Recent Posts
New Channel - A new channel of astrology videos is beginning on the Winter Solstice. Get in on the ground floor of this great astral projection that is called StellaMantra.
Curiosissimus and the Planetary Fundamentals - Recently, a few clients have asked questions about why astrology is so eerily accurate. It’s a hard question to answer. Why should the planetary arrangement at birth reveal whether a person likes cold showers, or will wear a pair of jeans until they become threadbare? What does the Moon have to do with me writing in the margins of books?
Horses on the Hillside - Ristoro d'Arezzo was a monk who studied the birth charts of his horses. This story attempts to create an illustration of how astrology actually works. 
Pluto’s Mojo is Workin’ - At the farmer’s market I heard a confused person mention how Pluto will become less influential in our charts since it was downgraded from planet status. All evidence to the contrary.
Alzheimer’s Champion - The Moon in this chart is also conjunct the fixed star Algol, or Beta Persei and sometimes called El Ghoul, the star which is located in the head of Medusa within the constellation Perseus. 
Nazareth Remedy - This spring I had the lucky chance to visit Monument Valley, Utah. Truly a once in a lifetime trip, a real bucket-list item. This land is part of the Navajo Nation and is a breath-taking landscape that you won’t find anywhere else. Sacred was certainly the word for me during those two days of camping at the foot of those towering bluffs.
Illuminating Treasures - The University of Cambridge has provided online, samples of thousands of charts with notes from the practices of two astrologers working in the time of Shakespeare: Richard Napier and Simon Forman. The charts and their notations make for a month's worth of interesting reading if you have any inclination toward morbidly obscure history (come on, I know that you do).
The Exaltation of Jones - Some say heaven is a place on Earth and I say heaven is wherever Norah Jones decides to go walking. Can you tell I'm a fan? Maybe it's more accurate to say that Jones is simply an angel sent here to heal us and her only disguise is a cape to cover her beautiful wings. Am I pouring it on too much? Well, I'm not if you take a look at the planets in her birth chart.
A Saturday with Jupiter - Now and then we walk into a room and you can tell something good just happened. Like it was a birthday and the song just finished. Or a good story was passed around the table. The air is just a bit electrified and even though you’ve just arrived, it’s clear that maybe a dinner was shared with real appreciation. It’s as if the laughter leaves traces behind in the room. A meditation hall is like that.
The Pisces from Kentucky - Two thousand years ago, writers mainly associated Pisces with the ocean. People born under this sign were known as great navigators who could spend their lives crossing the depths. One source says they have the desire to sweep tranquil waters with dragnets and then display their treasures from the deep on the shore for all to see. This could be a metaphorical description of what a Pisces person does whether they ever sail the ocean or not.
Chiron in Modern Times: Bill W. - It seems that the people who heal us the most in life are the ones who have lived through our own dilemmas. A good physical therapist is the one who broke her leg in a skiing accident. The psychologist who gets it is the one who walked through madness and returned. Bill W. spent much of his life in dark depression and a haze of alcohol and he co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous.
Nicholas Culpeper, Dr. Diligence - With a powerful Venus-Uranus combination he was unconventional and impulsive and had moments of beautiful revelation, perhaps even periods of real epiphany. Culpeper would die young, but first he would write 79 books and translations that catalogued hundreds of plants and their medicinal properties.
A Walk Through the Divine Gates - Four gates in the zodiac are called Divine Avatar Gates and their history is sort of murky, but they provide a portal for stellar drama. You find them at 15 degrees of the fixed signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius (often called the fixed cross). 
Raising Little Gandalf - I was walking with friends near a swimming hole that only a few people know about, so I won't say where it is. It's about a mile into a dark patch of woods full of poke weed and skunk cabbage. Uprooted trees with their huge earthy mass of roots sticking up into the air. Almost a primordial jungle, but still in New England. We picked a few wild blueberries and sat among some nice mossy tree stumps...
Ambassador of Aquarius - Woodstock of 1969 was called An Aquarian Exposition: Three Days of Peace and Music. The local newspaper article that kept people informed of the approaching concert was titled "Update on the Aquarians" and most locals were not happy...
Moon Over Mount Shasta - A few years ago I worked with a millennial who had an abundance of charm. He was tall and thin, sort of a David Bowie from back in the Ziggy Stardust days. He had been hospitalized for many months and was getting his feet under him again. He told me about the deep stuff that had happened to him in his life, including hearing voices and being tuned into another realm...
Neptune At Its Finest - At the age of sixteen, Maya Angelou became the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. That's only one of her many distinctions. She was the poet who could sing. Her public readings were particularly masterful because she would deliver lines in that deep, commanding voice and then suddenly sing lines, too, a capella, clear as a songbird...
The Senator’s Daughter - A note arrived from an old friend asking me to help him choose a wedding day using astrology. This I did not expect. The philosophy here is that a zodiac chart reflects a starting point that will show the nature of whatever begins at that moment. A person’s life starts at birth and a marriage … Continue reading The Senator’s Daughter
Copies Available - Copies are now available for this light-hearted tale, written for anyone with an interest in the history of astrology. You do not need to know the mechanics of astrology to enjoy this story of train travel through Italy. Join a dragon and a monkey as they discuss ancient texts and planetary symbolism. A short … Continue reading Copies Available
New Book - The long awaited Astrological Book of Life is finished. **Scroll to bottom to order. International Shipping available. The book I was always looking for, but could never find: an introduction to the origins of astrology from around the world. This is the story of a young dragon school teacher named Vaya who rides a … Continue reading New Book
The Smile Heard Round the World - Sometimes laughter is the only way to survive the tears. My neighbors used to talk about one old guy who came to the local dances and everyone knew this was a person who had a Story to Tell. We didn't know what the story was, but when you looked at his eyes you could just tell that something major had happened.
Exploring Leo’s Lion Imagery - Leos are everywhere, aren’t they? These creative, good-looking sun worshippers are often actors, singers, or performers. If they aren’t on the stage then they might be sitting in the director’s chair. They are born in the sign of event planning, games, and flamboyance, politics, ideals and kindness. We have all heard of the lion … Continue reading Exploring Leo’s Lion Imagery
When Mercury Walked Among Us - Even if you aren’t a fan of the rock group Queen, few people would disagree when I say that Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest singers in rock music history. He had a 3-octave range that went from a bass low F to a soprano high F and he could easily change his singing … Continue reading When Mercury Walked Among Us
Starstruck: Tonya v. Saturn! - I remember watching the screen when Tonya Harding went through her good times and bad times, and the movie “I, Tonya” is a great exploration into the long series of unfortunate events. If we look at Tonya’s birth chart it isn’t surprising to see Venus and the Sun as the symbols of … Continue reading Starstruck: Tonya v. Saturn!
Amazing Grace: How Rahu Shaped the Life of Johnny Cash - I am sitting indoors on a cold and cloudy day and I haven’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when. It must be time to write about Johnny Cash. The man in black is missed, to say the least. I think the story of his life will only get more interesting with the passing … Continue reading Amazing Grace: How Rahu Shaped the Life of Johnny Cash
Mars and the Moon: I Love You Whether You Like it or Not - We all know that person in our lives who was nurturing in sort of a pushy way. Maybe it was Uncle Dave who made you sing a song on your birthday under much protest, or he gave you presents that were always sensible, like wool socks at age 7. Did he make you walk home … Continue reading Mars and the Moon: I Love You Whether You Like it or Not
An Introduction - The Earth is a sphere of 360 degrees, and the zodiac is a belt around that sphere which can be compared to 360 notes on a universal piano. At the moment we are born, each planet resides in one of those degrees and plays a particular ‘note’ which signifies something about us.