Category Michelle’s Astro Food for Thought

Jul 9 2012

Current Weather: Mercury Is Retrograde in Leo…

Mercury and Paris by Annibale Carracci
Ceiling of the Farnese Gallery. 16th/17th Century Baroque Italian Art.

 

Just a note to you as a reminder that on July 14, 2012 we’ll be in a Mercury Retrograde phase once again.

Mercury is already slowing down a bit in preparation for its 3-week back-track, so I thought you’d want to start thinking about ways to prepare. This coming Retrograde is in Leo – so all of you who have a strong emphasis on Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius in your birthcharts will probably experience the strongest effects.

To prepare, begin to explore ways to still your mind, particularly around your creative ideas and heart attachments. Set aside some time in your calendar to have quiet introspective moments every day between July 14 and August 8, 2012… and then plan to use that time to review, revisit, and revise the following Leo ruled areas of life:  ego attachments, career in terms of your creativity, where you want to shine in life, your convictions, your self-confidence, your children and any creative progeny, where and how you are generous and giving, where you find and offer joy, how you respond to criticism, and your actual heart health.

Read that list again slowly and visualize each area of your life as you do… check to see what needs a do-over and then commit to spending some down town ruminating and mulling it over. 

The time you set aside for introspection doesn’t have to be excessive – a few minutes a day will do.  But as always, anytime you work with an energy you benefit tremendously – whereas if you work against the energy (refusing to slow down and reflect, pushing through with projects rather than letting them breathe, making large purchases, signing contracts – those are all “don’ts” during Mercury Retrograde) you will feel the more negative side of its impact… and those are really not pleasant. Some for instances are:  mis-communications, technology devices that break and need repairing, car break downs, contracts back-firing, flubbing speeches and the traditional favorite, travel troubles. 

Mercury Retrograde can be a very positive and restorative experience… just be willing to slow down and breathe, rather than forcing your way forward. In that way you get the benefit of some well-deserved down time. 

So get ready to put your check book, your debit card, and your signing pen away for a few weeks… see what you can put on the back burner for a little while to free up some space, and get comfortable with the idea of going inside. This is your chance to rest and restore your mind… take it! Have fun introspecting!

Please read my article “Mercury Retrograde, The Unlikely Healing Gift”… it’s a great read and covers everything from mythology and history to what to expect. Enjoy!

Jul 3 2012

Full Moon in Capricorn on July 3, 2012 Highlights the Uranus / Pluto Square – and Mars Moves Into Libra

July 3, 2012 was the Full Moon in Capricorn and there were quite a few challenging and ambitious energies present!

 

Today is the Full Moon in Capricorn and there are quite a few challenging and ambitious energies present!

The Moon and Sun themselves are setting off the current dynamic that is percolating between Uranus and Pluto, meaning that this lunar event activates the BIG EVENT going on in the sky right now. Pluto and Uranus are squaring off – developing the back drop of this generation – and that backdrop looks a lot like the need to change and transform on a revolutionary level. I’ll go more into that alignment in a future writing – but just know that today our emotions (Moon) and our egos (Sun) are caught up in that same sort of energy.

To move forward with that energy in a positive way, purge things that are no longer useful (Pluto), listen to your intuition (Uranus), allow yourself to go into your depths and pull up relevant information that can enlighten your future path (Pluto & Uranus together), fly your freak flag high and large – meaning don’t be afraid to let your unique gifts emerge and don’t keep your mouth closed when you see that you can make a difference in changing something that needs to be changed. And be a voice for the undergod – ok, so I meant to write underDOG there, but I’m leaving that mis-type to let you ponder what that might mean for a moment.

Pluto IS the underGOD – in Greek Mythology he was the God of Hades – the Lord of Death and the Underworld – and through him you were admitted into the after life and transformed. So this Sun/Moon opposition, i.e. Full Moon, sheds light on your emotions surrounding ambition/authority (Moon in Capricorn) and your ego attachments within domestic, home and family life (Sun in Cancer), while somehow pushing forward with tension between the shadow-self and enlightenment – possibly bringing you face to face with something that needs to die away to make room for the new. That’s quite a bit to think about… and as the Full Moon in general is seen as a time of culmination or a denouement since it occurs mid-way of the Moons monthly journey, juxtapose the creative energies that I just described onto your career and family life and see what you come up with.

Another thing just happening today is Mars moving from Virgo into Libra… this means that we are facing our fears and desires within the realm of relationship and that energy can run high and hot within them. It can translate to actively pursuing relationship, especially for the Cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.  With Mars in Libra we now want to be the hero or heroine of our own romantic journey, or possible we decide to actively pursue our artistic dreams and aspirations… this is a “Go for it!” when we’re on a quest for beauty and the sublime. Mars is not at his most comfortable in Libra – it’s the God of War meets the Lady of Peace and Justice – but there are up-sides.

Jun 27 2012

Venus Goes Direct!! June 27, 2012 – Impact on Your Relationships, Values and Money

Venus is reflecting on her own image – via a mirror being held up to her by Cupid – or Love. What reflections have you made during Venus Retrograde that YOU can move forward with now that VENUS is moving forward?

Venus begins her forward motion today, having appeared to be traveling backwards since May 15, 2012. Yay!

We’ve had a full 6 weeks (and the spectacular Transit of Venus across the Sun) to come back to right relationship with our loved ones, our resources (money!) and our values. Maybe we’ve felt a little estranged from love, beauty and appreciation during this time (especially Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius & Pisces). Maybe a close relationship has come up for inspection and failed to pass muster, or the shadow nature of it has been exposed to work on. Maybe the darker side of intimacy came up for air. Maybe you just haven’t felt very social… or if you’re an artist of any kind, perhaps your work has taken an unexpected turn and deeper material was exposed.

What have you learned? What have you processed about the way you approach, receive, and share love? How have your more feminine desires made themselves felt and understood? What has come up to be processed about your creativity – your artistic nature? What happened to help you look at money, investments, and your resources differently?

Venus moving forward means that we can get our beauty groove back on… we can see the light of love once again. Look for a real solution/resolution after August 1 when Venus travels forward over the 23rd degree of Gemini – where she was when she began her backwards travel.

And remember that Venus is in Gemini (as was the Retrograde and the  Transit of Venus). So the workings of your mind are involved here – how you process, how you think, how you communicate all things Venus – that’s right LOVE, RELATIONSHIP, MONEY, RESOURCES, BEAUTY, WHAT PLEASES YOU – PLEASURE, WHAT YOU FIND BEAUTIFUL. Ponder, ponder, ponder where the past 6 weeks have taken you with respect to thinking about, understanding and expressing yourself around these ideas, these parts of yourself.

Feel appreciation! Venus is back on track, and all that walked in the shadow can come out into full light again.

If you have a Venus Retrograde or a Transit of Venus story, I’d love to hear it! Venus IS direct now – time to share!

Please See My Related articles – More About Venus and the Meaning of the Transit of Venus. Enjoy!
Jun 25 2012

Just Had to Share this New Testimonial…

One of my most faithful clients, Andrea Lea, Owner/Trainer/Yogi of Embody Studio in Covington, GA, wrote this to me just a couple of days ago and sent it out to her clients to introduce me to them for an upcoming event that I’m doing there.

Here’s the testimonial:

“I cannot tell you how much I have gotten out of my many, many consultations with Michelle! I first went to her when my daughter and I were in our most difficult stage EVER and I got so much clarity from Michelle on our relationship that the months-long challenge seemed to dissolve almost immediately.

I am not well-versed enough in how astrology works to try to explain it to you. Just know that Michelle is not into trying to predict your future – it is surprisingly scientific and you will be amazed at what riddles she can help you solve. Always – ALWAYS – I come away from a session with Michelle feeling inspired and calmer, and that I am a part of a great mystery that is infinite in its reaches. And THAT brings me a smile and a sense of peace like you won’t believe! Sometimes, it feels like you have strayed from the path – with Michelle I am always reminded that I am on the path, right where I need to be, mystery and all.

Expect to be shocked at how this total stranger understands your deep emotional complexities (and those of your kids/husbands/wives/biz partners)AND gives you concrete tools to transcend the icky parts! Really.”

I was truly humbled when I read this.  And of course I was in touch with Andrea to give her all my gratitude! You never know how you will affect someone, and it’s always a source of joy and amazement to hear that your work is… working! I just had to share…

Jun 19 2012

The Lunar Phases: New Age Lunacy or Ancient Wisdom?

I found this tonight from The Living Notebook – fantastic blog. He’s a grad student experimenting with how the phases of the moon affect his creativity. And he’s coming from a skeptic’s perspective. I love it and hope you will too!

The Lunar Phases: New Age Lunacy or Ancient Wisdom?

Jun 19 2012

Just Had to Share this New Testimonial…

Featured Testimonial

One of my newest clients, Isabella Vickers, an inspired artist (www.IsabellaVickers.com) and Jungian Oriented Psychotherapist at Living Air Dialogue in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, sent this wonderful testimonial to me after our first session last week. As a result of our amazing session we are collaborating to create a new deck of art cards that will combine the symbolism of  Astrology and Jungian Psychology to be used as a tool for growth, evolution and inspiration in both counseling and in personal practice. Yay!! Here’s to synchronicity and a true meeting of mind and hearts. Thank you so much Isabella!

The beautiful painting below is just one glorious example of the art that Isabella creates!

Here’s the testimonial:

“Michelle, our time together today was so special and deeply meaningful! Dare I say — Life changing?!!! YES! In so many ways and on so many levels, I can feel the shifts beginning already because my breathing is deeper and the air is sweeter. Thank you!!!”

 

Gorgeous!! Shining Her Light
by Isabella Vickers

Jun 19 2012

The New Moon in Gemini, June 19, 2012 – Open Your Mind!

Viewing the Moon’s phases in our night sky is such a beautiful reminder that life runs in cycles – and that we benefit if we pay attention to those cycles.

 

I love New Moons!

And today is one in Gemini. (11:02 am Eastern Time)

They’re fresh and regenerative… offering us a time every month to begin anew… to have another chance at starting something.

The general purpose of any New Moon is to create a new beginning, just as the Moon begins a brand new cycle from her dark or invisible phase, waxing to a tiny crescent and then on to bold brightness at the Full Moon, and then gradually waning again to a tiny sliver – back to the dark. Viewing the Moon’s phases in our night sky is such a beautiful reminder that life runs in cycles – and that we benefit if we pay attention to those cycles. Moon watching is both a connection to all humanity through the ages and an incredible way to gain insight into life from all the symbolic meanings that follow her constant but fluctuating passage. Whenever you have the chance, go outside and really look deeply at the Moon. Ponder how her reflected light and the phase that she presents affects you. Somehow this practice brings us back to center and offers an inner contentment. At least that is my experience.

This particular New Moon in Gemini, the second New Moon in Gemini in a month (which is unusual, and the previous one was on May 20 and coincided with the Solar Eclipse) brings yet more emphasis on the workings of our minds, how we analyze new information, and how we communicate what we come up with. There has been an incredible amount of celestial focus on Gemini of late: The Solar Eclipse, the Transit of Venus, Venus Retrograde in Gemini, the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius which is the opposite sign to Gemini (therefore part of the same axis) and the 2 New Moons. Wow.

So here’s my suggestion on what to bring in or start anew at this New Moon (and it’s sort of all tied in to Venus, because of the recent Transit of Venus and that she is still Retrograde in Gemini.)

OPEN YOUR MIND… STRETCH IT WIDE. (Please really think about what this can mean to you. Really THINK about what is new that your eyes can see.)

EXTEND YOUR THOUGHTS INTO THE REALM OF YOUR VALUES.

NOURISH YOUR IDEAS WITH WISDOM.

COMMUNICATE all of these new thoughts, more loving values, and freshly wizened ideals FROM THE HEART.

And because Mars is in very much in the mix today via a square to the Sun and Moon, allow yourself to be motivated!! Don’t block the wellspring of energy that is edging you toward something perhaps a little scary and outside your comfort zone.

ACT with MOTIVATED INTELLIGENCE.

All of this Gemini-ness and Venus-ness is a reminder that you are what you think you are – therefore think that you are LOVE. And with the influence of both Venus and Mars, desire and create from the heart.

That is all. But that is a lot!

P.S. Remember that tomorrow is the Summer Solstice, brought to us by the Sun moving into Cancer. Celebrate!

Related articles
Jun 11 2012

Once-in-a-Lifetime: Transit of Venus Interview with Adam Gainsburg and Michelle Gregg

Adam Gainsburg and Michelle Gregg – Astrologers chatting about the meaning of the Once-in-a-Lifetime Transit of Venus…

CLICK TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEW

As most of you already know, we were fortunate to be alive for a very rare sky event called the Transit of Venus. This “eclipse-like” event of Venus traversing across the face of the sun only happens in pairs, every hundred and five years. We were incredibly fortunate to have been here for both the 2004 and the just-past June 5th & 6th, 2012 Transits of Venus. The next pair won’t occur again until 2117 and 2125!

What does this amazing Transit mean to you?

I got Adam Gainsburg, a true expert on Venus, on the phone to talk with him about exactly that. And he had some pretty amazing things to say!

So please listen here to what can only be called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…

CLICK TO LISTEN TO INTERVIEW

A little bit about Adam Gainsburg:

Adam  is a remarkable astrologer who has gained my utmost respect. Beyond being an astrologer, he is a healer, speaker and author, with a brand new book hot-off-the-press titled The Light of Venus. Please see more about Adam at his site, www.soulsign.com.

Jun 5 2012

A Meditation for the Transit of Venus

The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889) Oil on Canvas – Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France

 

I hope you’ll join me in this simple meditation of love, inspired by today’s very rare transit of Venus across the sun.

The Transit of Venus happens today from 6pm to Midnight Eastern Time. Calculate the difference for your own time zone, and then at some point during the transit (if possible), please read aloud or listen to the following meditation on love:

Please breathe deeply, sit up comfortably, relax your body, relax your brow, hands arms and legs and if you can, place your bare feet on the floor or the ground.

Listen Here

A Meditation of Intention for the Transit of Venus

At this rare moment in life, the Transit of Venus across the face of the Sun, I put forward my intentions of living my life with MORE LOVE. Love of my family, my significant other, my children, my pets, and my friends. At this remarkable historic event, I co-create a more loving, more compassionate world – from my small world of neighbors, family, friends and co-workers to my local community, to my city, to my country and to the whole of the greater world. It is my desire that all who live now both give and receive the ultimate gift of unconditional love and unquestioned respect every day of their lives. It is my hope that we as human beings, living a spiritual life in a physical existence, bridge our differences and learn acceptance of each other through the love that is present in all moments in time. I feel the loving shift happening around me and choose to consciously participate. I allow my inner feminine to lead me with intuition and grace to a deeper understanding of love and forgiveness – of myself, of those around me, and those I will never meet. I fully embrace MORE LOVE and am now a willing conduit for it. My values are based on LOVE, now and forever.

NOTE: If you aren’t able to participate in the Meditation during the actual Transit of Venus – NO WORRIES! Please feel free to use this meditation anytime in the coming months and as often as possible to encourage and participate a powerful shift in consciousness in your life and in the world. 

Jun 5 2012

My Thoughts and Hopes for the Meaning of the Transit of Venus and the Solar and Lunar Eclipses of May and June 2012

The Birth of Venus (detail) by Sandro Botticelli – Such an appropriate title for this moment of time!

 

Today is the Transit of Venus!

Yesterday was the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse!

May 20 was the New Moon Solar Eclipse…

and on May 15 Venus went Retrograde.

All of these events occurred along the Gemini/Sagittarius axis of knowledge and wisdom.

That’s 3 weeks of amazing astronomical and astrological alignments.

THINK:
As Above So Below
As Within So Without

What does it all mean to you?

Re-birthing your relationships.
Re-birthing your values.
Re-birthing your mental attitudes and beliefs.
Re-birthing your world-view.

AND whether male or female, allowing your inner feminine to emerge fully formed and functional.

These four events mean that we are living in a rare moment in time – a moment when a great shift is happening around us, through us and inside us. It is a shift toward more love, more compassion, and more forgiveness – if that is what you intend. If that is what we intend together. If you believe… if you trust. If we believe and trust together.  If we grasp the knowledge and distill the wisdom from it.

It is a shift integrating the Mind with the Soul – and I mean this both as a personal evolution for you as well as a social and cultural one.  We are moving from the cold region of science as God (a masculine mind-set), to a warmer climate that balances science with faith, intuition, love, beauty and wisdom of the heart and Nature, and the needs and desires of the Soul (a feminine mind-set).

They say that very long ago in a misty, green and fertile world humans lived in a Matriarchy, where Nature and the Great Mother ruled supreme.

In the past few thousand years, we have lived and still live in a Patriarchy, where Science and the Great Father reign supreme.

This moment in time is part of the shift of finally integrating both worlds, masculine and feminine, if we are wise enough to co-create with the energies that are offered.

We have, since the dawn of the Industrial and Technological Revolutions, elevated science to such a status that we metaphorically swallowed our more instinctive, more natural, more feminine natures whole, leaving them in the darkness of our subconsiousness, so that we could pursue the masculine mental world of tearing things apart to label them and better understand how everything works.

We find a wonderful correlation in ancient Greek Mythology.  Zeus (known to the Romans as Jupiter and the ruler of Sagittarius in the astrological world) swallowed his wife Metis and their child Athena. Metis and Athena (both women) represented Wisdom – and until Zeus swallowed them (out of fear of being overthrown and in his blindness to the reality of his situation) he had not incorporated Wisdom internally. But after he swallowed them, he gave birth to Athena fully formed from the top of his head (both a mind and spirit point of the body), and was forever afterward known as a God of Wisdom – integrating what he hadn’t had before.

My point here is that it was only after a period of darkness (Metis and Athena within the tomb of Zeus’s body) and an out-of-balance period of time (a god lacking Wisdom), that true Wisdom was allowed to be born and lived out. Once Wisdom was taken internally – digested and understood – it could then be born through the mind with clarity and full functionality through a feminine form. Back in balance.

Beautiful yes?

How does this story relate to Venus Retrograde, the Solar Eclipse in Gemini, the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius and the Transit of Venus?

May 15, 2012 Venus Retrograde: Venus appears to move backwards in space, initiating a period of darkness, internalizing and re-imagining all things related to Venus: love, giving & receiving, relationships, values, resources, art, beauty, aesthetics, desire, allure, adornment.

May 20, 2012 New Moon Solar Eclipse in Gemini:  Endings and new beginnings around the mind, and the solar aspects of humanity, i.e. the masculine, thinking, analyzing, processing aspects. Bringing forward the dark feminine inner world as the Moon (women, mother) blocks the face of the Sun (authority, ego, Father.) I view Eclipses as portals that we can step through – a period of opportunity for transformation and during which the actions of processing and integrating change move faster than usual.

June 4, 2012 Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius: the Earth’s shadow across the Moon symbolizes integration of the polar opposites of male (Sun) and female (Moon). Lunar Eclipses and Full Moons are largely about relationship (of all kinds) and integrating them in a more balanced way. This one highlights our mental attitudes toward relationship and provides us with the opportunity to evolve into deeper wisdom within them. It opens us to a greater understanding and acceptance of “otherness.”
(Listen to or read my Full Moon Lunar Eclipse Meditation here.)

June 5/6 2012 Transit of Venus across the Face of the Sun: Venus, as she retrogresses, is “swallowed” by the Sun as she crosses directly in its path. Then as Venus continues to backtrack farther and farther away from the Sun and deeper into darkness over the next 3 weeks (until she moves direct on June 27) we are fully in a gestation period – or a time of digesting the symbolism of the ultimate feminine: of love, harmony, grace, beauty, unconditional love, forgiveness and compassion. The hope is that upon Venus’s return to direct motion, after the dark gestation period, we will more fully live from the newly integrating feminine and loving qualities that Venus represents.

These 4 events are energetic opportunities to move in a very wonderful and much needed direction.

I don’t believe that we will all suddenly live in Utopia where everyone loves and understands all other people, and lambs will lie down with lions without fear. This is a process – and one that we have been on for many years already. We are steadily moving toward a time when the role of human beings and the way we relate to one another culturally, socially and politically is different than it has been for a VERY long time. And we are also steadily moving toward a time when we relate to the Earth, our Mother, in a more conscious and evolved way. We can view this moment in time as a birth pang or a contraction in the birth process of a new era for humanity. It won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen without more labor pains – yet there is something rare and beautiful about the potential that is surrounding us right now and into the next few months. Fortunately, the effects of an eclipse season are often felt and results seen months and even years into the future. I believe the same is true for the effects of the Transit of Venus.

I do believe that this moment in time will get us closer to a more loving, more peaceful existence with each other, especially if we take the opportunity to move and evolve with the energy around us. That means focused intention – consciously projecting love, acceptance, harmony and peace into our personal lives and into the greater world. And also consciously asking for greater wisdom in understanding others and in our relationships, both personal and with the world at large.

I also believe that women as a whole will move more into the forefront of the movement of change and transformation that we are undergoing. And I think that can only be a good thing.

So, I implore you, don’t let this amazing opportunity pass by without co-creating MORE LOVE! Think and intend and open your hearts, and then project it all forward and outward. The time for greater love is now.

View my video on The Transit of Venus:
Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius and the Transit of Venus = More LOVE!