Planters' Moon

Every one of us alive today has survived because ancestors in our past knew how to be successful farmers. They knew first hand the relationship between moon phases and the life cycle on growing plants.

My first memory is of my grand fathers tattered Farmer’s Almanac that hung on a rusty nail in his garden shed. He planted his aboveground plants (lettuce and chard) on the new moon, his beloved dahlias on the crescent moon, roots vegetables (carrots and celeries) on the waning moon, and his melons when the moon was in the water signs of Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces.

We have one of these fruitful New Moons now, April 21, at 2:18 AM EDT in the earth sign of Taurus.

Use this auspicious two-week time period to focus on your physical life and health. Plant the seeds of new health regimes. What you start now you will have a stronger commitment to continue (strengthen your body, add nutritional support or start that vegetarian lifestyle). Begin new practices such as Tai Chi, Pilates, or weight training.

As the lunar energy is directed now toward the earth plane, this is a fine time to ground your self by gardening—the whole next two-week period excels as a times for planting. Find the “grandfather (oldest) tree on your property or park or forest near by. Hug it (no kidding!). You will feel its stable life force flow to you. Plant a tree in honor of Earth day. As for myself, I have been growing Moringa trees, having given away several dozen one-foot trees and I am planting another hundred during this New Moon phase.

Think of April 21–May 5 as one of the six most fertile two-week time periods of the year. The others? July 1, August 29, October 26, and December 24. Learn to work with the cosmos and not against it (“disaster” literally means “against the stars”). You can learn quickly that moving with the moon phases will always give your life better results.

New Moon in Pisces

Yesterday's New Moon in Pisces (5:35 PM EST) is a very special one. Use this auspicious two-week period to focus on your psychic health. Recommendations: Be intimate and show compassion, be still and listen to what your deep self is saying, process and release the pain of emotional wounds (they do not serve you). Purify through detoxification (hot springs, body scrubs, etc.), pay attention to your dreams—they are possibly prophetic. If you practice mantra, consider a chant to Quan Yin, goddess of compassion, love and mercy: "On Na Mo Quan Shin (like "she-in") pusa ("poo-saw"). Chant it like a lullaby, as if you are comforting a small child. You are, yourself, that child and you deserve the comfort.—Barbara.

Highlights for Cosmic Trends 2012

Listen to the presentation (45 min.)    Download printable Notes (.pdf)

Notes by Astrologer Barbara Schermer

Every January for sixteen years I have presented this preview of astrological influences for the year to come. Most presentations were in Chicago and at the Rio Caliente Spa, outside Guadalajara, Mexico, but this year I gave the talk to the the Open Circle group of about 300 people in Ajijic, Mexico. These Notes are the handout for that talk. They cover most of the inportant points in what will prove to be a spectacular year.

1. Astrology is the study of cycles and patterns that are hidden but knowable.

2. We live in epic times, more important than we know. When you look back on these days you’ll say, “When the historic moments happened I was there. And, even better, I participated.”

3. In essence, 2011–2012 is the tipping point.  Cascading events are dramatically changing the world. Setbacks and advances are happening simultaneously.

4. Pluto squares off with Uranus (90 degree angle) seven times through 2015, from June 24, 2012 to March 15, 2015. The last time they came together in a similar critical dynamic was 1965–1969. A parallel to what happened then is happening now.

5. Two generations are driving these evolutionary/revolutionary events; their ages range from 17 to 41 years. Pluto in Libra generation members were born 1970–1984. They are the “Millennial Generation: The Peacemakers.” Pluto in Scorpio generation natives were born 1984–1995. I call them the “Harry Potter Generation: The Magicians and Healers.” They were raised to believe in magic. They are like “psychic sponges.” They can be problem solvers of our most difficult issues.

6. Pluto is in the sign of Capricorn from Fall 2008 to Spring 2024. A two-fold psychic process—Death with its twin, Rebirth— is underway. Long-suppressed forces, from deep within as in a volcano, burst forth in multiple eruptions. Certainly there is destruction, but also fresh new life blossoms.

7. Repression. Resistance. Regeneration. Rinse and repeat. Dictators and brutal regimes fall. Ossified and corrupt structures and systems crumble or fly apart. Resistance? The Worldwide Occupy Movement, and the Arab Spring are examples. Regeneration? New kind of civil societies, governments, and institutions for global cooperation and problem solving emerge. Old ideas yield to the new.

8. Capricorn is an earth sign, ruling over all matters of the environment—earth changes and climate—but also sustainability and self-sufficiency. How do I become more self-sufficient? Simplify your life! Aim to have your family be 50% more self-sufficient within five years. Teach your children to love nature and they will take care of the earth.

9. Uranus is in the sign of Aries from Spring 2011 to Spring 2018. Revolution! The era of the activist comes around again as youth are mobilized. Science astounds us. Pioneers and innovators come forth. Time accelerates, information overloads us, and we experience “shock fatigue.” But new “Models of Everything” appear. Evolutionary leaps occur. You are “the power of 1.” What stirs your passion?

10. Saturn is in the sign of Libra from July 2010 to October 2012. Tipping points abound. How do I live a balanced life? Reassess and re-negotiate relationships. Strive for what is just and fair.

11. in the sign of Pisces from February 3, 2012 to February 2025. “Veils” are thinner, deeper dreams and intuitions are possible, as are instant manifestation. Who and what nourishes me?

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Inspiring news sources: odemagazine.com and yesmagazine.org. The podcast On Being (American Public Radio) and our own lakechapalagreengroup.com.

Email: bschermer@astrologyalive.com   773-248-7108 US & Intl.

Cosmic Wheel for 2012

 The Cosmic Wheel of the Year: Strategies for for 2012 has been posted for the year. This printable page shows and describes the thirteen two-week New Moon-to- Full Moon cycles you can use to auspiciously develop intentions and to initiate actions. Improve your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing!—Barbara.

Possible Pregnancy Planetary Alert

Are you trying to get pregnant? Astrologically speaking, this next two weeks may be a particularly fertile time, especially for those of you with your Sun sign in the element of water—Cancers, Scorpios and Pisces.  If you know your birth chart and have an abundance of planets in water signs, this certainly applies to you.

And, if you don't want to get pregnant, be careful!

Every year there are three two-week time periods in which the new moon occurs in water signs and, for all of us, these are the most fertile times of the year. Out of 52 weeks, six of those weeks are exceptionally virile and potent. The moon symbolizes the womb, family, children, home and our deepest inner life. The New Moon in water sign, Scorpio, begins on October 26 at 2:56 PM CDT and the energy of this moon cycle builds through the Full Moon on November 10 at 2:16 PM CST.

This particular New Moon also has auspicious connections to both Jupiter in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn, and this adds extraordinary power to create a “window of time” for a possible pregnancy.

So if you know you are ovulating, then get thee to the bedroom! By the way, your bedroom should be the most beautiful and inviting space in your house. Venus, Goddess of Love, does not come where she is not bidden. Just as we are drawn to rooms of beauty that delight our senses, so too may the spirits of babies—Barbara.

Photo by doriana s.