I began my life as a musician at the age of 12, singing with my cousin. I was a shy little Leo; she was a slightly older, brash and unafraid one, with a full-throttled voice. It felt natural to let her take the lead, while I mastered harmony. Harmonizing came so naturally that it never occurred to me to wonder why I felt so much more comfortable singing counterpoint to someone … [Read more...]

I always forget how difficult Saturn’s transits are, until I find myself pinned under one. This week, transiting Saturn has been exactly opposed my natal Sun, and it’s a transit with the flinty shape of loneliness. Saturn shows you how alone you can feel with someone who says they love you, how hard you can be when you’re scared and tired, or how sorrowful when you’ve let … [Read more...]

Winter was relatively quiet on the farm where I grew up. We spent more time with neighbors and relatives in the long, dark evenings, after dads and uncles had spent the day repairing farm equipment or logging. In my memory, a lot of this wintry time takes place at my uncle’s comfortably ramshackle, two-story farmhouse. This house had a big potbelly stove in a spacious living … [Read more...]

I write about eclipses a lot. They’re an astrological passion of mine, because I’ve seen their dramatic cycles play out in my life, the lives of those close to me, and the lives of my clients. I’ve delineated eclipses moving through the houses of the horoscope, eclipses in aspect to natal planets, and written about how to work with eclipse cycles. But I rarely write about … [Read more...]

Eclipses are symbols of awakening, and the first one in a new pair of signs always gets our attention. New ground is broken. New challenges emerge. For a full, 29-year Saturn cycle, a small, empty lot at the end of our street was the site of a flourishing community garden. There was usually a long waiting list to rent one of the dozen small plots, and each one was carefully … [Read more...]