2008
Summer & Fall
Travel
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To schedule readings, regressions or events, please call
805-963-0842
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Intuitive Development:
Re-Directing
the Retrograde Energy
Despite
the fact that many, many , many qualified intuitives teach this
subject, I have had a lot of requests start teaching this subject in
recent years. Especially as transiting Neptune's opposition to Saturn
has gotten stronger. So that set the stage. Because the Retrogrades of
Mercury are such a good time to explore yourself and your spirituality,
they been a great time to have an Intuitive Development
Class.
In this class we will start by exploring basic
definitions and manifestations of the intuition in history. And there
are many. We will look at how the intuition and using it has been
defined and treated by some of the world's religions. Then we will make
it personal and look at how your intuition occurs for you in your daily
life, and where you go with it. Then we will go over some basic and
advanced drills and exercises to increase your native ability.
Aquarians and techno-geeks can register online on my website (www.bethmcdonaldconsulting.com)
using PayPal or a credit card. The Taureans how need a
more measured pace can download a pdf and mail or fax in their
registration. Or for you Capricorns, who like doing things the old
fashioned way, call 963-0842.
Sept. 21st
10:00 am-Noon
914 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara
$40
*
Unlocking the Mysteries of Mercury's Retrogrades:
The retrogrades of the planets are the most common
and least understood of all astrological transits. Mercury's
Retrogrades are the most frequent and the most intense, the most talked
about and the most misunderstood. A mere mention of the words "Mercury
Retrograde" can illicit groans of woe and send people into a needless
panic.
In this uncommonly fun and
informational class, you will discover the inherent grace and gifts in
each Mercury Retrograde. You will learn effective and elemental tools
to use in order to navigate these transits more comfortably and
proficiently. We will go over some basic astrology as well as the
actual astronomical mechanics of retrogrades, As this Mercury
Retrograde will be in both Aquarius and Pisces, this class will be
particularly useful to those who a lot of that sign in their natal
charts, or in the charts of loved ones.
Those who pre-register
will get complementary copies of their natal astrology chart and their
current transits. Fire signs needing instant gratification
can register online on my website (bethmcdonaldconsulting.com) using
PayPal or your credit card. Or you Virgos who need to work for it
can download a pdf and mail or fax in your registration. Pisceans who
need the personal touch can call me at 805-963-0842.
Sept. 21st 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Avalon Chiropractic
914 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara $50
*
Oct 9th - 19th
Kauai, Hawaii
August 1st
3:13 am PDT
Total Solar Eclipse
Full Moon
August 16th
2:16 pm PDT
Partial Lunar Eclipse
August 30th
12:58 pm PDT
September 15th
2:13 am PDT
Retrograde
Schedule
2008
Pluto Retrograde
April 3 - Sept. 9
01 degree Capricorn
through
28 degrees Sagittarius
Jupiter Retrograde
May 10 - Sept. 8
22 degrees Capricorn
through
12 degrees Capricorn
Uranus Retrograde
June 27-Nov. 18
22 degrees Pisces
through
18 degrees Pisces
Fall Mercury Retrograde
Sept. 25-Oct. 16
22 degrees Libra
through
07 degrees Libra
and
Solar
Eclipses
August 1
visible in North Eastern North America, Europe, and Africa
August 16
visible in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia
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Original Art & Photography
Summer Smile
Leo Sunflower
Cambrian Harvest
by
Eric Watts
Tara Hill Carin
by
Eric Watts
Portrait
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Lammas/Lughnasa
Autumns' Herald
The
summer has always been my favorite time of year. When I was a
child, I often spent the summers on my maternal grandfather's farm.
There, the end of July and beginning of August meant everything was in
fourth gear. Everyone had a great tan, was having great fun, was
enjoying fantastic fresh food, and was having grand and glorious
adventures. And yet I always looked at the beginning August with a
tinge of sadness, as it meant my precious days of fun and freedom were
now very, very numbered. The alarm clocks and school bells would be
ringing all too soon, bringing with them whole new worlds of
disciplines and responsibilities. And the waning of the sun.
Maybe
it is just my heritage. As far back as we have been able to trace
through genealogy, my family has primarily been farmers. For at least a
thousand years
Even as a young child, I had an understanding of the
connection between the position of the Sun and the rhythms of life.
It's just in my blood. But to a certain degree it is a part of the
human dilemma, our ongoing quest to understand why we are here and what
we are supposed to be doing with all these days and hours.
Since
the dawn of man, we have grappled with these questions. And looked to
the heavens for answers. Being the biggest, most regular and most
obvious of the heavenly bodies, the Sun became the first logical stab
at a clue. The Sun and it's movements then became tracked by and
worshipped by virtually every human culture in some form or fashion.
Everybody has had some variation of a Sun deity. Subsequently the
earliest forms of human art and architecture, science, religion
socio-political structures are all tied to it.
In
the Vedic tradition, the Sun god was Surya, and was the only one of
their gods that mere mortals could see every day. To the Egyptians he
was Ra, creator of nearly all forms of life and ruler of the sky, the
earth and the underworld. In ancient Greece, he was the handsome
Helios, who drove the chariot of the Sun across the sky each day. The
Romans made him Apollo, god of light and Sun, truth and prophecy. He
had the power to heal and to mete out disease and death. To the Irish
Celts, he was Lug (or Lugh), warrior-hero and high king, who instituted
a harvest festival in memory of his foster-mother.
Traditionally
observed sometime between August 1st - 6th, Lammas (or Lughnasa,
Lughnassa, Lughnasad, or Lughnasadh) marks the end of summer and
beginning of the harvest season. Lammas is the first of the three
harvest celebrations generally observed in the ancient Northern
European and Mediterranean countries, and places dependent upon wheat
as a mainstay of their diet. In many cultures, the summer solstice was
the time of greatest separation and individuation for members of the
tribe. And Lammas or Lughnasa was the time when they started coming
back together. For only in our togetherness can we solve our
common problems and ensure the survival of the species.
This
is the time of year where we - both as individuals and as a tribe
- have to figure it out. How are we going to work together?
Not only how to but why, both of which are based on our beliefs.
So given that, the challenge that is always before us is What do you
believe? And how does what you believe influence your day-to-day
thoughts and actions, your words and your deeds?
Man has
always tried take cues from the Sun and the stars and the seasons,
especially when times were tough. And they are tough. Now -
probably more than ever - we need to keep the best practices of the
ancients in the forefront of our consciousness. This time of year, we
need to be just like the shining Sun. We need to find the part of us
that most closely resembles that archetype. The Sun is the handsome
hero. Though he regularly disappears, he always resurrects himself to
come back again. Often just in time to save the day.
This
is exactly why the summer blockbuster movies are usually about some
sort of super hero, or some everyman who in the face of some very
extenuating circumstances finds the hero within himself and triumphs
over adversity. We need that inspiration. So find you inner hero,
your Messiah, your Sun-God-King. This is his time, his moment, his
season. Summon him, find him, wake him up and turn him loose. To help
do that, look to where the Sun is. In Leo. |
The Spirit of Leo
In
the immortal words of the Beatles, here comes the Sun
King. The sign of Leo is the most magical of all the signs
of the zodiac. Ruled by the Sun, Leo is the golden child, fearless and
full of glory; wild and full of wonder, creativity and joy. Leo
is spontaneous and fun, and that alone makes them absolutely
brilliantly magnetic. You just want to be in their space and bask in
the majestic splendor of their light.
There is also something just awfully MacGyver
about Leo for me - being able to creatively use what you have inside
and what you have at hand to save the day. It is no wonder that the
sign of Leo occurs when the Sun is waning and we are called upon to
find that shining, sunny part of ourselves. It essential that we claim
that part of ourselves and own it - righteously - before we begin the
descent into what ever the fall holds for us.
But the
process is not a blind one. There must be consciousness here, as well.
All signs have their boons and their banes, their blessings and their
life lessons. The downside of Leo is that it is so very, very, fixed.
And fixated. Sometimes for far too long, for all the wrong reasons, on
all the wrong things. Like the other fixed signs (Scorpio, Taurus, and
Aquarius) Leo takes the art of clinging to whole new levels. Leo has an
amazing ability to hang onto a bad idea or a bad feeling far past it's
prime. Like that jar of salsa from that Fiesta party three you
had three years ago that is still lurking in the back of your fridge.
One
of the life lessons of Leo - like it is for all the fixed signs - is
knowing when to stay the course and when to abandon ship. It is no
coincidence then that the lessons of Lammas run along very similar
veins. By the time of Lammas, you have begun to get a sense of what
your harvest is going to be. And not be. And you have time to
shore up the weak spots. When there is a lot of energy in Leo, as there
is right now (three planets and the South Node, but who is counting?),
it is a peak time for creativity and expression of your gifts and
talents. But the down side is you can be so busy creating and
expressing and pouring energy out that you can miss crucial energy and
information trying to come in. And I am seeing a lot of people missing
the boat.
This time of year I get a lot of clients who
just realized that one of their proverbial ship has sailed, and they
missed it. I am seeing a lot of people so upset about what they
perceive they didn't get or don't have that they totally do not see the
grace that they have been given. They do not see what they do have, or
what is good about it. That is where the eclipses come in.
The Eclipses
With that said, there are two eclipses
occurring in August. The first is a Total Solar Eclipse and it happened
on Friday August 1st, which on some calendars was actually Lammas
day. The next is a Partial Lunar Eclipse which happens on
Saturday, August 16th.
Technically, eclipses are
simple transits involving the sun and moon. A Lunar Eclipse
occurs when the Moon passes through all or part of the Earth's shadow.
This can only happen when there is a full moon. A Solar Eclipse happens
when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, and our view of it
is obscured. Sometimes totally and sometimes only partially. These can
only happen when there is a new moon.
Because
the Sun was so essential to both early religions and early calendars, a
solar eclipse was said to be an indicator of the god's displeasure in
many ancient cultures. This has been said to cause warring soldiers to
put down their arms, lift sieges, or surrender on more than one
occasion. Some ancient peoples also affiliated these transits and this
interpretation with destructive acts of nature like floods and
earthquakes.
Like the Mercury Retrogrades, these
transits are deeply significant and there are a lot of misconceptions
about their meanings. In ancient times, people could only rarely see
and observe eclipses, so they did not realize eclipses happen a good
couple of times each year. Sometimes more than that. Often there
would be 30-50 years between visible eclipses. Because of that, there
came to be a lot of real interesting theories about what they were and
what they mean.
Because these eclipses involve planets
passing in and out of sight, they are now said to be a transit of
revelation, a time when more is revealed on both macro and micro
levels. Exactly what is revealed varies. Usually there are both good
things and less good things revealed each time. On the good side we
often find our allies and angels. On the less good side, we find out
who is not.
There are usually two categories of
revelations. On the bigger level, nationally and or internationally,
there is usually something rich with intrigue but politically damaging,
dark and scandalous that we suddenly find out about. Or a series of
them.
And
there is always something a little smaller and al little closer to
home: some nasty little political power play or psychodrama that plays
out amongst family and friends that shows you more about the political
dynamics of the circles you run in. And there are two sides to this.
Again, because the Sun represents your ego and the Moon your
emotions, the things that have been hidden are usually things that you
cannot see because it would damage or destroy you on ego or emotional
levels. Additionally, there are the things that others have
deliberately hidden from us. Often the reality is there is a
combination of the two modes operating at some level. |
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In closing , the harvest is the season of
the hero. This time of year is when the hero - or the messiah -
that was born in the dark of winter reaches maturity, and therefore his
fullest expression. The reason messiah stories are so big in all
cultures is because they bring us the hope and the heroes, both
internal and external, we feel we need to get ourselves out of the
messes we make. Or as Gomez says, to deliver us from what we've got
into. This is the time of year when you get to rediscover the hero with
a thousand faces, and how one of them is yours.
And the
reality is, these myths work for us because they are true. And
they work. There is always a messiah coming. There is always a hero
waiting somewhere out there in the shadows to swoop in and save the
day, or at least make it a little better. And there is always a hero
within us just waiting for his moment to shine. As human consciousness
evolves, more and more we are finding we are required to find the hero
and the God that lives within. And the redemption they bring. And in
times of economic and social crises, which we are in, I am seeing more
and more people finally ready spend less time waiting for a savior - or
at least someone else - to come to rescue them and more time being
heroic in those moments that call for it. God knows there are a few of
them.
I am seeing a lot of people staggering under the
weight of their lives right now. Their Leo-Sun-God-King-Messiah
archetype is missing in action. For some he is just hidden. For others
he is shy, reticent. For others he is completely indisposed - sleeping
in and hard to roust. For many the beginning of the harvest season this
year feels like the beginning of the end. Like there is simply not
enough of a harvest - emotionally or materially - to get them through
the cold darkness of the coming winter.
In the face of
this, many souls are leaving. Honestly, it fees like an exodus. I am
seeing just a unprecedented number of deaths, among my family and
friends, neighbors, in my practice and in those of other professionals.
Whether it is soldiers in foreign lands, wounded warriors who cannot
find their way once safely home, or elders whose course was finally
run, or those whose burdens simply became too great, there are a lot of
souls opting to leave now.
Like rats off a sinking
ship. You can tell when some sort of massive shit is about to go
down because souls start leaving in droves. As if to avoid the rush, or
something. It reminds me of how people will leave the ball park before
the game is over if the home team is getting pummeled. To get a jump
start on the traffic, as if doing that was some sort of consolation.
It
reminds me of the summer of 2001, that period right before September
11th. And just after it. When the attacks happened, and then the war
started two months later, we all thought the emotional and physical
bloodbath of it was so big. And terrible. We could all feel the pain of
it. But as terrible as it was, it was nothing compared to the emotional
and physical bloodbath that was to come, that we have experienced
since. And that is yet to come.
On a personal level, it
feels like the angel of death has been extremely busy this summer. He
has not only passed over my doorway, but is camping in the backyard.
Those of us left behind have moments of feeling like we have somehow
failed. Especially with suicides and in situations where a soul has
seemed to move on to the next plane prematurely. Or at least before we
felt complete.
And that's where faith has to come in. We
cannot let the shock of what we have experienced or witnessed make us
numb or paralyzed or complacent or stupid (again). And if you don't
have the faith, look to someone who does, or did, and emulate that.
During the course of his life, my maternal grandfather developed a
faith that permeated all aspects of his life. He prayed aloud before
every meal, and every prayer began with, "Father, we thank you for this
day, and for all the blessings we have received and are about to
receive." Every prayer. Every day. At
the time, the significance of this was completely lost on me. But now I
am awestruck by the discipline of his faith. And grateful for the role
model. Until next time, blessings! b
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