April's Dark Days

Yet another tragedy has to be added to April's list for the USA: the terrible explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, near Waco, Texas last night. It'd be insensitive to seek to lay blame at this point, when many families are devastated by loss of lives, injury, loss of homes, school, jobs. There'll be time enough to talk about regulation, negligence, zoning, or lack of it in due course. Enough today to send thoughts, condolences, heartfelt wishes for peace of mind, and return to health and normality as soon as possible to everyone in the affected area.



As I've mentioned before, the month of April has a dark reputation in the USA

Lincoln assassinated: April 14, 1865.
Texas City, TX explosion, April 16,1947.
MLK assassinated: April 4, 1968.
The Waco seige, April 19, 1993.
Oklahoma City bombing, April 19, 1995.
Unabomber's last victim killed: April 24, 1995.
Columbine, April 20, 1999.
Virginia Tech shooting, April 16,2007.
BP oil spill, April 20, 2010.
SF Earthquake, April 18, 1906.
Boston Marathon bombs, April 15.
West, Texas explosion, April 17.

I've searched before, too, for some astrological explanation. It smacks of Fixed Star Algol, but that particular star of ill repute is not involved in the USA chart. There are, in fact, no planets in Aries or Taurus in the US chart. Asteroid Chiron is the only likely clue - it sits at around 20 degrees of Aries - opposite Saturn at 14 Libra. I don't know enough about Chiron, especially in relation to mundane charts, to draw a conclusion from that placement, but it's the only likely astrological explanation I can spot. Anyone out there have ideas?

Sprinkles from The Week that Was

It's good to learn that Ben Affleck is using his celebrity to draw attention to the horrendous conditions in the Eastern Congo, Central Africa. (Here)
His natal chart is available at Astrodatabank (Here).

Much written about Ben's astrology up to now has centered on his relationships. This other side of his personality is far more interesting to me. Take a look at the chart, linked above. His ascendant in Cancer with Venus just a degree away reflects a compassionate, kindly nature. But look at the aspects all pointing towards Chiron (looks like a 'k' sitting on an 'o'). Chiron represents The Wounded Healer in astrology. Its astrological label varies, not a planet, bigger than an asteroid, not really a comet. Its orbit lies between Saturn and Uranus, many astrologers see it as playing a significant part in natal charts. Five aspect lines are heading for Chiron, straight as an arrow in Ben's chart! That is astro symbolism - right before your eyes. Ben is doing what he can to raise awareness and give rise to some healing. Good on him!


This week's episode of TV's "The Mentalist", with the delectable Simon Baker, afforded me a "neener- neener- neener" to those skeptics who gloated, at the start of the series, that at last TV has given the finger to programmes boosting the validity of psychic abilities. This week's episode featured a lady psychic who shocks the mentalist to his core with some information only he could know. I still predict that he will, in the end, accept his own true psychic abilities. He is currently in denial because he feels he caused the death of his wife and daughter. ( My earlier post about this show, here.)


With Pluto inching towards Capricorn and a slow transformation of many of the ways of life we now take for granted, it seems that a small corner of the distressed motor industry is catching up, at last. The Tesla Car looks good, said to perform well, though possibly not the one you need for long road trips. One big snag for impecunious mortals like us - the price, said to be around $98,000. Come on guys! Please! At that price we'd have to live in it!


Rumors shimmied around blogland all this week as to the possibility of President Elect Obama picking Senator Hillary Clinton as his Secreatry of State. Gripes and grumbles from one camp, elation and calls of "it's about time" from the other. Looking back to a tarot reading I tried in June (here)
I wrote:

"As I tell myself, all the time, "it ain't over 'til it's over". And whatever happens next, Senator Hillary Clinton is not going to walk away, head bowed, disappointed."

I hope this happens, it's been a long time coming. Gossip is that he has offered, she will accept, and an official announcement will follow "after Thanksgiving".

It's a Stretch!

The saga of my frozen shoulder continues. Looking at current transits, I see that Mercury, Mars and Venus in Libra are all right opposite my natal Saturn (rules the skeleton) which lies at 12.55 Aries. I guess this is symbolic of the painful "pull" I feel when trying to perform certain everyday actions. I've checked on transiting Chiron (the Wounded Healer) - at present it's around 17 Aquarius, not making aspect to anything in my chart, but by February 2009 it'll be stting on my re-located ascendant, perhaps that's when I'll start feeling improvement, especially as Jupiter will be transiting natal Sun around the same time.

I opted to give the chiropractor I initially visited a cold one (shoulder, that is) after a first appointment which depressed rather than inspired me. I'm of the belief that, contrary to what the good chiropractor implied, any kind of physical activity which is exceptionally painful cannot be doing a body much good. My opinion is confirmed at several on-line sources which state that minimal pain, if any, is the most which ought to be tolerated during stretching exercises performed to help with a frozen shoulder, otherwise further inflamation could ensue, making all the effort counter-productive.

It appears that the actual cause of this problem, in cases not brought on by injury, is a mystery to the medical profession. Most instances of frozen shoulder are self-limiting, it has been found that the majority will eventually return to near normal capability, whether the sufferer does anything to aid recovery or not. This can take up to two years, maybe more, through three phases: freezing, frozen and thawing.

After much research, and surprise at the variety of advice and remedies suggested on-line, I jotted down a list of some of the most common recommendations, and a couple of the more outlandish suggestions. I'm adding these in case any Googling wanderer with painful shoulder might find them of interest.

1. A variety of fairly gentle stretching exercises, performed regularly, on a daily basis.

2. Use of a portable ultra-sound machine or TENS electronic unit to aid massage of the affected area.

3. Trigger Spot Therapy, finding relevant trigger spots and applying pressure to ease pain.

4. Shutting oneself in a quiet room, lying down on a sofa, alone, with a music box playing (I kid you not, a music box is said to be the key to eliminating stress!)

5. Standing neck deep in a warm sea and allowing the waves to massage the body.

6. Elimination techniques for cleansing toxins taken into the body from food and the atmosphere.

7. Heat packs or ice packs applied to shoulder.

8. Acupuncture or acupressure.

9. One or two sites work on the premise that the cause is psychological rather than physical, and ask "what is frozen in your life or your attitudes?"

10. My own doctor offered a cortisone shot, which I accepted but felt no improvement. He said he could refer me to a surgeon for manipulation under anaesthesia. This sounded tempting until I investigated further and read about the possibility of a broken arm occuring during such manipulation, and the need to perform the stretching exercises afterwards anyway. Not for me!

I'm opting for a mix of # 1, 2, 3, and that most elusive of ingredients: patience. If I reach the point of desperation, though I might invest in a music box!

Over My Shoulder

This post could well turn out to be nothing but one almighty whinge. What follows may or may not be linked to celestial events or planetary transits, but as the principle of astrology, "as above, so below", can often be seen working, it's worth conidering. Perhaps a connection to recent eclipses? Or to another transit to my natal chart?

Back in June, I started having some pain in my right shoulder. I mentioned in a post on 2 July that I was teaching myself to use the mouse left-handedly because of the discomfort. I kept putting off seeing my doctor because I've a routine annual visit and tests coming up late this month, and thought to do everything at once. I absolutely detest going to see the doctor, always have, from my first memories - probably always will.

As my shoulder seemed to be getting worse, and my own doctor is on vacation at present, a family member suggested a visit to a respected local chiropractor. I consulted him on Friday. I was told, after x-rays and examination, that I have what's commonly called Frozen Shoulder, correct term for the condition is adhesive capsulitis. Recovery will be very slow (months or even a year or more), and will necessitate a major, and painful, effort by me - stretching exercises. Oh joy! Believe me, the exercises are very painful, but I must do them regularly several times a day. On his advice I'll also consult my own doctor, as apparently "proper" doctors can sometimes offer helpful aids such as cortisone injection, as well as a variety of therapies, and some more effective pain killers. Over-the-counter tablets in the USA do next to nothing for me.

I'm wondering whether recent eclipses are connected to this outcome. Both linked to Aquarius, my Sun sign, and the first occurred very close to my re-located Aquarius ascendant. The pain in my shoulder first was felt long before the eclipses though. The remedy, painful as it turns out to be, was confirmed on the day before the lunar eclipse in Aquarius. I'm now wondering if it will take until the next solar eclipse, which will occur conjunct my natal Sun next January, to heal the offending joint: about 5 months, around the time the chiropractor seemed to estimate for recovery of full flexibility.

Looking elsewhere in my natal chart, I notice that transiting Saturn (rules the skeletal structure) is at 9 Virgo (Virgo = health matters) quincunx (irritable aspect) my natal Sun (6.46 Aquarius), the aspect would have been exact in mid-July. There are three other planets in Virgo now, as well as Saturn: Mercury, Venus and Mars. These will move on more quickly than Saturn, as they do perhaps the situation will ease. I can only hope so!

Washing my hair has become a painful chore, as is pulling up my jeans, sleeping on my right-hand side, and, as the chiropractor put it delicately, but to English ears hilariously - "potty stuff". English translation = "loo stuff". Potty on the other side of the pond describes someone who appears to have gone slightly mad. So when the husband announces, "I'm just going potty", it never fails to raise a smile.

Using the computer, according to the chiropractor, shouldn't make the shoulder worse, but I suspect that long hours sitting in the same position might well have contributed to the problem in the first place. I'll continue to blog, but perhaps less frequently, until I have a second opinion on the matter. Without the diversion of the internet and blogs, I could well "go potty", English style, before this exercise regime is over!

My Chiron Story

Some years ago, after investigating what astrologers had to say about Chiron, known in myth as "the Wounded Healer", I came to the conclusion that, if it works in the natal chart for some people -fine, but in my own chart Chiron seemed to me to be inactive or irrelevant.

Martin Lass describes Chiron HERE

"A native American prophecy states that when the planet of Healing is discovered in the sky, the ancient sacred warrior teachings will return to the Earth. In 1977, Chiron, the Planet of Healing, was discovered. (Chiron is a cometary body orbiting mainly between Saturn and Uranus.)

Chiron's issues and affairs concern health and disease and their relationship to our spiritual journey through life."

When I was born Chiron lay at 5.17 Cancer, 10 degrees from natal ascendant, quincunx natal Sun at 6.46 Aquarius, and trine Jupiter at 6.03 Pisces. Natally Chiron was in 12th house, after relocation (in 2004) it slid around to 5th house.

None of the interpretations I read, of Chiron in sign or house, or by aspect, fitted me - not even loosely. It wasn't until last year that I began to wonder if Chiron does have a significant role.

Last summer, between mid-July and early August transiting Chiron conjoined my natal Aquarius Sun. Also from mid-July to early August, on advice from my doctor, I underwent a series of examinations (x-ray and ultra-sound) to discover whether I had a thyroid problem, after "something" showed up in a routine blood test.

It turned out that I don't have a problem (I never thought I did, but we have to assume that doctors know best). What was discovered though is that I was born with one side of the thyroid gland missing. The thyroid is apparently a gland with 2 lobes. In the course of my life the existing single lobe of the gland has enlarged slightly, causing a flag to be raised in my blood analysis. After other checks on general health, it was decided that all is well, or well enough.

This little episode brought the solution to a childhood mystery. Until my twenties I was overweight - not obsese, but heavier than most of my peers, though I didn't eat a lot, I was quite picky in fact. My defective thyroid must have been the culprit. Being a sensitive kid (Cancer rising) I took my difference from my contemporaries to heart. A feeling of inferiority lingered for many years, even after Aquarian bloody-minded effort brought my weight within the"ideal" range , where it has remained ever since.

Did transiting Chiron's spotlight on my natal Sun illuminate the hidden (12th house) cause of a childhood "wound" ? This could all be pure coincidence, of course, yet that exact timing with Chiron's transit was very spooky!

During the past week I received a call from our local hospital to say that after routine mammogram a couple of "spots" were found and further evaluation was needed.
I attended, last Thursday, for a second ("tighter"...eeeeek!) mammogram and ultra-sound investigation. Outcome - all clear - a couple of small cysts. Phew! Transiting Chiron is now at around 12 Aquarius, 6 degrees from natal Sun, sextile natal Saturn(12 Aries), quncunx ascendant(15 Cancer), and square Uranus (13 Taurus). I have no idea how to put the pieces of that jigsaw together, but I'm greatly relieved that there is no wound to heal!