All of the signs are unique, but this is the first to even touch the state of being ego-less.  Now that the end is near, it’s natural for there to be an emptying out, a letting go of self-driven desires and motivations.  You can sense this state by imagining that you have everything you need. You look around at all your stuff and realize it’s time to lighten the load, especially when so many others have nothing.  Pisces is where we carry on the intention of Aquarius by dedication to the greater good not in theory, but in acts, especially the most simple of ones.  It is through this level of service they’re enriched and renewed.  I’ve never known a Pisces to be at peace unless they were helping another.  It could be by having minimal needs personally and always putting something aside for those in greater need.  It’s frequently through the most simple acts of kindness – buying food for the homeless person outside the store instead of pretending they didn’t hear him (how often have we done that).  They’re the greatest rescuers.  If you know a Pisces, you know they’re the first you’d call if you need help, or even just a shoulder to cry on.  They’re completely giving in an unconditional way that seem illogical to the rest of us.   Not only are they deeply sensitive and emotional, but they are brilliant listeners, because they can do so without judgment or advice giving.  I always joke with my Pisces friends that they seem to be magnets for the ‘walking wounded’ because others sense that Pisces ‘Get Out Of Jail Free” Card through their endless warmth and understanding.  Pisces wrote the book on charity.  If only we would stop to notice their kindest of deeds, which frequently go without notice.    Don’t they feel resentful?  Used?  We can’t help but view their actions from our perspective with our expectations.  Pisces has evolved to a level of strength I can only aspire to achieve, which is to have no expectations.  They don’t need anything.  If they need anything, they need to give.

Their emptying out frees them by loosening their grip on this reality and all its confines.  They’re more imaginative and fluid, for though every ending is followed by the new, but the glimmer of birth cannot be seen as of yet.  This is the waiting room of the dark before the dawn when it feels as though the night truly will never end.  This quiet experience of purging prepares one to enter a new reality, completely mysterious and unknown.  Anyone who’s driven in dense fog will understand.  Your lights are on, but will only illuminate ten feet in front of you.  You are but crawling forward in blind trust.   And in that space, removed from earthbound reality, it seems Pisces pierces through a veil and touches new heights, and depths.  They’re almost of another world, as if they straddle two realities.  I think of them as the gate keepers for other realms.  They don’t know any more than we do, but they’re open and receptive as willing channels.  The quiet gondoliers who gently navigate our way through murky waters.  It’s no wonder Pisces are the poets, the musicians, the muse chasers who have themselves have moved on from flaccid words to more vast means of expression.  They are the most artistic of all, using their creativity of choice to mine great depths of sensitivity and levels of brilliance that can take our breath away, and leave us speechless.   The art they bring are not merely works of beauty, but the sacred manifested to life.

The16th Century Italian named Michelangelo (March 6th) has been referred to as the original ‘Renaissance Man’.  His vast prolific work as a painter, sculptor, architect and poet made him one of the greatest artists of all time.  His paintings cover sacred Italian churches with the most famous religious scenes such as “The Last Judgment” and “Scenes from Genesis”.   His aesthetic love of the human body gave us the perfection of  David, which he claimed was simply freed from the stone; that he merely chipped away all the stone that was not a part of the statue.  He was described by nature to be a solitary and melancholy man, who withdrew from the company of others, and he was exceedingly hard on himself — a poster child for all you blocked artists out there.

Victor Hugo (February 26th), who is called the greatest French poet, yet is more widely known for his literary work “Les Miserable”, an epic tale which follows ex-convict Jean Valjean who seeks to find redemption for his dark past by being a force for good in the world.  He was moved to give a human voice to the suffering masses he saw ignored and abused. Not only was he influential in the political arenas, speaking out against the death penalty and social injustice, but was bitterly disillusioned by what he believed to be the Church’s indifference to the oppression of the working class.  Pisces is the most spiritual of all the signs, but not religious.  They have a more direct, personal experience of the divine and rarely involve themselves with churches – which are but man-made institution.  He predicted that Christianity would eventually disappear, but people would still believe in “God, Soul, and the Power.”

But when the artists and writers lack the ability to express the beauty of feeling, there are the musicians.  It’s like shooting fish in a barrel of melodic miracle weavers — Frederick Chopin, Glenn Miller, Johnny Cash, Liza Minnelli, Nina Simone and George Harrison (who was called ‘the Quiet Beatle’).   They are mystical pied pipers with a mesmerizing appeal and can have fanatical influence.  Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, who was hailed as ‘spokesperson of his generation’ yet felt misunderstood and struggled with public acclaim, until sadly he took his own life.   Then there’s Boy Wonder with the Greek god of golden vocal chords – Josh Groban (February 27th).  (Hell yeah, I’m biased — what tipped you off?  But I dare you to listen to his music and not melt.).  Still but a young artist, he is currently one of the most successful musicians around have sold over 21 million CDs in the United States alone, and that’s without having even a single song hit the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.  Try that, Brittany Spears.

I must confess, writing this has been like living in my own personal Sartre Suite at the Overlook Hotel.  I could blame my Mercury in Pisces, which for me means writing is always a bit like trying to run jello through a pasta press.  Or like fly fishing for words, with the slimy bastards slipping away before I can string them up.  Just try getting fish to behave.  Mentally exhausted and frustrated to almost tears, the only thing I can do is walk away, and marinate.  I’ll lie down, shut my eyes and let the thoughts wildly wash over me, while listening to the rain, or Pavarotti’s heartbreaking rendition of Nessun Dorma.   I can’t force anything to come together in any form or structure.   But it could happen when I’m out for a walk without means to write anything down – but a trickle, a sprinkle of rain.  And hopefully, if I’m lucky, when I’m ready the thoughts will float by again, gently in waves, waiting for me to gather them up.  Oh, that’s right — I can’t move water any more than I can walk on it.  It comes in its own time and way.   Somehow I manage to pass what feels like a kidney stone from my mind, and experience a sense of relief and inadequacy at the same time.   So it brings me great comfort to know that the man who painted the Sistine Chapel from a prone position considered himself an inferior painter.

When I was little, my favorite thing was the family vacations, where we journeyed from arid Central California to Pismo Beach.  I couldn’t wait to scurry down the sandy rocks to run into the ocean — so vast and wide that it seemed to go on forever, as if Columbus was wrong.  I loved how the roar of the waves drowned out all other sound, creating a symphonic beating of its own.  I loved wading in the waters, feeling the power of the rhythmic currents capturing my tiny legs until they released me, slipping away still grasping in tiny ripples.  And when we were done, for the time, I’d trudge away, hearing the echoing waves fade out, leaving my ears numb in a temporary silence before I could hear the sounds of the world again.  I’ve always loved the ocean, but for a strange reason – it makes me feel so small.  Anyone who has gone swimming in the ocean is reminded in a humbling way that they are not in control.  The best you can say is you’re keeping yourself from drowning, but it’s the ocean that has you at its mercy.  As much as I’ve always wanted to believe I am captain of my ship, guiding my destiny toward greatness, in my honest moments, I must admit I’m no more in control of my life as I am of the tides.   But I find a gentle reassurance in that power.  I see an intelligent order silently guiding our lives, each person playing out a poetic story all their own, and all of us having our roles in their lives, and theirs in ours.  When I can step back and see life from that position, it’s fascinating – to realize that our lives are our epitaphs and all of the material concerns that we cling to will but collect dust as we turn to dust.  Our actions, they’re the waves that move forth through others, be it fond memories, or inspiration.  And maybe, but for a fleeting moment, I believe that everything is perfect, because there is something bigger steering the ship, whatever it is that lies beyond our high beams.

We are about to see some significant changes coming in the near future, but right now, you may find that things may not be moving as this often happens when a planet slows before it changes direction. Right now, though, two planets are about to do this, which makes things even more interesting. Both Venus and Jupiter are turning back to their usual direct motion on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010. When this occurs the days before the change are often intensified, but without any significant changes actually developing. In fact, there can even be frustration due to the fact that there may be a strong desire for change, but very little chance of anything happening. It doesn’t mean that changes aren’t coming though, because they are, but perhaps not quite yet.

We have nearly completed the necessary re-evaluation of our values, relationships and philosophies and have begun to sort out our priorities and the direction we want to move toward, but we may still be in the dark about how and when this will happen. This is because the new cycle has not been born yet. Specifically, let’s take a deeper look at Jupiter. It will turn direct at 23° of Pisces but it will return to the sign of Aries on Jan. 22, 2011. When it does it will trigger a complete shift for us as Pisces is the archetypal end of cycles and Aries is the fiery engaging of the birth of a new cycle. We had a taste of it last summer, but when it does return to Aries this time, it will be moving very quickly and fly through it and move into Taurus by early summer. When Jupiter is both in Aries and moving at a fast velocity, things happen very quickly and sometimes, with little thought. We may find ourselves flying by their seat of our pants. But, that’s not how things are feeling now. In fact, for many people, it can be hard to imagine the scenario I am painting. That’s OK, because right now all we can do is take what comes and work with that.

Venus has moved back into Libra, but most of its retrograde passage has been in Scorpio and that’s where it will return on Nov. 29, 2010. In a recent class, we examined the nature of the sign of Scorpio in great detail and it was fascinating to see what students expressed. Scorpio is the sign that is often given the worst rap. Some common stereotypes for Scorpio are jealousy, possessiveness, domineering nature, and so on. But Scorpio calls us to do something. It calls us to transform in some important way. We do that by intensely feeling and looking at some aspect of ourselves and other people with whom we are connected and this can make us feel very uncomfortable. I refer to taboo areas, painful ones, etc. and while we are called to move into this territory, we can desire to avoid it at all costs at the same time. It is the avoidance that brings us trouble. So, this Venus retrograde asks us to feel/examine our inner feelings and outer approach to matters that can transform us if we are willing to look deeply within, to see our projections onto others rather than blaming them for what we see.

This is where astrology, in my view, must be seen as being of great psychological importance. The planets do not ‘make us’ do things. They do not function as cause. If that were so, it would have to mean that we are only capable of being ‘effects’ of these outer forces that are making us do things as if we are puppets unable to act freely and consciously. All this changes however, when we cease to think of the planets as forcing us to do or be something and instead regard it as ‘calls to consciousness’ as we meet life in a more self-aware way. Venus retrograde in Scorpio asks us to acknowledge our ‘shadow’ or unconscious material so we can respond to life challenges in a new way. This does take us into ‘dark’ areas of our psyche, but if we can face these phantoms, we can become armed to deal creatively with them and our life improves greatly. I know that many of you have been experiencing some of these things and that it can be very private parts of ourselves that are being looked at and hopefully integrated, but if possible, I hope you might share some of what you’ve been going through with the readers. If it you feel it is too private to post but would like to express it to our readers, you may email me and ask me to post it in my name so that your words are more confidential.

I would also like to announce that the next newsletter will be our first monthly newsletter. It is a greatly expanded one that will delve into the nature of the sign of Sagittarius and the transits of the coming month. Articles will be written by graduates of the School and are looking to be great ones.

I hope that if you enjoy the monthly newsletter that you will forward them on to friends and encourage them to sign up. We are trying to increase our subscribers so the newsletter can steadily grow and improve.

Thanks.

The death of Michael Jackson, like so many events in his life, took us way beyond anything we could have ever expected. There were the usual unintended consequences that included the odd way in which Jackson’s doctor disappeared after his death to the surprising internet crashes that occurred shortly after his death was announced. We still don’t exactly know what happened. In a world of complexity, sometimes astrology can help us see the simplicities, the basic factors that can cut through all of the many opinions that may have formed around a person or event.

There are at least three birth charts being presented for him in the blogosphere and some believe that Jackson deliberately did this to hide his real time of birth. However, no matter what time he was born, we do have his date of birth so we know his Sun was in Virgo while his Moon opposed it in the sign of Pisces. We also know that transiting Saturn was almost exactly opposing his Moon for the third time. This one fact can reveal quite a bit about what Jackson was feeling and how all of it came to a head at this time.

Michael is said to have felt that his father made his life incredibly harsh in a geat many ways, but the chief one was that he programmed him to regard the outer world as a dangerous, unsafe, awful place against which he would have to defend himself. What affect would this have on a person with such a highly sensitive nature? He has the Sun in Virgo (basic modesty) with the shy, sensitive emotions of the Moon in Pisces?

A close friend who has Moon in Pisces once told me that he ‘couldn’t pass a bum on the street without giving him some money’.  Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac and represents the ending or dissolving of all that had been built up in the previous cycle. And when the Moon is in that sign, one’s emotional nature is creating conditions where the person is barely able to know it exists. The world is already seen as a scary, impersonal place even without a father like Joe is said to have been, where there is no room for compassion and love.

Can you see why he would work so hard to remain as a child and adopt the mythos of Peter Pan? The adult world was not a place where he could feel safe to be who he really was. Then the planet Saturn that asks us to face the harsh, stark and severe realities of life transits in opposition to this Moon and every fear he ever had about life must have been boring down on him with the force of a very heavy stone. It also informs us as to why he resorted to prescription drugs and how one drug was added to another until his life force must have already been almost empty. 

The task of Pisces is to engage in life WHILE being in a state of compassion and to avoid the temptation of running away and escaping. It is by doing this that the person becomes able to extend its natural gift of love into the world. With the transit of Saturn he was being asked to confront his fears and push through them in order to be able to fulfill his public role in the world. But it is clear he was not even close to being able to do this. According to Lisa Marie Presley, Michael told her 14 years earlier that he knew he would die like her father Elvis did and no one could do anything about it. Was he prescient or was this self-fulfilling prophecy? In my view, Michael didn’t know how to deal with the world and was so identified with being the King of Pop that there simply wasn’t any way to escape the fate he regarded as being destined for him. Pisces always has to deal with the archetype of sacrifice. This can serve to motivate someone to live for the highest principles no matter what the outer cost may be or actually be enacted by taking up the role of martyr. Perhaps in this case the truth lies somewhere in between as I don’t think Jackson would allow himself to grow up and face the hardships of life. My guess is that he was not a pedophile. I suspect that he was playing with the boys as another boy would. He was avoiding the issues of sexuality as part of his need to remain a child. No, that’s not appropriate for a man in his 40’s, but it does show how regressed he seems to have been.

The Moon in Pisces asks us to live in a fully engaged way while being in the midst of life’s sorrows and troubles and to then bear up under the weight of it. It is a very difficult challenge to achieve given the sensitivity of this planet and sign. With Michael’s early life being what it was, perhaps a tragic death was the only possible end for him.

Although I rarely write about the death of famous figures, I decided to write this as it gave me an opportunity to express something important about the real challenges Piscean people face. Many of you will be reading this article, so please know that it is written with you in mind. May you find the ability to face life’s harshness with the compassion that guides your own being! Come out and show us who you are for the world needs you.