Ceres; Babies, Losing my Mind and the Politics of Seeds


It started couple of weeks ago when I went to the doctor. She called me in after my physical and wanted to go over my results. I was kind of worried because I didn’t know why she wanted to see me, but it seemed that she just wanted to talk to me about how great she thought things were going and how my results looked really good. Then the real reason seemed to come out. She asked me if I had planned to have children. I didn’t know. I don’t have a guy. Yes, I thought before about a donor bank Dad. Did I want a referral, she asked. I told her yes and thought to myself that I would have it figured out in the six months that it would take to get in to see the specialist. Then, I got into my car and I said out loud “If I need to see a doctor so that I can get drugs, I need to do it soon because my benefits run out in two weeks.” The good ones that cover this kind of stuff, anyhow. By the end of the day, the clinic had called me and I was booked for an appointment the following week. Unheard of in Canada; I asked and I received! This started a whirlwind of activity and I had appointments bang, bang, bang! Blood, ultrasounds, a sonohysterogram and magically, within the two week period, the needed prescription for drugs. I know what you’re thinking… I should try this with money or lottery tickets or a sports car!

In total confusion, I did what I normally do. I threw myself into my work. I needed to write my monthly horoscope and that I did. As I wrote, I noticed that a configuration in the sky, the North Node and Saturn were coming together. These two would also be sextile to Ceres. Sextiles are normally a good thing, but this time I looked at it and became concerned.  The North Node and Saturn both karmic, made me wonder… Would we have an agricultural crisis? Ceres is the Asteroid responsible for motherly love, fertility and food… agriculture.To make things even more baffling, for the third time a friend, oh so generously, offered me his “seed’. 

With this, I began to obsess about seeds. An episode of Lisa Ling’s America came on the TV. She highlighted an older couple who had lost everything in the economic crisis. They were in retirement and getting jobs was not an option. But they set forth to grow a garden to feed themselves. They made bread from the wheat they grew and canned with their extra vegetables. Hmm… Interesting. Then I went to see a friend downtown. Along with some gemstone crystals, she had decorated a table in her house with a seed. This seed, she said, was her boyfriend’s lucky seed and she told me she felt moved to put it on the table when I came. Neither of us knew what kind of a seed it was. We chatted for a while and then I left there and went to my sister’s house to babysit my nephew.

 

As my nephew and I sat and played we also watched an animated movie called The Lorax. Suddenly, I realized the movie was about the outlawing of seeds.

 

And then on the weekend I went to a cottage with a bunch of friends. One friend was very concerned about the recent discovery of radiation levels from Fukushima moving across the Pacific and hitting the LA coast. I shared with her my recent seeds trend and the astrology that made me wonder. “Oh,” she said, “I happen to be selling seeds.” She had arranged for vegetable and flower seeds to be sold to raise funds for her athletes to go to Europe.

Okay, now this seed thing was starting to become a little strange. With this I began to obsess about seeds. I found myself online researching emergency seed kits. I ordered a tin of seeds through the www.rareseeds.com and then jumped on their online forum. As I researched I remembered the politics around seeds. I had seen it in a documentary called The Corporation, where Dr. Vandana Shiva fought alongside advocacy groups in India against the outlawing of saving seeds. I discovered that there were seeds created by corporations to “commit suicide”. I realized that what was important was to find seeds that would produce other seeds so that you could save them and continue to produce future gardens. Not all seeds are created alike. There are God-made seeds and man-made seeds. I made sure to order the former.

But ordering seeds did not stop my seed obsession. Suddenly, I was lying awake at 3 a.m. thinking about the seeds that commit suicide and the corporations that try to make laws to prevent people from saving seeds. This is greed. Pure and simple Greed. It bothered me that people in poverty would not be allowed to provide for themselves. It bothered me that those corporations do not have more accountability and social responsibility. I know there are programs and funding available, at least in the City of Toronto, to build gardens on rooftops. I know there is even funding for corporations. I thought about how I could make team-building exercises using corporate rooftop gardening. I imagined how building gardens on rooftops of corporations could help feed people going to the food banks with healthy foods (rather than peanut butter and pasta) and I imagined how it could help seed-saving programs. My seed obsession was being transmuted into activism and community-building. I started to formulate my first project for Mother Clan. Mother Clan is an online community that I will be launching soon as part of my other website called www.thecorporateculturedetox.com. The Mother Clan community will be a mastermind group of leaders dedicated to corporate change and social responsibility within corporations.

One question remained. What was making me so seed obsessed? I had looked at what was going on in the sky in general but I had not looked at my own astrology. I decided to pull up my own chart. Aha! I have the progressed Moon opposing Ceres almost on the dot! My Ceres is in earthy Taurus, which makes me very concerned about food and security. I nurture myself and others by feeding and ensuring security of needs. But that wasn’t the only thing going on. I also have a progressed Moon trine my Pallas. Pallas and Ceres are in a tight sextile in my chart – a combination that creates political activism around nurturing and caring for the basic need of others. My end-of-the-world/end-of-fertility doom and gloom had solid astrological roots! It never ceases to amaze me how the energy of the planets and asteroids play out in our lives!

So, in two weeks to a month, I will have a two-year garden of seeds in a tin, the seeds of a project for corporate social responsibility begun and a floor plan for my new house. After all, I live in a condo… Where am I going to plant my two-year garden? 

As for the baby… I leave that mustard seed up to God! 

Don’t forget to like me on Google+ and Facebook. Also, if you are interested in becoming a part of Mother Clan, check my new website www.thecorporateculturedetox.com and leave your email address. I’ll notify you when it’s up and running.  

 

 

 

September Horoscope 2013

It’s been a highly creative summer and one filled with both necessary and unnecessary conflict. I also had my birthday at the end of August. Paying close attention to what happens to you on your birthday can give you some clues on what to expect for the coming year. Here’s what happened to me when I went to the spa for the day. Upon arrival they signed me in and gave me a key to my locker where I would find my slippers and robe that I would float through the day in. I entered the locker room, with locker key number 99 in hand. But wait… The lockers only went up to 98. I scanned the room and noticed that they started at one on the other side and went all the way around until they stopped at 98. “Why,” I said out loud, “would they give me a key to a locker that doesn’t exist?” I stood perplexed for a moment and then aha!, I turned the key around and realized that it was 66! The lesson? It’s all about your perspective. Sometimes when things don’t seem to exist or be possible, taking that moment to be curious (rather than angry, disappointed, confused, indignant, etc., etc.) will make the impossible completely possible.

September starts with the analytical Sun in Virgo trining Pluto, making these kind of aha moments possible. Don’t let Virgo’s perfectionism stop you from seeing even the oddest things as something potentially positive. On September 4 we are asked again to challenge our perceptions as tricky Neptune is opposite Ceres. Can we nurture ourselves, AND also transcend our own needs to nurture our world and the universe? Sometimes our ideas about perfection stop us in our tracks. But there is no need to be perfect. Eating just a square of chocolate rather than the entire 100g bar is the difference between nurturing yourself and being abusive. Don’t let a little slip-up (say eating two squares instead) send you down the rabbit hole toward eating that whole bar. Perhaps the answer lies in sharing.

On the same day, Mars is opposite Juno bringing about a competitive vs cooperative energy. Mars is in Leo and wants what it wants. Juno, the marriage asteroid is in cool and detached Aquarius. This is the thrill of the chase energy. That need to have what you can’t can be very alluring, but focusing on everyone’s needs rather than just getting for the sake of getting is the best approach.

The new moon on September 5 opposes Chiron making us again focused on being perfect about who we are and how we express ourselves. It has some help from Pluto and Jupiter, binging emotions to the surface and sharing them with others will be a really beneficial use of this new moon. Group therapy, a group of girlfriends sitting down for coffee, Sex in the City style, or some other deeply intimate group setting can be intense but rewarding. Also, if you need to stage an intervention for someone you love who is going down a dark and scary path, this might be the new moon to do it on.

On the 7th, Mercury sextile Pallas and the Sun sextile Jupiter make it an excellent day for group brainstorming. This is a great day for corporations to do team-building exercises (too bad it’s a Saturday) or for mastermind groups to get together and think-tank. The energy will be positive and the creativity through the roof!

But, keep your ideas to yourself until after the 8th/9th of September. Mars will square Saturn. Fear may get in the way and telling others will only deepen it as the likely response will be “it’ll never work”. Taking immediate action on ideas will also be an exercise in frustration and the disappointment can make you doubt your ideas. Since I am sure your ideas are good ones, it’s best to take a slow and methodical approach and let things incubate. Keep your own counsel and don’t allow frustration to discourage.

The 10th/11th will be a better day to start on projects. Venus square Pallas and sextile Vesta will allow you to sublimate your femininity into creative projects. All three planets will be moving from one sign to the next on these days, so the potential to birth a new and exciting project really exists. The challenge will be to keep your balance between being receptive and being decisive, which will determine your success.

On the 16th something may come up that seems like a good idea. But Neptune opposes Vesta, which could lead to disillusionment or dedicating to oneself causes that may not be what you expect. Take good care on this day to what you commit yourself to. On that day, Mercury is opposite Uranus, so words may float out of your mouth that may get you into trouble in this respect. Pluto is also trine Ceres, which stresses the idea of non attachment so if you do make a commitment, realize that you don’t own it, and at some point you may have to practice the idea of catch and release.

On the 19th when the moon is full in Pisces, we will be faced with following our instincts vs getting caught up in our “shoulds”. Saturn, Venus and the North Node will line up in Scorpio on that day. Globally, this could be a day when financial structures come into question. Governments and banks will be in the line of fire, which means we will all feel it. Saturn and the North Node are quite karmic, and Venus is all about relationships and money. Whatever had been seeded in the past will now sprout surprisingly to the surface. Let’s hope they were good seeds and it’s a good crop!

However, even if it is a not such a good crop, at the end of the month Uranus will send a flash of insight to Pallas, a creative solution can emerge to whatever situation that arose at the full moon on the 19th. Saturn is square Pallas though, and the need to be pragmatic and to have a strong foundation could shoot ideas down. The good news is that Pluto and Vesta also have a say and we may see spiritual or social ideals being reinforced by the powers that be.

 Read what’s in store for each sign:

Aries

You have a desire to have fun, experience a thrill and to express your uniqueness this month. You may question what your purpose is and if your work is meeting it. Give yourself time to see how things play out this month if you do start to feel disillusioned. Acting on it may be a bigger gamble then you anticipate.

Taurus

Your high ideals may hit a snag this month. Your intentions are good, but perfection and having it your way, especially in your home, can get in the way. This month you will see just how much it may also be affecting your primary relationships. The good news is that Jupiter in your 3rd house will help you to expand your perceptions. If others are unsuccessful at getting you to see this, your flash of insight might come from a good book.

Gemini

You might have some difficulty sleeping this month. Your mind is racing a mile a minute because you’ve got so much to say and share. You might be so inspired that you find yourself calling a friend at midnight without realizing the time. It’s a good time to listen and not push your ideas so adamantly. You will definitely have a platform or podium for your ideas, and as maestro, your best approach to influencing others may be with a basic Google search on followership.

Cancer

Your innate Cancerian values of mothering and taking care of others are becoming more mainstream. There are still some challenges and as you are asked to prove yourself, you might take it personally. Don’t let your self esteem suffer if your ideas are questioned. You are extremely community oriented this month, showing others how mothering is a transferable skill. Mothering has been the most underpaid, undervalued job, and has been a role that has longed for recognition. But as you start to get that recognition you may feel a little uncomfortable.

Leo

This month you are not sure what is going on with others. Maybe something does quite add up. However this won’t matter as long as you become clear about who you are, what your values are and are able to exert yourself in a way that is enrolling. You may have been putting up with something for a long time in your family of origin but you will now find a new approach that aligns with your newly clarified roots.

Virgo

It’s your birthday month Virgo, and good times can be had with friends. If you’re feeling social, it’s a great time to have that big birthday party. Other years you may have liked to be by yourself, but this year holding a party will open up a new social life for you. Your unconscious is warring with new ideas and perceptions that are emerging, but don’t let that hold you back. The practice of mindful meditation will help by putting some distance between what you think and who you are, to help you rise above it.

Libra

Libra, this is your month for some downtime. A review of the last three months or even the year will be highly beneficial. You may be having deep thoughts on your finances and how they help or hinder your hopes and dreams. If you’ve felt some disillusionment with your job, now is the time for behind the scenes ground work. Luck is on your side to make a big career change.

Scorpio

You are redesigning yourself, looking inward and making changes that to reflect who you really are. This may square off this month against the powers that be, maybe your boss or another authority figure. You may have recently connected with the more creative and idealistic side of yourself and you want to express it more. Don’t allow whoever is clashing with the new you emerging to bring you down or to make you question yourself. To any Scorpio now embarking on a university education, Happy Frosh week. This is definitely the time for higher education as you will really enjoy it.

Sagittarius

You have a strong creative, selfless and inspirational energy this month, especially in your career. However, you have been in a phase and extending yourself for some time. This month there may be some curve balls from parents or children. If you are in the “sandwich generation”, these curve balls will feel magnified. Your constant selflessness may feel rewarding right now, but will catch up with you. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself too.

Capricorn

Group participation is where your greatest learning lies right now and your sense of responsibility to a greater cause is increasing. You may however feel torn by conflict with others as you take actions that you believe benefit all and which you feel passionate about. Taking a real look at your strongly held belief systems and how your fraternization’s unconsciously inform your belief systems can lessen the conflict.

Aquarius

You may be so dedicated to your work and your sense of purpose that you idealize money. You know what the phrase “do what you love and the money will follow” really means. This month you may experience partnership problems especially if you are in business that will affect your career. Don’t let this throw you off. Keep that mantra, because even if there is a hiccup this month, you are still right. Doing what you love will make the money follow!

Pisces

Mars has you working hard this month. You have a strong base for your projects and know where they are headed, but leave some room for the possibility of learning something you didn’t know. You self-expression may be a little foggy as well. Others may challenge you only because they don’t seem to understand you.  Being more direct in your self-expression can help deepen other people’s trust level with you.

Astrology; A belief? or Weather Report?

12790138_s“Astrology is something to know about, not something to believe in” Noel Tyl

In a weather forecast the meteorologist looks at the temperature, wind, sea level, dew point, sky cover and air pressure. She’s got a thermometer, radar and dopplar to aid her prediction. Most times she is right, but on occasion she is wrong.

Astrology is much the same. The Astrologer takes the movement of planets, stars, location, time of birth (for a person, country, event, entity) and is able to put it together to make predictions. Not predictions like ‘you WILL do this or that’, but predictions that let you know what energies will be at play in your life and at a given time.

We know that the moon for instance has an effect on the tides. Ask any doctor or nurse about the moons effects on pregnancies, surgeries, emotional states and you will hear story after story. Recently we have been learning more about the Sun. The strength of the Sun via solar flare can knock out or disrupt technology… And so we now have space weather.

This is all that astrology is… Space weather!

Though Astrology has had a hard time gaining legitimacy (at least in the West), attempts have been made. William Lilly wrote the book Christian Astrology in 1647, perhaps naming it that way and presenting it to the house of Parliament to gain it’s respect.  Regardless of it’s struggles, it has always had an allure. Throughout history, legitimate or not Kings, Queens (Queen Elizabeth I), Politicians (Adolf Hitler and Ronald Regan) and business men (J.P. Morgan) have used astrology to aid their counsel.

What does astrology have to offer? Well each planet has an energy pattern that has an impact on the earth and everything in it; People, Cities, Events, Politics, Business. The astrologer takes all of these energies and looks at location, aspect between planets, time, space. Like the weatherperson, she has her tools, charts etc to make a report.

In the days of William Lilly and John Dee (Queen Elizabeth I’s astrologer), you needed to be a mathematician. The protractor and hand drawn charts were only replaced by computers in the last 25 years. With technology astrology has become very precise and room for human error has been reduced. In 1973 the first computer generated ephemeris was produced and there after came computer programs that produced birth charts.  And though the astrologer makes predictions and may be off (just as the weather woman may be off) The mystery is gone. And so too is room for the terrible astrologer or worse yet, the charlatan that Sir William Lilly so worried about. This is because everyone can be informed and learn about their astrology and what is going on in their own ‘weather report’

We all have a purpose and we all have lessons in life… and in the end, we all have free will. Knowing what challenges and opportunities are presented in your birth chart can help you to deeply understand yourself. Knowing what transits (the planets currently in the sky) are making a contact to your natal chart, can help you to understand what energies are at play and help you to make better choices. We can chose to carry an umbrella with us for the times when it will be stormy. Pack our car with a safety kit, when we know we’ll be in for a long journey or when to do our hair, put on our make-up and ‘our best’ because we have an opportunity blowing through that if we are not ready for, we could loose out. These are all ways in which knowing your astrological weather report can help you navigate life.

Here is a list of what you can expect from each planet:

The Sun – the Sun is the light of being. It illuminates the personality, the ego.

Moon – emotions and effect on emotions. During a lunar eclipse the earth blocks the light of the sun and disturbs the energy pattern of the moon on the earth. This is why lunar eclipse often trigger events, births, deaths, earth quakes, salient events.

Mercury – I think of mercury as quick movement between two bodies, so it often shows up as communication, transportation, cars, emails. Mercury retrograde is when the planet looks to us on earth as though it is moving backwards and this movement causing disruptions in all of these areas.

Venus – I think of Venus as the energy of give and take. And so Venus has everything to do with love and money

Mars – Mars is your drive and energy, It’s passion and action. Mars energy is all about doing and it doesn’t like to be held back.

Jupiter – Jupiter is a large planet and it’s energy is also large. It’s the planet of expansion. For this reason if it touches something good, it expands it and it looks to us like luck. So Jupiter is the planet of luck. But it can also expand our waists or create excessive behaviour, such as in shopping or having fun, which at the end of the day, may not be so lucky!

Saturn – Saturn’s energy is restrictive, but with a point. It’s job it to help you to learn and to be responsible. Saturn is like pruning a plant, so that in the end it can grow lush. If you try to be lazy or to cut corners with Saturn, your plant will not look so good.

Uranus – Uranus loves a surprise. With Uranus it’s like your driving along on a road going in a direction and suddenly you realize that the exit you want is two feet away and 3 lanes over. So you make a sudden move to get over there. Uranus course corrects or it throws you off course. This is why Uranus can cause what seems like a sudden divorce, earthquake etc.

Neptune – Neptune’s energy is like collective unconsciousness. It causes us to loose boundaries, live in shades or grey and force us to follow our noises (aka intuition). Neptune is like looking into a house of mirrors. To navigate this we need to either become spiritual or hit the bottle. Neptune is about loosing yourself in order to find it. Neptune is a momentary escape or fantasy, this is why Neptune also influences the film industry.

Pluto – Pluto causes intense experiences. In one way or another it completely transforms.

Additionally the Asteroids give a deeper picture of your relationships to yourself, people, the universe. The are about getting your needs met and meeting the needs of society.  I see the asteroids as providing the winds of sociological change, which at it’s basis starts with the relationship with ourselves. So mastering the lessons of the asteroids can have huge impacts on ourselves and also change our world.

Juno –  Juno is all about relationships. It is the attempt to get what one needs in a relationship, so when the Juno transits a planet, needs can be highlighted that can bring out score-keeping or entitlements. Juno brings up issues of fairness and justice within relationships.

Vesta – Vesta is all about sacrificing oneself for a greater purpose. It is dedication to ones goals and may even show up as workaholic tendencies.

Pallas – Pallas shows where one is good at noticing patterns and figuring out things in order to get what she needs. Pallas is the strategist and likes to win. Transit’s bring out these qualities for good or bad. I find Pallas interesting because astrologically she is “daddy’s little girl” and on a societal level she is the one who has tripped up women in service to the patriarch, by being the daddy’s little girl of society. But she is also one of the key players in balancing the masculine and feminine energies because at her best she can be just and wise.

Ceres – Ceres is the all about nurturing. Nurturing that takes place with the mother and especially with taking care of the basic needs of food-shelter-love. Transits can bring up issues of how well we are taking care of ourselves and others and their care taking of us.

You can learn more about your own astrology on the by clicking on the birth chart on the homepage of www.threemoongoddess.com

Don’t forget to click the section to make sure all of the asteroids also come up. Clicking on each of the glyphs will bring up more to tell you about yourself.

Also, don’t forget to like me on facebook or googleplus me!

updated with mars (ops! I forgot) August 8, 2013 11:41am