The decoy Catholic (me) attended Mass again today and cried throughout. I am talking snot-problem level crying.  ::rolls eyes::

I also fought with the soldier about it; we have a very rocky road here that neither of us can get off though we both threaten.

“If we get off, we’re just going to have to get right back on,” I said.

‘Well I know that!  But at least we could have a break - go a couple Sundays without a fight,’ he said.

“You have to do this because of God,’ I said.  “I think you do.”

“Well yeah. I had to do Special Forces because of God too; it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Exhausted from 3 hours on intense emoting, I waved my hand to dismiss and we both smiled.

I don’t dare break it to him but Saturn won’t be in my 9^th house (religion) for 2 years.

Now the soldier would tell you that I am a Catholic on account of I was baptized and while he is technically correct, I have not 1 minute of Catholic training so it leaves me at a loss when I attend Mass with him as I did today for the second time.

I am inordinately disoriented from the moment I walk in the door for an endless list of (Pluto Moon) reasons, something the soldier cannot understand for the same reasons he does not understand other things - That is that I am not him. In whatever case he asked me what I thought as we were leaving the church today and I told him that I had about a million impressions.

“For example, they start singing and I start crying,” I said. (Venus Neptune is famous for sensitivity to music) “And then I look over and see the real Catholic and she is putting on lipstick. To me that is surreal and I have no way of knowing what to make of it.”

Continue reading Neptune On The Midheaven - I’m A Decoy Catholic

Just saw this on the news:

Scientology Faces Criminal Charges

Shadow side of religion anyone? Pluto In Sagittarius… last gasps.

From Ask Rabbi Simmons:

What is the Jewish view of astrology?

Rabbi Shraga Simmons writes:

“The Bible takes a strong negative stand on Astrology. Yet, Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical tradition, has sources that are based on astrological principles.

In Genesis 1:14 it says, “God said, ‘There shall be lights in the heavenly sky to divide between day and night. They shall serve as omens and define festivals, days and years.’” Early commentaries say that “omens” refers to how the stars and planets affect out lives. Therefore, based on the necessity for fixing the Hebrew calendar, and an understanding that stars and planets affect events it is clear that early wise men had an astrological outlook.”

Read the whole response here - What is the Jewish view of astrology?

With Mercury forming a T-square with Jupiter and Uranus I have also been thinking about religious freedom. I cop having taken it for granted all my life but I don’t feel this way anymore.

These days I am acutely aware what a privilege it is be able to write (Mercury) and freely (Uranus) publish my beliefs (Jupiter). I understand if I were living somewhere else I could get my head cut off for this.

Speaking of beheading, did you read John Townley’s comments re: this month’s new Moon?

Townley writes:

“The heads-up message for this merry month of May may be heads-off! That’s because in the midst of this spring season of grand fire trines mixed with T-crosses, spinning off the remaining trine of Jupiter and Saturn and the opposition of Saturn and Neptune, the new Moon of May 16 (25° 33′ Taurus) falls within under a degree of the direst of fixed stars, Caput Algol (the Gorgon’s Head), an eclipsing double star in the process of celestial suicide, long-associated with beheadings and hangings, or losing your head in general.”

I realize this is gross but you can see is this is in the air, what with Angelina Jolie’s movie about Daniel Pearl. So when the words came out of my fingers I let them.

Besides that, it’s true. I have the great good fortune to write this blog and I can only hope it continues. What about the Taliban rounding up the women and the girls in Afghanistan? No education for you! ::sighs::

All the books will tell you Uranus signifies unexpected change and reversals. If you happen to be the one with the rights and freedoms, I would say it’s unnerving. What would you say?

So we collide at the truck stop and within a couple hours we’re on tour of the city, guided by a friend of the soldier’s who happens to be a history buff.

So we stop at the water… learn about the barges, get a history lesson the next thing you know we are driving by this gorgeous cathedral in St. Paul. I noticed it but had no idea we were stopping… however we were stopping.

“Let’s go in,” his friend said brightly.

The soldier and I didn’t even glance at each other. How could this guy know we had this knockdown drag out fight about this just a few days prior? Continue reading Jupiter In Sagittarius Seeks Meaning / Scorpio and the 8th House Thinks Everything In A Sign

I took my own advice this weekend and traveled to meet the soldier. It was a last minute plan on both our parts which fits with Jupiter (travel) square Uranus (unexpected). We only had about 36 hours notice of the trip and about 24 hours together but this did not stop us from managing to wind up at someone’s Catholic wedding.

Not that we knew them or anything. Not that we planned it or anything. Not that we could have anticipated it in any way shape or form, and not that we had even one thing to do with it, but there we stood in the back of the cathedral not daring to look at each other, but glancing over anyway and this couple solemnly said “I do.”

Jupiter rules religion… Uranus acts like a bolt of lightning. We know it means something but we have no idea what.

Anyone else have a strange happening this weekend?

Cartooning is an interesting form of writing. You have to get your message across very succinctly. But there is an even shorter form.

Do you have someone in your town… a business or in this case a church who maintains an outdoor sign which a changing message that is snappy? Most towns do and we are fortunate here to have a several very good sign writers.

So today, I drove by the church with the good sign, it’s two-sided and whatever it says is always clever on one level or another. So today’s sign said:

“WANT TO WORRY LESS?”

I drove by (on my scooter) and glanced back to read the back side:

“PRAY MORE”.

Jupiter laughed at that.

Here’s the grand cross in that:

Worry is Virgo, praying is Pisces so there is that opposition.

Also involved in today’s cross is Venus (your desire… less worries) and Jupiter (the sign is in front of a church)!

I have no intention of going to church but if I ever did, I would pick the one with the amusing sign, I think. Or the one with the most songs and the least rules.

How about you? How do you, did you, or would you pick a church?

pictured: cartoon by Bill Bates

A few blogs back, the solider was talking about how you can’t shake your upbringing. He was raised in a conservative family, steeped in tradition, his family and his roots where as I was raised by progressive, eccentric and ultra-detached, Aquarians. And with the Pluto transit (uncover what is hidden) to my Moon (roots) these things have become center stage.

Now when we were kids, this was one jacked up relationship! Because coming here from South America, a quarter Italian himself, he took one look at me… we were the same color, and he assumed that I was just like him. You know. He assumed I was Catholic, for starters! And I never did disabuse him of this notion. Continue reading Pluto Transit To The Moon: Mine… The Family Legacy

Dear Once,

It’s very funny. I knew what I was going to have to say to you before I looked at your chart and when it popped up on the screen, with Saturn (oppression) in the 9th house (religion) opposing your Sun (your creative self), your Mercury (your thoughts) and the rest of your stellium in Virgo, well it doesn’t get plainer than this. Or cuter. And neater petite-r for a Virgo like you.

See these advice questions have to apply to more than one person to make it on to this blog. And I was going to tell you that to evolve in the course of your lifetime… be it around religion or anything else, when you are challenged there is really only one thing to do. Stand firm. You must have integrity and I am a good example.

I started identifying myself as an astrologer (as a career) at my Saturn return. Needless to say, I was mocked without mercy. People who knew me before I identified myself this way shook their heads and the new people I met… well most of them took a step back, not forward.

However, I am an astrologer. I will die an astrologer so when my future inl aws told a man who loved me that they would disown him if he married that “astrologer crystal ball person”, I remained an astrologer and I think you can see I understand your circumstance.

And I think everyone needs to stand for what they believe but in your case this could not possibly be any clearer, with a 9th house Saturn. Your beliefs (9th house) must have integrity (Saturn). And here’s the deal with an opposition like yours… which utterly dominates your chart by the way.

When you have an opposition like this in your chart you wind up living one side and projecting the other. So for awhile there, you were the Saturn in the 9th figure. You were the religious (9th house) authority (Saturn). But now you’re on the other end, being a critical thinking Virgo!! And what you have to do is own both sides.

Now I want to tell you, you are a preacher whether you like it or not. And if you go up there and read your post, you can see this is in your writing. There is a cadence of someone preaching. So really, you have not escaped your destiny, have you? You are still going to teach about religion or belief systems, it’s just that you beliefs have morphed!

So when these people come down on you… don’t let that stand. Don’t be the little Virgo maiden crushed by authority (the projected 9th house Saturn). Instead, get on you own box there and preach right back!! Because you have authority when it comes to religion / belief systems. But as long as you try to divorce yourself from this and ignore what is essentially your job on this planet… well you are going to continue to meet the oppressor outside yourself, and why is that?

It’s to force you to define (Saturn) your beliefs (9th house)… to one and all. And I can tell you from personal experience that when you do this eventually the opposition fades and support forms. There isn’t a person in the world who would dare try to tell me I shouldn’t be an astrologer now. What would it get them? A quizzical look?

Good luck.

~~
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