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Been seriously sporadic with the blogging recently. It seems each Mercury retro phase I catch a nasty case of writers block, and once it was out the way, my Scorpio sister came to visit. We had a lot to catch up on, as she'd had a lot to deal with, thanks to all those planets in Scorpio; she'd moved house just as Merc went retrograde in early November, and there was a problem with the phone line in the new place. For some reason there was no connection, and no one in the phone company quite knew why. Added to that, the wild and windy Scottish hills blocked her mobile reception.

I didn't like to say it might be a while to get sorted if communication planet Mercury was influencing matters, but as she could only phone from outside (in gale force winds of course), with crackled reception and frequent cries of 'can you hear me now?!', there wasn't much time to get into any depth conversation. We made up for it when she arrived though, and had a great time catching up and indulging in some serious depth shopping. My credit card is groaning. With the Sun, Venus and Jupiter all fresh into the ‘more please!’ sign of Sagittarius as we began the shopping schedule, you can imagine.

Her phone still isn’t fixed by the way. It was the day Mercury went direct that the phone company gave for connection, but by that time she was miles away on a shopping spree in the North-east of England. Because she wasn’t there to make sure all was well, she only found out when she returned home 2days ago there was still no joy on the matter. Again no one is sure why. It’s a real Mercury in Scorpio mystery... My money’s on the end of the shadow phase of the retrograde period, which coincides with the Gemini full moon on 4th December, as the date for the official sorting out. Best not say anything to sis though.

Shifting To Sagittarius

The Sun moves into Sagittarius today, followed on Thursday by Sadge ruler Jupiter. They join Venus, who’s been there since last week, and for the next couple of days, the Moon is also in this sign. Not forgetting Pluto of course, who has been travelling this road since 1995.

It's a big change compared to the kind of energy so prevalent in recent weeks, thanks to all those planets in Scorpio, but it's similar to those recent weeks in the sheer amount of planets due to congregate in one sign. Such a planetary build-up can only intensify the flavour of the sign involved, which in turn is recognisable in the theme of current situations - as always it's a case of 'As above, so below'.

So how to recognise the Sagittarius vibe? Here's some great quotes from famous Sadgey's who capture the essence...

William Blake
"If the sun and moon should ever doubt, they'd immediatley go out"

"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough"

Mark Twain
"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t"

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great"

Keith Richards
"There's an excellent book I've quite often read called "Hashish", by a couple of French guys. Very interesting. It's an education in chemistry & folklore. I've done the Bible & the Koran a few times. Sometimes just for the prose, sometimes for the information. The Kamasutra I've been through a few times, come to think of it. (laughing) I've done the chandelier, and the revolving table with melon. I've done it all mate."

"It's great to be here. It's great to be anywhere"


Sagittarius is the sign that says a big YES to life, and because it's associated with beliefs, faith, philosophy, the meaning of life and the wisdom of experience, there's no better time to use affirmations to ensure we're saying yes to what we'd most like to experience.

According to Jeanie Marshall in this article about writing affirmations,
"Affirmations are powerful. Thoughts, spoken words, and written statements are acts of creation. It is important that our words be in alignment with our desires. In order to live the life we want, we must affirm what we want, not what we do not want."

More on affirmations and the effects beliefs have in shaping our experience here

Scamming The Scammers - The Astrologer's Tale

Ever had one of those scam emails? You know the type, someone needs your urgent help to access millions of dollars, but first you have to pay them a few thousand to get the ball rolling. They always have the same tone of urgency, the same bad grammar, and the same curiously old-fashioned, rather stilted approach in etiquette and manners. And always those millions of dollars...

Anyway, have just spent a happy half-hour reading an email exchange from this site, which deals solely in reversing the roles and scamming the scammers, by engaging with them, gaining their confidence, and making endless promises to help without ever coming up with the goods.

This particular laugh-out-loud scam-busting epic featured a character who was apparently a top English astrologer, motivated to help out the scammers by the thought of using the money to fulfil his dream to set up a school of astrology.

Our astrologer wanted to study the stars for signs this would be an auspicious business opportunity, so asked the principal scammer for his birthdate. It might not be the real birthdate of course, but the stars have a strange way with synchronicity and the date provides just the right chart for the occasion. I noticed Mercury retrograde in Leo, which interested me as the scam-bust started during the last Mercury retrograde period in July, and Mercury is currently in retrograde phase as I write this.

As the scammer had north node in Gemini, his destiny clearly lies in communication, and with Mercury in Leo he was obviously destined to be famous for his writing. I expect thousands across the globe have read his work by now :-)
No surprise there's also a lot of Neptune energy involved - his Mercury is square Neptune in Scorpio, and the story concludes on the day Sun opposed Neptune in Aquarius, linking up with his Mercury/Neptune square. Perhaps in this case Neptune square Neptune indicated the scamming of the scammer.

It must have felt like the ultimate Mercury retrograde experience for him - endless repeating emails, frustrating delays and fruitless responses. Bless. Mercury isn't called the trickster planet for nothing...

Enjoy the full story here

Mercury Across The Sun

Planet Mercury is not only retrograde at the moment (appearing to move backwards), it's also moving across the sun, in a relatively rare transit on 8th November.

Last time was May of 2003, but you'll have to wait till 2016 to catch it again. Much like eclipses it depends on where you live in the world as to whether you'll be able to see it as it happens - there's a map with this news report so you can check if you are one of the lucky ones.

Mercury is the messenger planet, associated with all forms of communication and information. It's the planet that joins the dots, and looks for patterns and similarities. It rules the signs of Gemini the twins, and Virgo, the sign of health and medicine.
Currently moving through the deep and secretive sign of Scorpio, Mercury might not be comfortable being so visible, so maybe it's a time when sensitive secrets are revealed. The retrograde influence could mean a link to the past, a return or a reconnection, maybe there's some light shed on a long-standing mystery; however there's no real way to know exactly how this transit energy might manifest until the event itself

More info on Mercury transits here, and here.

15 Degrees Of Scorpio On 7th November 2006

15 degrees of the fixed signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo) are the cross-quarter days of the zodiac, marking the mid-points between the cardinal cross of 0 degrees Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

As the sun reaches 15 degrees of Scorpio, it's astrological Samhain/Halloween - the beginning of the Celtic new year. The Celts divided their year into two halves, and Samhain translates as 'summer's end'. The astrological date changes slightly year to year to fit with the solar movement, but it's always around the beginning of November, and marks the noticeable shift in the Northern Hemisphere into colder days and longer nights.

The traditions and customs associated with this time are all of a Scorpio theme. Scorpio is the sign associated with death and the worlds beyond, or below this one. The underworld, which Scorpio ruler Pluto has dominion over, was known as the place of no return, and it's this perspective of no going back that Scorpio brings an awareness of in relation to all endings. It's the letting go of what was in order to move forward that defines the Scorpio experience, just as the old year must pass to make way for the new, and summer must make way for winter in order to begin the cycle of growth once more.

Samhain was a fire festival, like the other cross-quarter festivals (Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh), and here in the UK the tradition has been kept alive at this time of year through Bonfire Night, held every 5th November. In true Scorpio style the 5th November is to remember the story of Guy Fawkes, who was involved in a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliment in 1605, but was caught red-handed about to light the fuse. He was tortured, then executed, and this execution is symbolically repeated by the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes on bonfires across the nation. Fireworks are also a big part of bonfire night, and like the gunpowder plot itself seems to capture the spirit of Scorpio's traditional ruler, Mars.

Whether it's Samhain, Halloween, All Souls, or Guy Fawkes night, the Scorpio symbols are there; the darkness and the light, the mysteries of death and what lies beyond, and the promise of rebirth and renewal as the cycle of life continues despite our worst fears. There might be no going back in this life, but for Scorpio there's no such thing as a dead end.

Read more about Guy Fawkes here