyst (Harloff Capital) – Astrologer/investment analyst Bill Meridian makes top five bond and gold lists i Timer Digest…

“Goodbye, Mumbai!” (Times of India) – Grand old man of astrology packs up and moves to Ahmedabad…

Astrological Architecture (St. Croix Valley Press) – Designing a home using the stars, about personal healing…

Astrology Scholarships (PR.com) -- $392,000 worth of four-year study grants, for the first time ever…

You Are What You Bleed (Scientific American) – Periodically Westerners rediscover that blood types are used for prognostication in the Orient…

No, There’s No Proof (Discover) – …of a giant planet in the outer solar system…which may be what makes it so intriguing…

Why Ridicule Astrology? (einnews) – Why, indeed? Science historian suggests that the prevalent hostility serves no purpose…

Astrological Algorithm (Reuters) – For picking relationships, used by new startup dating service in New York…

Cloud Scopes (The Guardian) – “Word clouds” applied to Sun-sign text show “mass-media sun-sign astrology is to pop psychology what Muzak is to easy listening”…

Out of Business (CampaignIndia) – That’s what will happen to the family astrologer when this company takes over and puts a money line in every palm…see video, great advertising…!

Busted, Again…(DNA India) – Yet another conman-cum-astrologer scooped up by the long arm of the law…

Money Trumps Love (Press of Atlantic City) – Times are tough when Mammon has Cupid on the ropes among seer-seekers…

Aboriginal Eyes On Sky? (Courier Mail) – Did Australia’s earliest stone-arranging people build lithic observatories that pre-date Stonehenge, or is it just a dance circle, or both? Stay tuned…

Astrological Fraud (MLive) – In Bay City, Michigan…all the way back in 1925!...

Too Many Wives (NDTV) – A “pavement” astrologer, with a flair for polygamy and the fillies…busted…

Here and There, Past and Future (Hindustan Times) – Among famous Subcontinent astrologers, personal and historical tales from a thoughtful journalist…

Abducted Astrologer Rescued (Sify) – His predictions caused them to lose their investments, so they kidnapped and held him for ransom…

Pole Shift Superstorms (Salem News) – Could be that the Sun, in conjunction with rapidly-moving magnetic poles headed for shift, may be triggering all this bad weather…

Anti-Gay Plea Quashed (The Telegraph) – An astrologer’s suit to keep gays out of the Indian military has been dismissed…

Astrology OK (Times of India) – A suit to ban astrology in star-soaked India has, not surprisingly, been dismissed…

Blame Pluto (The Province) – For the upheaval in the Mideast, says Georgia Nicols…

Circadian Rhythms Cellular (Fox) – The diurnal cycle of the houses, the smallest driving astrological cycle, is actually ingrained at the cellular level, through a billion years of evolution…

Deluxe Moon (iPhonefootprint) – Now here’s a nice lunar app for only 99 cents…

Astrological Study Predicted Middle East Crisis (EINnews) – So says Richard Tarnas, promoting his book and organization. Actually, it was just generally broad changes over a fifteen-year period…

Traffic Signs (PR Newswire) – Road accidents, according to Sun-signs…but Allstate denies using it to raise your rates…why on earth not?...

Astrologer Nabbed (Sify) – Another starcaster busted for sex crimes, this one with his own TV show and an American PhD…

Saturnian Stocks (DNA India) – Saturn and Mars are fueling the markets…but for better, or worse?...

Ancient Chinese Observatory (XinhuaNet) – The venerable Indian observatory at Jaipur is well-known to Westerners, not so this beautiful piece of history in Beijing…click on the photo to see lots more…

‘Tis The Season…(DNA India) – …to get married. Again. And it’s an extended one, fortunately, so maybe the facilities won’t be so expensive, driven by the crowding demand for star-blessed unions…

Respectful Debunking (The Guardian) – Kerfuffle update: one science writer gets it right, at least on the historical and technical end, and chides his colleagues accordingly…

Astrology or Prozac (Online Athens) – Which is better? Who knew they could be compared? More on the kerfuffle…

East vs. West (Associated Content) – Eastern astrologers might be more careful in rejoicing about information that was intended to debunk all of astrology, including theirs, a point this journalist misses…

Asteroid Strike (PhysOrg) – On Jupiter, fortunately…it was the size of the Titanic, and had it hit us, a lot of us wouldn’t be here now…

City Women (Indian Express) – They’re taking up what was formerly a man’s profession…

Star Sailor (NASA) – A ship ready to sail to the stars has just deployed…but this one’s just a coaster…

Saw It Coming (NY Times) – The Grey Lady gets it right, and so does the Washington Post…as the Great Astrology Kerfuffle (the word is getting a workout in the press) of 2011 hopefully begins to tail off…

The Truth (Jewish Journal) – Well, in the constellation kerfuffle, traditional Judaism has it straight…

Old Hat (The Province) -- …and so does this journalist (one of the few who actually did her homework)…it’s really just old hat…

Shifting Signs (Washington Post) – Just out: another enormous but perennial kerfuffle gone viral over the difference between signs and constellations, demonstrating the level of popular ignorance about astrology, and science…epitomized, naturally, on Fox News… but here’s a nice, clear explanatory rebuttal for fearful fans…another here, here and here…

Quantum Navigation (io9) – If birds can sense the earth’s magnetic field through quantum entanglement, why not the rest of us…another mechanism for astrology?...

The Slides of March (Crain’s New York) – Astro-market man Henry Weingarten is at it again…

Witches’ Revolt (NY Times) – Against the new tax, in Romania. Astrologers, who also must pay, are wisely keeping mum, as are more thankful coven members…here’s film coverage…

Wii Magic Destiny (Nintendolife) – The new Wii astrology game is out, and here are the details…

Star Sign Reassignment (The Spoof) – We don’t usually cover astrology parodies, but this one is simply hysterical…

Starman (Denver Post) – Chris Brennan is Denver’s rising starcaster, if you believe what you read in the newspapers…

Neptune’s Discoverer (BBC) – It wasn’t who you think, if you think about it at all…

Custom Kids (Times of India) – Picking births by the stars picks up, particularly on New Year…

Registered Witches (ShortNews) – And astrologers, too…in Romania, you have to pay to play…

Blizzards Above (Daily Mail) – Weather up there is getting stormy. We previously mentioned Jupiter beginning to act up, now it’s Saturn. For the moment, if recent weather in Europe and America is any reflection, as above, so below…

Bone Weight Astrology (TMCnet) – A new Chinese astrology app, for $2.99, worth about that, maybe less…

Fire From The Sky (Beachcombing) – Was it lightning the medieval Irish Culdees called down, or something from farther away?...

Russian Futures (News BCM) – The outlook for the former Soviet Union is predictably dire, according to collected commentary from its shamans, astrologers, psychologists, and other future forecasters…

Astro-Molester (Hindustan Times) – In a land of many, many astrologers, some of them just can’t be trusted to keep their hands to themselves, and out of your pockets…

Making Time, and Season (NPR) – Astronomy is destiny, and that’s what we celebrate…

The Spiritual Solstice (Washington Post and ABC News) – The general view from India, in Washington, D.C. …and a long view on the meaning of this particular one…

My Astrological Year (Reality Sandwich) – A personal saga of forward progress as seen through the motions of the planets…

Starry Gathering (The Telegraph) – Top New York astrologers huddle to hash out the meaning of what’s to come…

Woodhenge House (Livingston Daily) – This author’s home is aligned with the solstices, yielding food for thought…

Vedic Marriages (BlogCritics) – How they match them up by the stars on the Subcontinent…this author does not approve…

A Time To Relate (Reality Sandwich) – A more positive take on Vedic and relationships, and this unique lunar eclipse…

High Magnetics (Wired) – It appears Earth’s magnetic field was on fire 3,000 years ago…

Jupiter Conjunction (The Island) – The usual, but rather unlikely, explanation for the Star of Bethlehem…a seasonal chestnut, yet more here...

Wiistrology (Nintendolife) – Get physical with detailed new Spanish astrology Wii game…

Under Fire (Asia Sentinel) – More on the Quixotic attempt to ban astrology in India, something that will happen roughly when Hell freezes over…

Wife Swap (NewsReview) – After astrologer went on wife swapping TV reality show, he left his wife and biked away to another world…

Oceans Under Ice (National Geographic) – Pluto may be a nasty dwarf, but it’s big enough to have sub-surface oceans…

Pole Shift (UFO Digest) – More on the pending magnetic pole shift – will it ease on through or be a killer in the process?...

Star Of Wonder (Fortean Times) – Enough of the planetary conjunction theory of the Star of Bethlehem, rolled out every holiday season. Here are some much more interesting possibilities…

Longest Cyclone (Sify) – Saturn’s mega-storms are the most enduring, probably as it should be, considering…

Hairweaving (Times of India) – Astrologer warns Bollywood star to abandon hairweaving, bad for his kundalini…

Global Eruption Rocks Sun (NASA) – The ruler of Leo is going nuts, in ways no one imagined…

Corporate Astrologer (Financial Times) – Job thumbnails for career-seekers…and here comes Bejan again...

Scientifically Proven (Natural News) – Astrology? Don’t count on it…but some nice directions to look…

Lego Skies (Network World) – An Antikythera Device made out of Legos?…and more theories on the meaning and impact of this ancient, mysterious machine…

Deductible? (The Guardian) – Tory MP still being pursued for putting astrological software on public expense account…watch out before you deduct the price of SolarFire…

Cancellations (Bangkok Post) – Astrologer’s tsunami predictions cause resort bookings to drop ten percent…

Headed Our Way (Examiner) – Some sizeable space objects are moving in on us from down under beneath…

What Is A Planet? (Discover) – This writer knows…it’s big, it’s important, and most of all, it’s a concept…

Sneak Attacks (Center for Astrophysics) – Undercover solar fire is coming from our otherwise friendly star…

Geminid Mystery (NASA) – No one can really explain this annual bombardment from the sky…

“Seasonal Biology” (Science A-Go-Go) – Not to be confused with, gasp, astrology…!

Percival’s Planet (Vancouver Voice) – A new novel based on the discovery of Pluto…

Stealth Planet (Tehran Times) – More on the possibility of a large planet circling just out of sight…an evolving and shape-shifting perennial…

Stormy Jupiter (Sky and Telescope) – There is much afoot on the giant planet…which, BTW, in the past has indicated turbulence here, too…

Seeing Stars (NY Post) – Manhattan astrologer gets a big write-up in Rupert Murdoch’s city tabloid…

Starry Skies (World Science) – Trouble keeping track of the fixed stars? Well, now it would appear there are three times as many out there as anyone thought…

How I Killed Pluto... (Universe Today) – …and Why it Had it Coming. That’s the title of astronomer Mike Brown’s new book. He’s laughing all the way to the bank now. But when Pluto hits his Capricorn Moon in a few years, this 6/5/1965 baby may change his tune. Interview here… plus from the opposition…

Ball Bearings (Daily Mail) – Stonehenge builders may have used ball bearings to construct the astrological temple…

Pushing for Pluto (Space.com) – Certain astronomers are still fighting for Pluto’s place among the planets…

Snakes By A Lake (Times of India) – Astrologers are crediting a wrathful snake god for a sudden upturn in the wriggly reptiles in picturesque lakeside Hubli…

Have Faith (Stuff) – Astrology is as good as any religion, muses Woody Allen…

Under Siege (Deccan Chronicle) – Astrologers are ganging up on new chief minister…

She Owns The Sun (io9) – Spanish woman has taken possession, will charge for benefits…or is it a spinoff of this satire?...

“Astrology” Is Hot (ESPN) – We don’t want to jinx her, but we’ve had our eye on this filly and she is definitely on the rise…

New Stripe (U.C. Berkeley) – Jupiter is growing a new stripe, or recovering an old one, just in time for entry into Aries…

Brian Marsden 1937-2010 (Universe Today) – The last century’s greatest chronicler of asteroids, planetoids, and comets, whom astrologers will remember as responsible for the data for the first asteroid ephemeris, tracking comet Kohoutek, and more, has passed…NY Times obit...

The Comet and the Cathedral (Looking Into Dark Places) – Do two cathedrals link to a comet and coming catastrophe?...

Alcohol Up (MoneyControl) – We don’t usually link this daily Vedic report, but it would appear booze prospects are on the rise this month, unless you’re Four Loko…

Farewell, Seshadri (Hindustan Times) – A world-class musician mourns the loss of a world-class astrologer and friend with an amazingly accomplished life…

Inspired Fiction (Gazettenet) – Writer/astrologer uses astro-themed characters to drive her novels, an increasingly common device…

Fertility Research (Daily Mail) – The medical profession will be looking into whether the stars do, indeed, affect human fertility…

Timing Is Perfect (Bangkok Post) – As rumored, Noble Peace Prize winner was released on perfect timing, according to local astrologer…

Astronomical Sex (The Art Newspaper) – Two new books describe the astrological foundation of medieval and renaissance attitudes toward sex…

Festival Overload (Nepali Times) – Astrology isn’t doing its job to determine traditional festival days under new Nepali government, so every day could soon be a holiday, someplace… the festival of Chhat is just one of them…

An Auspicious Day (The Irrawaddy) – Imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released by junta on an astrologically auspicious day…if, indeed, she is released…

Losing Its Mojo (Astronomy Now) – Saturn is unexpectedly cooling down, and on one side more than the other…but why does it put out more than it takes in to begin with?...

Astrologers’ Caves (NewsBlaze) – Mini-grottos where for centuries ancient sages interpreted the stars are being lost to neglect and ravages of time…

Touched by a Woman (Hindustan Times) – Four years later and this absurd case involving and astrologer and an actress defiling a temple is still going on…more here…

Weather Beaters (NASA) – Always talking about the celestial weather? Someone is actually doing something about it…

Election Weather (Booktryst) – A very old book review (1698) about how the weather and the stars affects politics…

In The Dirt (Huffington Post) – A journalist looks at gardening by the stars…

Red Moon (Daemon’s TV) – An astrologer is featured in episode of popular TV show “The Mentalist”…[postmortem note: turned out to be a misbilled, total dud, will continue to skip that show...]

Big Dwarf (Scientific American) – Pluto may be the biggest, after all…

Cygnus Connection (Mysterious America) – It appears that the Ohio Indian mound-builders and the megalithic architects of Avebury, an ocean away, were pointed toward the exact same constellation…

Fine Wine (More Intelligent Life) – Wine made by the Moon, biodynamics. We can attest it’s best, just had a spectacular Y+B Malbec from Argentina, but here’s more…

Witch’s Brew (Washington City Paper) – Burning witch on beer bottle has astrologer’s Wiccan knickers in a twist…could have been avoided had she read the label…

Solar Shield (NASA) – When our warm and friendly Sun, source of all life, takes deadly aim at our infrastructure, we’re going to turn it off (the infrastructure, not the Sun)…

Clothes Make The Read (NY Times) – It would appear that what you wear affects what you get in a reading, psychic, astrological, or otherwise…

Halloween Not Required (PR-USA) – Research reveals few people actually go beyond scratching the surface of astrology, among other things…

New Flag (The Hindu) – “We received instructions to change the new flag at exactly 3 pm” quote gives away astrological plan behind adoption of new flag and constitution in Burma…

Another Starry App (Business Wire) – You gotta believe, in this new astrology app for iPhone from GaneshaSpeaks…it’s for the astrologically devout…

A Brush With Astrology (Newstime) – An amusing story of how an ad man almost became an astrologer (maybe he should have)…

Agora Redux (Flickfilosopher) – “How can it be that this powerful, exciting, provocative movie has been all but overlooked this year?” Well, you can rent the DVD, and should…

Like Fruit (IndiaRealTime) – That’s what babies are, and you want to pick a fruit when it’s perfectly ripe…reasons for rise in astrologically-chosen Caesarians…

A New Dynasty (Sri Lanka Guardian) – Astrologers predict, and circumstances confirm, a growing family oligarchy displacing democracy on the island of Ceylon…

Smashed Moon (Nature) – How Saturn got its rings – by chewing up a giant but unfortunate satellite…

Fighting for Position (Times Of India) – Political positions depend on planetary positions, as candidates fight it out with astrologers’ opinions and astro-rituals critically holding the balance…

Trojans May Yet Rain Down (Universe Today) – The Trojan asteroids, locked into the Lagrange points of Jupiter and Neptune, might get kicked out…

Irish Eyes (BeachCombing) – They appear to have been turned upward, observing comets and other heavenly portents lots earlier than anyone imagined…

Pest Control Plan Rejected (Waikato Times) – And you thought possums had nothing to do with astrology!...

Green Comet Approaches (PhysOrg) – Comet Hartley 2, glowing green, will swing by us only 11 million miles from Earth…

Comet Planet (Discovery) – That would be Mercury, which now appears to have a tail…

Bad Moon Rising (Huffington Post) – With disasters all around, how innocent can the Moon really be?...

Potentially Hazardous (Center for Astrophysics) – The first of troublesome objects that may come our way has been spotted using new eye in sky…

First Contact (news.com.au) – If folks from other planets want to talk to us, there’s finally a U.N. official representative appointed just for the purpose…

White Elephant (Mysinchew) -- Astrologers in Burma hail capture of rare white elephant as sign of successful democratic elections to come…except, it’s really pink…

On The Radio (Pasadena Star) -- An old album of astrology humor resurfaces…

Hurry Up And Wait (Times of India) -- Politicians rush to enter office under good aspects, then put off action until better ones arrive…

Venus In Lockstep (Thunderbolts) – We’re in a tight dance with Venus, and have been, in ways we don’t always imagine…lately noted: even our lightning strikes the same…

Lunar Rosetta Stone (C.S. Monitor) – The Moon holds the key to understanding where all the planets came from…their story is locked inside her…

Seeds Of Faith (Wall Street Journal) – Harvest Moons and planets were the original gateways to the higher world…

Jupiter Ablaze (Sky and Telescope) – At its brightest in years, for a variety of reasons, the King of Planets is right next to Uranus, so you can see that, too…

Clearing Rubble (Sify) – Many asteroids may not be solid beings unto themselves, but mostly aggregated detritis, and thus easy to disperse if headed our way…

Symposium on Geocentrism (Techeye) – Catholic scholars will meet to discuss why we actually are the center of the universe…

Witch Tax Rejected (Post Chronicle) – And that includes astrologers…but you’d think that if Romania ever had a rich resource to tax, it would be witches…

Lunar App (Appolicious) – Fun app tells you all about what’s happening with the Moon, complete with GPS or cell positioning…

For A Life Less Lonely (ExpressBuzz) – Matching couples is a cultural art, and astrology only part of it…

Fireballs on Jupiter (NASA) – Jupiter is being peppered with asteroid hits that would destroy Earth…does it make him prickly?!...

Wet Mars (Eurekalert) – Water has always been prevalent on the traditionally dry planet, and still is, a turnaround discovery…

Rehabilitated (Irish Times) -- That’s what astrology recently was, in this charming historical news item from 1932...

Leaning On The Stars (Investment Week) -- That would be the financial world, with some of our favorites mentioned as ringleaders…

The Blind Leading (Deccan Herald) -- Blind astrologer wants to gain public office to get even with his family…

Auspicious Honeymoon (Hindustan Times) – A good marriage chart deserves an equally good honeymoon horoscope…

Can Nodes Collide? (ThaiIndian) – Can the nodes (Rahu and Ketu) be in the same house? That’s one of the unlikely questions being debated at the International Conference on Astrology and Vastu…

Full Moon Floods (GeoTV) – A blue Moon caused Pakistan’s floods? We doubt it…

Asteroids Closing In (Daily Mail) – Great videos showing how crowded it still is in our solar system, mostly with swarms of circling asteroids…

Sun Pumps Atmosphere (Softpedia) -- …our atmosphere, on a regular basis, as UV light levels cycle…

Star Properties (NY Times) – Astrology, feng shui, vastu, even numerology increasingly enter into New York real estate deals…

Mutating Mars Hoax (NASA) – We covered this when it was first around, and it keeps coming back…

The Future In The Stars? (News and Star) – It’s all about wanting to be part of a greater order, says UK commentator…

Bode’s Law Lives! (The Economist) – Is there an innate structure and resonance to all planetary systems, and is it the same?...

Stars On Stones (TheEpochTimes) – Controversial South American stone drawings showing sky observation point far back in time…

Seven Year Itch (Poseidon Sciences) – The quarter Saturn cycle is a major growth/aging period, among other things…

Astrologer Warned (Stuff) – It’s not his racing predictions, it’s his mouth that could get this Kiwi starcaster the boot…

Star-Studded Pleasures (Post-Gazette) – Both astronomy and astrology are themes to vacation and dine in this Chilean mountain resort…

Crows Call For Rain (LittleIndia) -- As scientific tools falter in predicting rain patterns, Indian scientists turn to the Vedas and traditional knowledge for some fine tuning…

Trailing Trojan (The Epoch Times) – A rare asteroid tagging along with Neptune is uncovered…

The Electric Sun (Thinderbolts) – Some say it’s gravity, others magnetism, but maybe it’s electricity that ties the whole solar system (and us) together…

News Award (ZeeNews) – Who knew astrologers gave out awards for media excellence?...

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