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2009
Event &
Travel Schedule
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To schedule readings, regressions or events, please call
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Beth McDonald
Consulting:
Archives
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Healing Resources:
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New Moon
September 18th
11:44 am PDT
in
Capricorn September 25th
October 4th
11:10 pm PDT
Waning
Half Moon
in
Cancer
October 11th
1:56 am PDT
New Moon
in
Libra
October 17th
10:33 pm PDT
in
Aquarius
October 25th
5:42 pm PDT
2009 - 2010
December 31st
Lunar Partial
January 15th
Solar Annular
June 26th
Lunar Partial
July 11th
Solar Total
December 21st
Lunar Total
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Original Art
and
Photography
Bee and Sage
Eric Watts
Bend with the Breeze
Equinox
Jamie O'Toole
Mountains, Trees and Sky
Beth McDonald
The Spirit of Virgo
Jamie O'Toole
Blue Moon
Jamie O'Toole
The Trickster
Jamie O'Toole
Shipwreck on Butterfly Beach
Beth McDonald
Jamie O'Toole
Friends
Eric Watts
Station Fire Sunset
The Wife
and the Ghost
in our
Garden
Eric Watts
The Goddess
of Hanapepe
Eric Watts
Portrait
Chris Schilling
Bell Book
and Candle
Jamie O'Toole
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Fall Equinox 2009: Finding that Moment of Balance
This time of year we return from
the rest and respite vacations to schools and schedules and
disciplines, much like busy little bees to flowers. And as we do,
what we find can be quite dual, a mixed blessing. Oh, the noticeably
shorter days. And the testosterone-fueled glory of the return of
football (high school games are broadcast on television now?), and the
drama in hyperdrive that is Major League Baseball's Hunt for October. Oh,
and let's not forget the divine madness of the return of our
legislators and court justices, to face the festering messes they left
when they adjourned for the summer. The fall and all it's
trappings are back, for better and for worse, leaving us scrambling for
some semblance of equilibrium and the sanity it brings. Or is
supposed to.
As always, the
fall and the quest for balance it represents is officially marked by
the Autumnal Equinox. This year the equinox happens on Tuesday,
September 22nd at 2:19 pm PDT. Here in the Northern hemisphere, the
Equinoxes mark the only two days of each year when the sun is
positioned directly over the equator. As such, the Equinoxes are
the only days of the year when the daylight and the darkness are equal
in length. In fact, the word we use for these moments, Equinox, comes
from the Latin words for "equal night." And what a metaphor that
balance - or the quest for it - becomes.
While we always have a variety of struggles
for stability going on at any given time, this year the state budget
debacles and national healthcare debate - and the almost complete
inability of our elected officials to work together to solve any
problem that lies before them - has provided an object lesson in just
why balancing the needs of the family and tribe is so hard. Everyone's
needs are different. Dwelling in fear never helps. Fomenting greed and
greed-based fear-mongering are downright criminal. Regardless of what
quest for balance your personal harvest season has brought you, the way
out is always the same: gratitude, service and philanthropy,
living mitzvahs and random acts of kindness, and your faith.
It
is no coincidence that most of the worlds' great religions have some of
their highest holy days this time of year. All the great holy days are
times that we attempt to create greater harmony in our lives by
revisiting our values and realigning our actions to them.
Regardless of your faith, or your harvest season realignments,
looking at the energy of the stars is always helpful. One of the
regular astrological features of this time of year is the Sun moving
from Virgo to Libra. So that, my friends, is a great place to start. |
The Spirit of Virgo
One of the things I love the most about Virgo is it is so darn precise. And accurate.
Like Mary Poppins, Virgo is practically perfect in every way. It
absolutely cannot abide by carelessness or sloppiness, half measures
and hack jobs, moral lapses and ethical creativity. Honestly,
Virgo operates on and from the premise that a relentless commitment to
precision and accuracy is simply the quickest route to perfection, and
therefore the highest way to express your spirituality in your daily
life. In sum, to a Virgo, perfection is how you live your faith.
On
the downside, that relentlessness can at times be at wee bit
obsessive-compulsive. And on a bad day, it can to feel a bit like
persecution and harassment. And on a really bad day, it creates highly
psychotic, sado-masochistic dramas. Interestingly, Virgo also rules
health, and health care. It is no surprise that the debate on how to
fix the broken American health care system has hit such epic levels of
insanity right now. Throw in the Mercury Retrograde and all bets
are off. Add in all the other retrogrades and the concept of
getting back to a state of balance becomes a very curious one
indeed. But that doesn't change anything. This harvest season, we have
to figure out how reconcile those places where we disagree so we can
solve the problem. And we have to do it civilly, politely,
effectively. Enter Libra.
Libra rules manners and civility,
mediation and negotiation. It rules diplomacy and compromises. When
Libra is in the house, and believe me, it is, you are being called upon
to put your best foot forward and work together
for the highest good of all involved. For all zodiacal intents and
purposes, Libra is the redeemed Rodney King of the Universe ("why can't
we all just get along?").
What I love about Libra
is it knows we can, and it knows just how to do it. The downside
of Libra is that no one else does. Which produces doubt, which results
in that damned scales thing. Just like a scales will swing back
and forth before it finds balance, so will your Libra pals, and so will
any Libra process. There are going to be a lot of pendulums swinging
back and forth, and a lot of people swinging back and forth also.
A lot of Sturm und Drang. And when there are
retrogrades in Libra, especially Mercury, the process of finding that
balance becomes exponentially more, ummmmmm, interesting. |
The Retrogrades: Rediscovering Coyote Energy with Mercury and his Planetary Pals
This
year the fall equinox, the harvest season, and a boatload of
retrogrades signal the return of the Trickster. Yes, folks, this fall
he is back. The Autumnal Equinox finds us once again to be deeply
affected by some extraordinary retrogrades: Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune,
Mercury and the asteroid Chiron. Certainly more than enough to get your attention.
And to be a great catalyst for change. While all the other planetary
bodies went retrograde at various points during the summer, Mercury
joined the gang on September 6th at 9:45 p.m. PDT. At 6 degrees
Libra - the sign representing the quest for balance. Mercury
moved into Virgo on September 17th. And it will go direct on September
29th at 21 degrees Virgo.
Now
Mercury's Retrogrades are always a highly creative and spiritual
time. The material world shuts down, the creative and spiritual
worlds open up, expand and get bigger. But with so many other
celestial objects in retrograde this year, that energy doesn't just
become bigger, it becomes muy grande bigger. And
stranger. And given what I am seeing in my practice, I cannot
emphasize this enough. If you are feeling a little like you are listing
to starboard, you probably are. But don't panic, it is usually an
easier fix than you think and there is probably something good that is
coming out of it all. If you are feeling a little like you have washed
ashore with all your dreams in shambles, call me, for while the same is
true, it is a much more complicated deal. And I am seeing a lot of that
right now.
Mercury in retrograde produces the astrological equivalent of Coyote energy. It gives you ample - and if you are slow to respond to the lesson, redundantly ample - opportunities to understand how
the proverbial devil fools the best made plans, and how to walk
that fine, fine line between wisdom and folly. Coyote energy
teaches us to laugh at folly wherever it appears: ours and everyone
else's, for there is learning in everything and laughter in learning.
The other thing Mercury in retrograde produces in spades is a greater awareness
of your intuition and your relationship to it. Because the period
between the Equinox and Samhain is considered by many cultures to be
the time of the year when the wall between the worlds is the thinnest,
people are naturally more intuitive during the fall. Our dreams are
more intense, and often more prophetic. Our empathy is stronger
and our telepathic abilities are enhanced. There are greater numbers of
spirits around us, and they are often more apparent, especially on film
and in photography. While the retrogrades do not always happen in the
Fall, when they do, well, your intuition is just a lot stronger. And if
it happens as it is now, in the fall with so many other planets in
retrograde, your intuition will be off the charts. This will be true
for anyone, but especially those with natal planets directly impacted
by Mercury or any of his retrograding comrades. | |
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In closing,
my prescription for finding some semblance of balance during the Fall
Equinox this year is a pretty simple one: slow down, stay calm, do your
homework, listen and observe. This is a time of great change and
transformation. The revolutions that were started a year ago are
far from over, and the role we are each to play in them is much simpler
and more subtle than most of us currently believe or understand. So
with that said, I want to get more a little more specific on each
of my recommendations.
First, as for slowing down, that would apply to most Americans
just about any day of the year. But during the retrogrades it is
particularly important. Honestly, since it started I am seeing a lot of
enlightened, well intentioned, people absolutely making themselves nuts
doing way too much, often of some seriously less important things.
Prioritize. Do only the most important things. And under schedule.
Virgo rules only the most calculated, methodical, deliberate, and
intentional actions; that is the energy to channel and hold now.
The concept of slowing down is simple to understand,
intellectually, but can sometimes be quite difficult to do. Which
brings me to the next topic.
As
for staying calm and emotionally balanced, this is one of the biggest
life lessons of Libra, and as such is pretty freaking crucial now. I am
seeing a lot of folks who are seriously locked and loaded, and with a
hair trigger. No Es Bueno. And it also makes
the slowing down part even more important. And the priority is
addressing in more effective ways whatever it is that has you so upset.
Breathe, baby, you can get there from here. We have the technology; you
just have to surrender to using it.
The third is the do
your homework part. Virgo rules the concept of God helps those who help
themselves. And details. And I am absolutely astounded at how much
trouble people are having with them these days. Honestly, it is just so
hard to be a grown up in the age of information. There is just so much
of it, and so much of it is wrong, and/or comes from highly biased and
deliberately manipulative sources. It is just overwhelming. You have to
take responsibility for yourself, and for knowing what you need to know
to do what you are trying to do.
And this is where the fourth component,
listening and observing, will help both soften the process and shorten
any learning curves. Both are ruled by Mercury. And this applies
to everything: your natural environment, those around you, and
your Self. If you say much of anything at all, ask questions.
Saturn camping out in Virgo for the better part of the last two years -
and about to bust a move into Libra - has certainly been a very
humbling experience, showing us where the line is between what we know
and what we don't know. It is also showing us how to have balance.
Especially that balance between intentionality and surrender to a
Higher Will, a divine plan. These lines can be really hard to find,
much less walk. But you won't see it if you don't look. In the interim,
use the virtues of the Virgo and Libra, Coyote energy of the
Mercury Retrograde and the still point of the Equinox to help you make
the most of your harvest and choose your next moves. And if you
get stuck, call me - we'll figure it out!
Blessings,
Beth |
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