You may know “astrology” through the pop-culture categories of dime-store booklets or through reading your daily horoscope in the newspaper. These are supposedly the descriptions of who you are and what’s going to happen to you today based on some mysterious elements at work in the sky and little more than the luck of the draw you were handed on the day of the year you were born. Usually the dime-store booklets are simplistic but accurate as far as they go. Daily horoscopes in the newspaper, though, resemble real astrology about as much as Styrofoam resembles real food.

I’m an astrologer. If I do say so myself, I’m a good astrologer … who has for over thirty years studied this intriguing metaphysical subject, and when people say the daily horoscopes in the newspaper are meaningless and silly, I have to agree. But it’s also meaningless, silly, and short-sighted to judge the whole field of astrology itself as worthless based on what even good, competent practitioners of the craft (and there are plenty of us around!!) agree are ridiculous distortions. Most daily horoscopes aren’t even an amusing cartoonish representation of what real astrology is all about.

It is possible to write a decent daily horoscope. In fact, I write one that reflects the varying emotional climate as it shifts and realigns itself — changing its focus sometimes several times a day. I publish it on the front page of the Enchanted Spirit website; it’s called “The Lunar Light.” It’s accuracy sometimes astonishes even me, and yes, I consult it myself quite often as I go about my daily routine. But the information there is just that … a point or two of knowledge to have and keep in mind.

I also stay aware of what else is going on in the sky the way I stay aware of the days of the week, the changing seasons, and the daily weather patterns. But, even I don’t run my life “by astrology” in any way I’d call superstitious or grossly inconvenient … and neither should you. I also say it’s just good sense if it’s stormy outside to dress for the occasion. Give yourself some extra time to get where you want to go. Plan for the unexpected. Keep in mind that the roads are slick and you need to drive with caution.

And when Mars is opposing Pluto in the sky … as it is as I write this article, realize it’s likely people are feeling pushed, impatient, hassled, and on edge. Tempers may flare. They may take foolish chances. They won’t react kindly to interference or delays. There’s a lot of resentment and anger floating around just under life’s surface — and it won’t take much to “set it off.” So … maybe a little extra patience can help defuse a problem — or avoid it altogether. Maybe a little extra courtesy can help ease this bump in the road for everyone. Maybe thinking twice before you act — or react — could add extra safety to the daily hustle whose deceptive calm … or already ruffled edges … conceals explosive possibilities.

If you ask me, that attitude that can’t hurt. As an astrologer, I know that any square or opposition between Mars and another planet indicates a time for caution … again, something to keep in mind. Stressed Mars energy (which is what an opposition or a square represents) is explosive, temperamental, and indicative of poor judgment — and there’s often something “spectacular” about what occurs at such times, when things go terribly, terribly wrong.

Mars was opposing Uranus the night The Station Nightclub fire in New Jersey became the 4th deadliest in U.S. history. Mars was opposing Uranus and Neptune when the Waco compound of the Branch Davidians was stormed … with the resulting fire and carnage. Mars was opposing the Moon and moving into an opposition with Jupiter on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center in New York City was demolished by terrorists. (Saturn was also opposing Pluto; the Sun was square to both of them; and Venus opposed Uranus. To an astrologer, it was a messy day in the sky as well as a tragic one on the ground. )

Mars was moving out of an opposition with Jupiter and into an opposition with Pluto the night Nichole Brown Simpson was killed by “somebody.” Mars was square to the Moon, Uranus and Jupiter the night Princess Diana was killed. And sure, most people on earth made it through those same nights without being murdered or dying in a car accident. So were there special reasons why those two women were particularly “at risk” at that time. Yes.

The night Nicole Simpson died, Mars — already “in trouble” in the sky was conjunct her Natal Mercury (an indication of possible arguments and decisions made in anger), opposing her Natal Neptune (an indication of self-sabotaging or self-destructive actions), and square to her Natal Uranus (an indication of hasty, ill-considered, impulsive actions.) Are these the best conditions under which to walk out of your house and confront a shadowy figure in your driveway, whether or not you know … or think you know … who it is?

(The best theory I have read about what might have happened that night suggests OJ, angry at his ex-wife’s appearance at their daughter’s recital with another man, MAY have gone to her house, not to kill her, but to slash her tires — expecting that his imminent trip out of town that night would give him an alibi for the incident. That explains the timing of the attack — just prior to the limousine coming to take him to the airport — and the reason why he was at her house with a knife. But Nicole’s mother had forgotten her glasses at a restaurant that evening, and Nicole was watching for Ron Goldman to drop them by her house on his way home from work. Instead, as the theory goes, she saw “somebody” messing with her car, went out to confront whoever it was, and was killed when that “somebody” panicked at being discovered.) This scenario certainly fits what her horoscope describes.

The night Princess Diana died, Mars, again “under pressure” in the sky was square to Natal Mars in her chart (indicating actions “at cross-purposes” with each other). It was conjunct her Natal Neptune (indicating self-sacrificing actions and actions undertaken for emotional rather than logical reasons). It was square her Natal Uranus (again indicating hasty, ill-considered, impulsive actions.) It was square her Natal Jupiter (indicating excessive, “over the top” reactions.) Probably not the best conditions under which to get into a high-speed midnight chase with the paparazzi through the streets of Paris … to say nothing of having a drunk at the wheel.

Might knowing that the energies afoot at the time were “problematic,” and that those energies in comparison to placements in their Natal Charts were especially dicey have offered these women at least a chance to rethink their fatal choices? It’s a question without an answer, of course. And it’s not the kind of information you’ll ever find in a daily horoscope. It is, however, there for anyone to read if they know literally “how to read the signs” … or if they have someone they trust help them decipher the celestial code.

And if knowing these conditions exist and listening to what they mean helps me get myself and my family more safely through the “trouble spots” of life, I’d be an idiot to ignore them. Some people may think that’s the equivalent of clutching a rabbit’s foot and muttering incantations. Maybe they feel the same way about holding a rosary and reciting prayers for protection. But I believe prayers work, that thoughts are things, that extra caution is never misplaced … and that information is power. So I will keep on reading charts … and heeding what they say .. and agreeing with those who say most daily horoscopes, as an example of real astrology, are pretty darn useless.

(c) 2007 Rebecca Brents, All rights reserved.

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