June/July 2007

Complementary Currencies for Social Change: An Interview with Bernard Lietaer
Ravi Dykema

To Remake the World: Something Earth0changing is Afoot Amonth Civil Society
Paul Hawken

Leave No Child Inside
Richard Louv

Research Shows Television Watching Affects Children's Development
Jody Woodruff

Global Warming Can't Buy Happiness
Bill McKibben

Worldwide Shift to Compact Fluorescents Could Close 270 Coal-Fired Power Plants
Lester R. Brown

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
Deepak Chopra

Principles for Spinal Safety
John Stern

The Economic Potential of a New Energy Revolution
Jerome Ringo

The Campaign for a Department of Peace: A Holistic Approach for Reducing Violence
Pip Cornall

Translated Ancient Buddhist Texts: Teachings of Life Free From Agression, Full of Compassion
Lama Chönam, Sangye Khandro & Jules B. Levinson

Book Review

Cosmic Calendar
Salina Rain

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Cosmic Calendar

By Salina Rain

In June and July this year there are four planetary changes in direction with inner planet Mercury’s next retrograde pass in Cancer: From June 15th until July 9th, Uranus spinning around to apparent backwards motion on June 23rd for 5 months, and on July 27th Venus will begin backtracking through the early degrees of Virgo, by August 9th slipping back into Leo until Sept. 8th. If you have critical points or planets from around 2 to 12 degrees Cancer the Mercury retrograde period will be especially important, a time when it’s extra crucial to be reflective, inwardly focused on your emotional attachments as well as the matters involved in the House or Houses of the chart being impacted.

Of course we’ll all be required to engage in our own internal process for that period, perhaps with less intensity. Cancer’s influence calls for review of our private world and how fulfilling or not that may be at present. If we need adjustments in taking time for our emotional fulfillment then now is the time to strategize about what changes we can make. This is also about investigating roots, perhaps family ancestry questions or other research on lineages, paying attention to food and other sources of nourishment, and for releasing outworn traditions. Since all the Mercury retrograde periods this year are water-oriented we’ll have increased opportunities to clarify and heal our lives through the emotional body. The usual cautions are suggested as all communications systems, mechanical entities, and scheduling matters are sent into a bit of chaos requiring more patience and flexibility of us in order to avoid major confusion/frustration. Since the “shadow” degrees are traversed by Mercury starting the end of May it’s wisest to be prepared for the winged messenger’s tricksterism to commence around then. 

New Moon on the 14th of June joins Sun and Moon at 24 degrees Gemini with the added element of Gemini’s ruling planet Mercury in an especially slowed down state as it pivots on the 15th. This brings some confusion and instability to the New Moon’s initiations, we may be hesitant or ambiguous about our goals and intentions, or we may be operating from unreliable information. Leave plenty of room in this beginning point for later adjustments, and be particularly sensitive to feelings and intuitions as you put forth the next lunar cycle’s goals. Sun and Moon oppose Pluto, the Great Transformer, intensifying the need to divest further of all self-defeating ideas and beliefs as we enter the new cycle. There’s no room for the usual procrastinations with Pluto’s involvement, “resistence is useless” and only brings immediate and quite negative feedback. With Pluto continuing to hover around Galactic Center the great transformer’s agenda is ongoing, with deep and major evolutionary change for our species and our entire Solar System. In an article titled “Inspired Pragmatism” by Walter Link (The Global Leadership Network, 2006) the author speaks of global changes being instigated from “the bottom up” by way of the huge growth in citizen organizations in such countries as Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Brazil. We may not be seeing the results of this burgeoning global movement toward grass roots changes yet, but as the trend continues the momentum and impact will be exponentially bigger and bigger to the point where the new trend has overtaken the old. We will no longer be structuring our societies so that the few control the many as the evolution of human consciousness takes us further into new and exciting territory guided and supported by ancient and indigenous wisdom and knowledge.

On the personal level we can use this opportunity for clearing our own consciousness, especially with Neptune trining the lunation, helping to dissolve old boundaries and barriers of the mind. No regrets allowed as we move to another level of consciousness more inclusive of the larger, totally interconnected reality in which we exist.

Uranus, the Great Revolutionary, the ultimate Awakener, major impetus for evolution, spins out its lightning bolts of electrical energy as it pivots on the 23rd, also influencing our energy field for at least a week or more before and after. Check where 17-20 degrees Pisces is in your chart, as this is an area of great opportunity for major shifts, insights & revelations—yet  also vulnerable to tremendous upsets, chaos and disorientation. Time to throw away what doesn’t work anymore while embracing the precious wisdom and knowledge that has served us well. Wherever the rug is being pulled out from under us is where Uranus works its ultimate magic, and while its influence is emphasized we may as well become more friendly and comfortable with uncertainty.

Capricorn Full Moon on June 30th arrives at 6:50 am at 9 degrees of the cardinal earth sign, Sun opposing at 9 degrees Cancer with retrograde Mercury in close communion. Connections are more instinctive now, communications more about exploring feelings and old emotional habits, and people are more vulnerable to interpreting innocently made comments in negative or hurtful ways. The pull between our public and personal lives is strongest on the Capricorn/Cancer axis as we get a chance to look at how well we are fulfilling our purposes in both these areas. Saturn and Neptune have just made their third and last exact opposition since last August on the 25th of this month, strongly affecting the dynamics of this lunation. In the collective we’ve been dealing with, and will continue to deal with, issues of more ecologically sustainable and humane business, integrating truly humane and spiritual values into our social institutions and going beyond duality in our world view. Personally the Saturn-Neptune opposition has been changing our experience of reality by dissolving old barriers built into consciousness from our social and cultural conditioning, challenging traditional elements of our personal worlds that no longer seem relevant. Gracious Venus joins Saturn in this tail end of the integration process between spirit (Neptune) and matter (Saturn), lending ease, beauty and a sense of play to the most serious business at hand. For the Moon’s degree at 9 Capricorn Rudhyar describes “An angel carrying a harp. The revelation of the spiritual meaning and purpose at the core of any life situation.”

In July the three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, plus Jupiter, are all retrograde, while the two innermost planets, Mercury and Venus, make their turnarounds, direct and retrograde respectively, giving this month an especially strong sense of shifting directions in our day-to-day existence. Mercury pivots on July 9th, giving the signal to move forward on decisions and matters that have been under review, which may have included improvements in our domestic environment. However Mercury doesn’t clear the degree of its retrograde pivot ‘til the 24th when all doubts, problems and hesitations should be gone for whatever we need to move forward on.

On July 14th Cancer New Moon, Sun and Moon at 22 degrees, perfects at 5:04 am, in a harmonious trine with electrical Uranus, and a tension producing quincunx with Neptune. This lunation promises powerfully stormy atmospheric conditions and extraodinary emotional breakthroughs, part of which is bound to be an extended sense of family to include all the Earth’s people in the collective consciousness, and in personal experience relating to the areas of life highlighted by all these planets’ placements in your chart. Certainly a viable global network is growing by leaps and bounds beyond anyone’s comprehension or ability to predict how it will manifest next. What we know is that we now have immediate access to people in any part of the world, with the possibilities expanding outward every day. This outward manifestation of our true state of interconnectedness is bound to explode into something far more profound and radical than any of us can presently imagine. The base of power on this planet is shifting from moment to moment from one model of power dynamics to another. The only way the ultra rich have been able to control the world’s governments has been in keeping people separated, ignorant, alienated through lack of knowledge and economic resources. This is about to change on many levels as information and interconnections explode. Venus still imparts her sense of creativity and pure love of pleasure to Saturn’s business, helping us all loosen up in our experience of work and obligations enough to allow in more joy. Let your feelings, insights and instincts guide you in this connecting Cancer lunation, putting forth your intentions for this cycle with renewed faith in the inevitability of the changes in progress. Rudhyar’s symbol interpretation for 22 degrees Cancer reads “A young woman awaiting a sailboat. The longing for transcendent happiness in the soul opened to great dreams.”

Full Moon on July 29th is at 7 degrees Aquarius at 5:48 pm, opposite Sun at 7 degrees Leo, joined in a wide conjunction by Chiron, and sextile expansive Jupiter. Chiron’s presence with this lunation gives a fuller, multi-dimensional awareness to the Sun and Moon’s illumination of the Leo-Aquarius axis, promising to be a more intense experience, while Jupiter offers a much broader perspective, the ability to see into the future with optimism. Leo’s concerned with the role of the ego and with self-expression, the most effective and happiest of both being in subservience to the higher self. Aquarius is concerned with the collective, with universality, the common experience of all humans, and the power of collaboration, cooperation, and common goals. Mercury trines dynamic Uranus, helping us connect, surprise and inspire each other. Venus has just turned retrograde on the 27th at 3 degrees Virgo sending us into a review period around practical aspects of relationships, financial realities and creative projects. This is a prime time for figuring out solutions to problems in these areas, developing new strategies, fixing what hasn’t been working well by zeroing in on the minute details that make up the situation. In relationships that would be the day to day interactions, in creative projects the way we’re integrating the diverse elements or using the materials at hand, and in finances by tracking our habits and seeing where they need to change. Venus’ condition at this lunation emphasizes her influence even more so since she’s conjoining the Moon’s South Node, signaling endings and completions in her matters in the collective, and on the personal level relating to wherever these two points join in your chart. This could bring the beginning of some positive shift in the realm of health concerns and or health care, particularly for women. Sabian Symbol from Rudhyar for 7 degrees Aquarius “A child is seen being born out of an egg. The emergence of new mutations according to the great rhythms of the cosmos.”

Salina Rain is a professional counseling Astrologer with major focus on life purpose and gracefully navigating transitions. She is also a Reiki Jin Kei Do Master/Teacher, a lineage of energy healing directly from the ancient Buddhist healing practices. Salina is available for astrological readings, classes, tele-classes, and Reiki Jin Kei Do master sessions and trainings. Salina may be reached at (707) 668-5408, P.O. Box 1081, Blue Lake, CA 95525, astro@salinarain.com.