Astrologer Bill Attride

Mercury Conjunct Venus (June 1, 2012)

Mercury is dashing through his own sign, (he is more than halfway through already!), and today he blows a kiss to lovely Venus who has been backing up in Gemini since May 15. Venus is getting ready for her "Big Show" on Tuesday, June 5 when she will skip across the face of the Sun (It's a show she will not repeat until the year 2117!).

Today is a very, very good day...You should take some time, set some time aside for yourself and those you love, and experience the blessing of "Thoughtful Love", the gift that comes when your "Head" (Mercury) and "Heart" (Venus) are aligned with one another!

Mercury rules your mind...your perceptions, thoughts and forms of communication. Venus rules your values...your aesthetic and social sensibilities, your appreciation of the beautiful, the Love within and the Love that surrounds yourself. Today the Mercury/Venus alignment creates a wonderful opportunity to share in the beauty of your Spiritual Truth...that you are Love...you are Loved.

Not only do you have a clearer path to your experience of Beauty today, you also have a most wonderful opportunity to share this with those you love too. The meeting of your Mind and Heart creates a marvelous sympathy of understanding, about your love for one another and your enjoyment for the world through which you walk together.

Today is a wonderful day to celebrate the Force that binds one and all into The Greater Reality...

Today is a day to Live Truly, to Live Aligned, Heart and Mind...

Today is a day to Walk in Beauty and Love...

Today is a Good Day!

Mercury Square Mars (May 30, 2012)

Whoa...you better Slow Down...No Really, you better slow down and LISTEN!

When Mercury encounters Mars, your Mind is on fire...but your patience is at an ebb and you are likely to make mistakes...and you certainly might offend (or be offended).

Sure, it feels fine to be oh so sharp, quick and alert...but you really need to remember that the most important part of communication is to be a good (and patient) listener. So turn that excitement back upon yourself and consider what you really know versus what is merely conjecture or opinion...

Mercury is skipping through Gemini now and delighting in all the diversity, stimulation and excitement that this sign brings. Your Mind is seeking for the farther reaches, pushing beyond the accepted frontiers...just for the fun of it...Seeing reality in all its wondrous, distracting multiplicities...making discoveries...but the problem here is that you might draw conclusions too quickly and so fall into error...

Mars in Virgo brings a sharp reminder that all those curious diversions, all those observations, data points, those myriad facets or points of view...they all need to be brought down to Earth, into some meaningful ordering and purposefulness. Mars is the Shaper here, reminding Mercury that ingenuity, adaptability and enthusiasm in your mind is necessary to problem solving...but too much brings about just as many new problems to solve...You can move too fast from your data points to "truth", not taking the time to critique and analyze what is really...Real...

Mars is reminding Mercury, that sometimes (oftentimes) simpler is better...

Although, it is true, your Gemini spirit of curiosity is the key to your Intelligence...

It needs to be matched to the Virgo ideal of order, so you can achieve the greater Good...

You need to remember that what you really seek...Where Wisdom Lies...

Is to found in that delicate balance...where you experience...

Peace of Mind!

Sun Sextile Uranus (May 28, 2012)

Subtlety...is good!

Sometimes the Gifts of the Spirit come with thunder and lightning, they break upon you to deliver an awesome challenge to your character, they bring great strife and heartache...but in the end, you accept, you understand...and you grow...

But Spirit has another side too, gentle and reassuring, like a warm summer breeze or a reassuring caress that reminds you...everything will be okay...that you are okay...

Today is a welcome, gentle reminder that you are Unique! You are a Spark of the Divine, part of something that is of the All-Encompassing, Universal and Omni-Present...Yet, you are a One, a unique instance or monad of the All...You are Special, as is every other being who, like you, is on this wondrous Journey of Unfoldment...

Uranus quickens the release of your unique self...it governs the process known as Individuation through which you strive to lift up your awareness. You grow into your greater self through the challenges you encounter in the very circumstances you helped to create. You work to transcend those self-limitations you made for yourself, until you eventually achieve a continuous, unbroken relationship with your Higher Self...

Uranus often brings about these shifts of awareness through rather shocking jolts. Uranus, The Awakener, causes disturbances that seem to beset you with troubles yet whose ultimate effect frees you from your self-limitations. You realize that it was you, with your limited perspectives, with your doubts and fears, it was you that held yourself in thrall to the lesser...and Uranus freed you to unfold more of what you will become...

Today you receive a more gentle touch of Uranus' Gift of Individuality. Uranus provides a bridge to your higher understanding so that you can more easily let go of your self-made constraints. You are more ready to accept and so seek to expand your self-realization, to be freer in Mind and Spirit and move into a larger space of Becoming...As you also acknowledge and create this greater space of Freedom for those with whom you journey.

Today, Uranus caresses you with this gentle encouragement...

That you are forever becoming more than you were...

You are part of the Journey of the Divine...you are important!

The Universe is counting on you...to be yourself...

To be Free!

 

Mercury Conjuncts Sun (May 27, 2012)

Your Journey of Mind continues...

Mercury meets up with the Sun again in their Superior Conjunction, when the Sun is between the Earth and Mercury...Remember this is like a "Full Moon" for Mercury (your mind) and it always reaches back, connects you back, to the Seed-Time of their Inferior Conjunction. That ("New Moon" for your mind) took place on March 21, 2012, offering you a renewal, a release of understanding, an emanation from the Solar/Mercury alignment.

Three times a year you have this pulsing, rhythmic cycling of Mind-Stuff; three releases of new forms, three moments of revelation. It is from this continuous dance of the Sun (Self) and Mercury (Mind) that you unfold your most human gift of Self-Awareness...Today you are at the next moment in this unfolding cycle, it is time for another revelation in your mind's journey to know more about yourself and your world.

The Sun and Mercury are in Gemini, which puts the Earth in the opposite sign of Sagittarius...you will find the meaning of this revelation in the integral relationship of these two signs. The Sun/Mercury alignment stands upon the pivot point of your instrument of connecting you to the world around you, your inquiring and curious thought-forms, the forever-seeking of more experience that is the world of your Lower Mind.

The Earth in Sagittarius stands in the position of your Higher Mind, where Principles, Truths and Laws form the perspectives of what your Lower Mind will then seek and be able to perceive in the first place.

The message from Sun/Mercury is here to remind you that your Principles and Truths and Laws must be constantly refreshed, renewed and so create your very growth of Understanding through this questioning curiosity, the contrarian gift of your Lower Mind, which ever seeks to see the world through multiple windows or doorways of perception.

Quite simply the message of Mercury/Sun today is that you must follow and honor the Principles or Truths that have guided you to any moment in your life. Yet to do this you must equally know, that what got you here and will take you further, is for you to forever and always, be true to yourself as Mind seeking to know itself...

You must follow your noble path of Spirit... Question Everything!

Mercury Squares Neptune (May 25, 2012)

Warning, warning...Part 2 of your reality test has now arrived...

Are you feeling a bit confused? Or perhaps you feel as if you are walking (or is it flying, or perhaps swimming) through a dream-world? Maybe you just cannot understand someone, or maybe someone does not seem to understand you? Does that sound familiar? Well, you should just surrender to this humbling experience and give a big, warm and hearty welcome to Mercury square Neptune!

That's right, just two days after the Sun had his own humbling encounter with Neptune, now you need to face the mysteries of Neptune again as she poses a challenge to your Mind or Intellect more directly.

The encounter with the Sun offered you the opportunity/challenge to see how well or not you perceive your very essence or true nature, your "Self". This encounter with Mercury requires you to focus upon, to consider the very instrument of your perceptions, your Intelligence and Reason...To look with renewed wonder upon those very faculties that place you in this evolving live-wave, this host of souls that is called "Human".

Mercury in Gemini is focused upon all those sensory inputs, all those data points and constructs, those assumptions and points of view that make your "reality" for you...and here comes Neptune and "Poof"...it dissolves before your very (Mind's) eye. What is REAL, what is not? Well, that is a very good question...and that is precisely what Neptune is here to teach you...

You know what you know given your point of view; you know what you know because of what you believe, or what you are capable of believing. Now Neptune comes along and it shifts, it shimmers and there is something else, something more, something greater to behold.

But, first you must lose your attraction to, your fascination with what "IS" for you...you must rely upon and open you Higher faculties and see with your "Third Eye"...oh yes it is there, waiting...and Neptune will always help you to open it a little more...

The first step...is to believe...

The second step...is release your Imagination...

The third step...is be amazed, be amazing!

Now you are getting somewhere...

Be the Dreamer...Be the Imagineer!

Mercury Enters Gemini (May 24, 2012)

Faster, faster, faster...your mind, as in fleet-footed Mercury-Hermes, endowed with "winged feet", comes back to his home sign! Okay, ready, set...GO!

Mercury dashes into his realm and he is moving very, very fast indeed. He will only be here for two weeks! You have no time to waste, and why would you...you need to dive into this enjoyable romp, to trip through those magical, mercurial fields of curiosity, diversity and wonder.

Your mind is moving through the ethereal realm of Air now, and those neural pathways are surging and singing with the delights of discovery, comparison and multifaceted stimulations. You look with renewed delight upon the marvels around you, seeking to understand and share your insights with others. Enjoy this wonderful quickening of your most human of gifts...

However, you need to watch out for the likelihood of becoming too stimulated or distracted by this flow of energy...Always remember, the noble path is to maintain your balance in all matters...In a period like this, you need to set aside some quiet time to give your mind (and nerves) some rest too!

Enjoy the next two weeks as you marvel at your wonder of wonders...

Celebrate your adaptability, ingenuity and Intelligence...

For you are Mind on a wondrous journey...

and there is a whole Universe out there waiting for You!

Sun Squares Neptune (May 23, 2012)

Warning...Warning...Reality Test Ahead!

That's right, when the Sun makes a "hard" aspect to Neptune (four times a year) your perceptions are in for a challenge...and that is a good thing!

Why?  Because most of your troubles, (and most of the world's troubles), come about through a series of misperceptions and misunderstandings, that turns all of those little missteps into huge mishaps.

What can you do? First, you need to have a good sense of humor, and to admit that it all starts with you! You have to look in that proverbial mirror and laugh, laugh at all your misperceptions about yourself. Because in each decade of your life, (if not in each year, month or week), you should see your understanding of yourself (and your world) grow beyond...into something more...and that is good!

However, in order to grow...you have to let go...You have to release yourself from your former certainties, those "truths" that explained everything at a lower level of perception, but which now no longer function or make sense at the higher one for which you strive. You need to experience disillusion (to lose your illusions), to lose faith with your old view, for only then can you receive an Illumination and so be able to perceive the greater reality you actually move in...

This is what is the Sun squaring Neptune indicates and offers to you now. You need to lose your certainty (which creates your blinders and can lead to prejudice), and seek to maintain a more open, questioning, forever-seeking form of Faith...To have faith with the spirit within you, who is always driving you upwards in a spiral of aspiration towards that Greater Understanding of yourself and your world.

Your awareness should always be unfolding, becoming more nuanced and conditional. You evolve from being "oh so sure of yourself" and your view of your world, to becoming ever more adaptable and humble as you expand your understanding...

You will continue to lift yourself up and up, until you finally reach True Wisdom wherein you realize that you can never be sure of ANYTHING...except that you must continue to GROW!

You can have faith in your Spirit, faith in your higher Self who is always there to guide you...

You can know that there is always more to discover, more to understand...

You can be certain that your one true path is to continue your never-ending journey...

You are Spirit...you must ever "Walk On"!

Mercury Conjunct Jupiter (May 21-22, 2012)

Today begins a new cycle in the dynamic relationship between your Lower mind and your Higher mind (between your lower and higher Manas)...between your Reason and your Truth.

At least once a year Mercury will come over Jupiter and bring about this re-set between your powers of Induction and Deduction, between your Information and your Understanding.

Mercury rules your "Lower" Mind whereby you connect with the world around you, gathering sensory inputs or data...You observe, analyze, categorize and use your marvelous gift of intelligence to create your experience of the greater reality around you. However, Mercury works within the contexts that are set down by your Principles or Truths, by your Jupiter function.

Jupiter rules your "Higher" Mind wherein you create your World View...Your belief systems of religion, philosophy, science and law provide the framework for you to look out upon your world and perceive what you can with your Lower Mind. Jupiterian Truths create your point of view, which you then go out to prove or disprove with your Mercurial experience of reality; and your Mercurial inputs feed back upon to prove, refine or disprove your Jupiter assumptions. In effect, your Jupiter Deductions and Mercury Inductions work together to constantly build a fluid and dynamic understanding of yourself and your world.

Today provides a wonderful moment to stand between your Truths and Facts, between your Understanding and your Reason as you move closer and closer to True Wisdom.

For the trouble is, you do not know what you do not understand. Your Jupiter principles guide you to see the world a certain way, and this directs your lower mind to find those inputs that prove you right. Meanwhile, your Mercury reason seeks to find information that serves to reinforce and build up your Jupiter "truths". Unless you remain constantly vigilant, always questioning, doubting and testing your "Facts" and your "Theories", you will find yourself falling into error and confusion.

Today provides a special opportunity, a re-set much like a New Moon for your two minds, the Higher and Lower. You can stand beside them both and see how certain assumptions of the Higher have predisposed you to accept or look for certain inputs to confirm your world-view; you can also see how your gathering of pure data points have been pre-determined by what you wished to find in order to confirm what you believe to be true.

Today your Higher Self, through your Buddhi or The One True Mind, can help you see into this beautiful but self-limiting relationship of your Lower and Higher Minds. You can stand in the centered space of your Lucid mind, more free of your "assumptions" and "facts"...You can look at yourself and your world anew, like a newborn child, with eyes that are Full of Wonder!

You are Spirit...Mind on a Quest for Greater Understanding....

You are a Spark of the Divine...your ever unfolding, self-becoming urge...To Grow!

Today you take a new step closer to your Greater Life...

Today you move closer to the Light of True Wisdom!

Sun Enters Gemini & New Moon (Solar Eclipse) in Gemini (May 20, 2012)

The Portal of Gemini

Turn now...and face the Portal...that Sacred Gateway, which will ever stand as the beacon that calls to you...a luminous reminder of what was won by the gift of those who have gone ahead, who stepped through...who have unfolded what you will become...

To become a Spirit who is fully Self-Conscious!

They are the Gift, They the Watchers who wait...They will Wait and Watch at this The Portal of Self-Awareness...For you must do the work of lifting your own awareness to that next plane, you must become awakened to that higher ground that awaits you....It cannot be given, but must be earned (as in all things)...

These Enlightened Ones stand ever ready, they will abide because they have great compassion for you, for they Know, they have been where you are...They will provide whatever assistance is permitted within the Karmic Law (and the one, true straight path to their help is to make a sincere pledge to Serve).

This is the true meaning of Gemini, whose symbol is literally a Portal, The Gateway that all have passed as they move from mere Consciousness to Self-Consciousness...a mighty and awesome step in the Journey of Spirit!

Aries is the Beginning, you move into form again, you have "Presence"...Taurus is the Second, you take possession of your form, you have "Value"...

Now comes Gemini, here you expand your awareness, (to think about thinking), here you continue the Journey of Spirit, of Mind which is ever unfolding...For it is now in the Human form that you move from awareness into that greater and greater dimension of Self-Consciousness!

This is your pathway, this your unfolding awareness... you will become a Conscious Co-Creator of your Universe, to join in the Great Work with the magnificent host of other Self-Aware Beings who travel with you.

All the Mutable signs are Gateway Signs, they lead you from one realm of life into another...they are the signs of Transition. To move into these adaptable places, you enter through a portal where you must surrender your lesser being in order to move into your greater Truth. Each transition is an "Initiation"...each involves trials and tests, challenges and growth!

The Trials and Tests of Gemini concern your most precious gift of Intelligence, which must be honed and mastered by many, many lessons. Who is your Teacher? Know This...Life is always the Teacher!...Your Karma brings to you the many challenges and problems that you must solve so that you can grow. Your instrument of Intelligence is engaged and sharpened by this frictional encounter with "Reality"...You establish your facts, solutions and knowledge so that you may answer the challenges that you encounter in the world you made.

These Intelligence Tests you bring to yourself through your past actions. Really, you teach yourself, you learn to choose to do what is better, to do Good, to Create the Good...You learn to be part of that greater life, to join with that wondrous host of evolving beings who are the Universe made manifest.

But, this is no ordinary entrance into Gemini's Realm, for today is also the New Moon!

And...There is more! The Sun, Moon and Earth have reached their twice yearly alignment as well...Today is also an Annular Solar Eclipse! This is a special day...

As the Sun moves into Gemini, the Moon will also move into Gemini and slide across the face of the Sun completely covering it, except for a thin ring of the Sun remaining visible (That is what the term "annular" means, "little ring". ..Which in this case you will see as a beautiful Ring of Fire or Nimbus around the Sun, the "Glory" of the Sun revealed!) The Eclipse will be visible in the Western United States (those in the Mid-West will see the beginning of the eclipse as the Sun sets, and sorry East Coast you will not see it).

As always, when a Solar Eclipse occurs, the normal message of the New Moon carries a special significance and meaning. The shadow that the Moon casts indicates that you have to face some form of blind spot...an old point of view needs to be resolved, a karmic lesson must be healed, in order to able to receive the fuller benefit of the New Moon dispensation.

The Eclipse is like a special "Intelligence Test", it reminds you that your diamond-like faculty of intelligence, with your multi-faceted points of view and perspectives, that your wondrous instrument can become stuck or biased. You need to be able to see that you cast your own shadows of assumptions, which will always prevent you from seeing the Greater Reality.

You need to see this Moon Shadow as a wonderful reminder that you must always challenge yourself, to question your assumptions and keep refining your point of view. Shift your focus, shine your mind-light from various angles, adopt, even for a moment, points of view that are contrary to your own, because by doing so you will be able to see your own self-cast shadows. Remember always that your intelligence is founded upon your adaptability, flexibility and constant desire to question...everything!

Enter the realm of Gemini...the portal of your Self Awakening!

Give thanks to this Mercurial Moon...which brings a quickening to your Intelligence!

Dance in the Shadow of the Eclipse...as you acknowledge the Enlightened Ones who watch over you as they guide you to the Light.

 

Mars Trine Pluto (May 16, 2012)

The Grand Trine of Mercury, Mars and Pluto

Your Triple Trining Dance concludes, and what a dance it was!

First, it was the gift of Mercury and Mars, who brought that Clearer Mind...

Second, came the dance of Mercury and Pluto, bestowing Concentration...

Now, it is time to complete your dance, to fulfill this Triptych Tale...

Now into "third position" you welcome Mars and Pluto, to complete this Circle of Light...with Pluto/Mars may you now receive the Gift of Focused Action!

The Will of Pluto shapes your Martian Drives into a more purposeful intention. What may have seemed impossible will now have met its match. You find the strength to go beyond, those limits will give way. The higher rung is not so far, no task too great for you...it is your time to rise above and prove what you can do!

The Dance is done...Your deed accomplished...and all to bring about...To move you to a better place, to reach a higher ground. From Right Thinking to Right Action has always been the way...

That is your Noble Path, what many call The Tao.

The planets have danced their dance for you, to illustrate these (and many truths). For this is what their dance is always, like some Epic Poem of Truth. They sweep across these starry spaces to shine on you below...For as above, it is so below...

That these are truths forever on...

You should practice day by day.

Their dance of beauty, of how to be...

In each and every way.