The following guest post was originally published on the blog Empowering Astrology and is written by Katie Sweetman, manager of SaturnSisters.com and a member of the Saturn Sisters family. To learn more about Katie and Empowering Astrology, click here.

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On April 4th 2011, Neptune quietly slipped into its home sign of Pisces for the first time in a century and a half. I say quietly because Neptune’s ingress didn’t pack the punch of Pluto’s entry into Capricorn nor Uranus’s into Aries. No, gossamer Neptune transitioned into Pisces like a gentle breeze announcing a shift in the direction of the weather. You’d be forgiven for not noticing. We get a part two of this energy on February 3rd 2012 as Neptune, after having retrograded back into Aquarius, re-enters Neptune for a 14-year stay in its home sign.

Don’t be fooled by Neptune’s hazy nature; this transit is a big deal not only because of the length of its transit through Pisces, but because no one alive has experienced Neptune in its home sign. The years 1847 through 1862, when Neptune was last in Pisces, correlated with photography becoming an everyday element of the then modern world, the rise of the temperance movement, wars in China over the opium trade, and the advent of spiritualism. These are all Neptunian concepts — an image snatched from the ether and fixed into form via a chemical process; the use or abstinence of alcohol and drugs; and a peering beyond the veil via mediums and seances.

So what can we expect during this transit? Well, one of the main concepts behind Neptune is a dissolving of boundaries. When Neptune was in Aquarius, we saw a dissolving of boundaries between individuals in the collective via the likes of Facebook and other social media. Now with Neptune in Pisces we can expect a dissolving of boundaries between individuals and spirit. I believe, especially as more and more people are experiencing awakenings, that psychic phenomena will become less fringe. Humanity will realize that it is not alone and will seek to communicate with others in non-traditional ways or communicate with spirits, guides, angels, animals, and plants. Neptune also rules compassion and we will be learning lessons over this period on what it truly means to open our hearts.

One can’t explore the high minded, rose colored glasses side of Neptune without acknowledging the deleterious reality of the “blue-green vapors” (to quote Marguerite Manning). Let’s be honest, Neptune rules drunks and illusions as much as it does pie-in-the-sky spiritual visions. Are we going to be singing Kumbaya into our cocktails for fourteen years? Maybe, just maybe. Think “double rainbow” as you pour yourself a drink.

Learn More about Neptune in Pisces:

Listen to evolutionary astrologer Dena DeCastro and I talk about Neptune in Pisces and other aspects in a podcast episode titled Demystifying 2012.

I also recorded a segment on Neptune in Pisces for the Astrology Show, episode no. 13. Click below to listen.

More Neptunian/Piscean Concepts:

Anesthesia • The Subconscious • Hypnosis • Altered States • Photography • Movies • Glamour • Cults • Psychics • Hospitals • Things that Literally and Figuratively Imprison Us • Mediums and Channels • Spirituality • Deception • Con Artists • Illusions • Poisons and Toxins • Alcohol and Drugs • Oil • Oceans • Divine Oneness • Compassion • Unconditional Love • Martyrs • Meditation • Selfless Service • Devotion

Full Moon in Aries: October 11, 2011

Occupy Urgency

By Sherene Schostak

This is the Now Moon! Do you feel the sense of emergency in the air? Occupy Wallstreet is such an awesome representation of this Aries-Libra polarity. The way of the peaceful warriors: fighting for justice with a fierce sense of urgency and cooperative simplicity.

What injustices from ourselves or others must we face in our personal lives? Where have we been too complacent?

This is our annual reminder to face life on life’s terms but with the spirit of a boxer—not as a wimp and certainly not as a victim. In other words, not “yessing” life while secretly grumbling and bitching that we aren’t getting what we want. There’s no side-stepping, half-stepping or pussy-footing for that matter while the Moon rages full in Aries. Putting off action for a later date is courting disaster. Love relationships get heated and crisis erupts like a house on fire when egos flare. If we feel we’re being treated second class—time to pull out the big guns. And if the need for immediacy is met with laziness and complacency, the war is on. This is a time for action. A sense of urgency can be felt all around. Patience is in short supply so don’t push buttons or promise things that you aren’t ready or willing to act on immediately.

See you–See Me:

Are you a lover or a fighter? Either way, having it out with the one you love can be the most bonding necessity at this time. It’s always the couples that never fight that end up in the War of the Roses divorce battles when all that was suppressed for years comes raging to the surface. Mr. and Mrs. Nice Guy will not be invited to the Full Moon in Aries party. Passive-aggressiveness will not only get you nowhere but will probably be punished— violently. We will all feel like we’re reaching our boiling point and enough is enough. It’s time to sever the cords with those that refuse to take our best interest into consideration. Co-dependency is just ugly and repulsive at this point in our evolution as a species, so don’t even go there. Uranus in Aries won’t abide by losing your authenticity just to be liked or to have someone to go out to dinner with. This Full Moon demands that we look after ourselves and stop hoping there is someone out there that can do a better job at it. This is the great Hall of Mirrors Full Moon. Who is the real enemy?

Love is a Battlefield:

The battlefield is usually with our own ego and vanity issues that need to be resolved from within. No matter how many thousands of times or sources tell us we’re good enough, smart enough and goshdarnit people worship us—we’ll keep on comparing and despairing in the name of self-doubt until we reach the point of self-possession. Aries says: if we can come home to our deepest “I AM’ principle and get clear on who we are and where we’re projecting our best on to others, we still stand a chance. And let’s face it: Aries loves a good fight. As Dylan Thomas said: we must rage against the dying light— and on a daily basis. Honor the Aries essence by making every day, every interaction a thrilling new creation.

Take a break from the imminent Mercury Retrograde and come join ELLE UK astrologers The Saturn Sisters in the Hamptons this August! We’ll be doing on-the-spot karmic readings at the La Louche booth from August 5-7th. We’d love to see your beautiful faces at this summer’s best party in the universe: the Escape to New York festival. There will be brilliant music, life-changing art, fashion, local/organic food, and things yet to be discovered.

Even better, we’re offering our loyal and lovely readers/clients a friends and family discount (for a limited time). Your code is “woodbury”. This code is only good for 50 tickets so gather your friends, hop online and visit the following sites to buy your tickets before they sell out:

Friday Tickets for Friends and Family

Saturday Tickets for Friends and Family

Sunday Tickets for Friends and Family

Weekend Passes for Friends and Family

Nearly every problem in life can be solved by inhaling and exhaling . . . with awareness. –Buddha

Freedom is not doing whatever we want, but really wanting to do what we must.
–Nietzsche

Trying to control the mind is like trying to dry out the ocean or catch the wind. –Amma

* Disclaimer: Sagittarius Full Moons bring out the preacher in all of us so please forgive any pushy lingo ahead of time. Look to where 25 degrees Sagittarius-Gemini-Virgo-Pisces falls in your horoscope for arenas of greatest change.

This eclipse is a glaring reminder of the urgency to take our meds before someone gets hurt. Ideally in 2011, the meds would include first and foremost some form of meditation and deeper breathing. We’re forced to confront our own paradoxical nature as well as our dualities and contradictions–as painful as it is. Where do we say one thing and do another? Where do we talk out of both sides of our mouth and still feel clueless about where the real truth resides? You know those conversations or emails you have with an ex where you feel the need to both love and hurt at the same time? That’s where the Sagittarius eclipse comes in: we are forced to confront the cross your heart and swear to die level of truth.

Getting Brutally Honest:

Confronting inconvenient truths and eclipsing convenient lies. Write down the three biggest lies you are still telling yourself or others about yourself? And then ask yourself what it will take to change your story. This is an excellent time to monitor current self-chat. If it includes any of the following: ugly, fat, stupid, lazy, or loser—take lotus position at once! We can’t afford to keep running the same self-abusive thought patterns and expect our relationships, health and lives to flourish. Gemini-Sagittarius eclipse points remind us of the power of words and intentions. It’s not just what you say—it’s the thought and more importantly the energy of the intention behind the thought that leads to the words spoken. And the words lead to the actions that create the karmic seeds for the next round on life’s great Wheel of Fortune.

A.D.D. & Me:

Feeling more distracted than you ever thought humanly possible?

“There was a time when we loved people and used machines . . . now we love machines and use people.” says Amma. I don’t know about you, but my brain is starting to organize itself in 140 characters with hash tags as subtext. Cannot even begin to describe the agony and anguish that is going into forcing myself not to just turn this into a quick fix Tumblr post, status update or 5 Tweets (which would probably be the smarter idea considering there may only be a handful of people left on this earth with the attention span to actually focus for an entire paragraph and they probably aren’t following, liking or thumbs-uping.)

This eclipse highlights how the immediacy and boundary-exempt reality that our high tech world provides has paradoxically ripped away our ability to be present, focus and appreciate that the good things in life take time. As Amma says: if we try to force open a flower before its time to blossom, we will destroy all the fragrance. And the same happens when we lose patience for the process and kill all the beauty because we reverted again to iCrack urgency mode and couldn’t download the app or the relationship fast enough.

Look around and see how easily people channel Satan the second the speed of the Wifi connection slows down or they have to wait for their side of Ketsup. And if you really want to witness a demonic possession—disconnect someone’s modem, or put them on hold for more than 50 seconds.

No Doubt:

Three D’s that destroy us when we stop evolving: doubt, depression and denial.

They kill our ability to trust ourselves, trust life and trust that actually everything is going to be all right. Sagittarius is the sign of faith, optimism and truth. When we go into doubting mode, what happens? We run around collecting second opinions, abusing our oracles and going into feedback overload in a vain attempt to alleviate our fears. We don’t trust and we begin a frantic search for the answer out there. We revert to our Gemini minds looking for the immediacy of reassuring sound bytes the mind can attach to. This is when we need to sit down, stop running at the Gemini mouth, power of the iCrap and ground back into the body. Mantras and affirmations are excellent to replace negative mind grooves. Actually many of us have mantras already that we’re using but sadly they are more like the rants of an abusive partner beating us down to make sure we’ll never leave them, or some insane preacher speaking in tongues.

Change the Channel:

We easily become our mental habits. What is the story you tell yourself? Where do you spend most of your mental energy? What do you regularly obsess about? Just a little time of sitting in meditation will reveal the answers to these questions. And most importantly what feelings are you avoiding by obsessing about something else?

This morning in meditation class, the Swami said that the moment we start to think our spine bends. Sagittarius is about expanding our mindset. Opening the mind is easier said than done which is why Sagittarius is associated with travel. By changing the details of our daily routine, we can change our thinking. Childhood wounds play a huge part in the negative side of the drama we create in our mind and spin out into our reality. Look to where you keep recreating the same scenarios that only serve to reinforce limiting beliefs about yourself and the world.

Our Minds Need Maintenance:

Amma says we need alarms of awareness and discrimination before negative thoughts have a chance to destroy us. Especially anger. When we’re angry we release poisonous vibrations into our cells and the atmosphere. After a huge fight, doesn’t your body feel like it’s suddenly contracted every form of Cancer and autoimmune disorder known to humankind?

Don’t Believe the Hype:

The trickster is making several appearances compliments of the Sun, Mercury, Venus and the South Node in Gemini. Words can be mighty deceiving so try to see beyond all of the details and get back to the bigger truth, bigger picture. Don’t believe the gossip or buy into the cheap version of the story. Sag says we must do the research. Words are the swords in the Tarot for good reason. They can easily harm, distract and put us in the defense zone. Marianne Williamson has a teaching on this. When we feel we need to defend something we give it power and make it more real than if we had ignored it altogether. Just let it go. The other teaching is: do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

Jupiter & The Wheel of Fortune:

Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter and is associated with the Wheel of Fortune archetype in Tarot. While we’re still riding the wheel of Samsara, if we hold fast to the center we can avoid the feeling of getting dragged through the inevitable ups and downs of karmic cycles like a dead animal stuck to the rubber of the tire instead of rambling on with the flow like the shiny chrome in the middle of the hub.

Sagittarius is the big-breakthrough sign. Sag likes everything big. This eclipse can spark a tremendous six-month period filled with moments of deeper self-realization and unexpected fortune. The Fortune archetype says: if miracles aren’t happening in your life, something is wrong. What does fortune mean to you at this point in your life? What’s standing in the way? Make a list of all of the mental obstacles and obstructions that prevent you from believing that something miraculously huge could happen in your life. And then keep your eyes open for unexpected gifts and possibilities. Speak your peace. When you own your truth, there is no need to manipulate or be manipulated. Think Free Bird, baby!

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule.”
– Nietzsche

What is Chiron? An asteroid, and a pain in the ass mythological figure also known as “the wounded healer.” Chiron bids farewell to the constellation of Aquarius after spending seven years (Feb. 21, 2005 and Feb. 8, 2011) triggering every social, group and friendship wound we’ve ever felt. The Chiron in Aquarius finale packed a series of punches on the collective since 2005. Sorting out the needs of the group versus the needs of the individual is never a simple affair.

Do we lose ourselves in groups — devolving into sheep, girls gone wild or conformists? Or do groups inspire, give us strength in numbers and sense of belonging, and unify us around a kindred theme? Are we prone to the horrible disease of “group think” where we suddenly lose the ability to make rational, individually informed decisions? Or do we succumb to the lowest vibration or caveman denominator in our midst? We’re no strangers to group contagion, the stupidity of trends and “Lord of the Flies.” Chiron in Aquarius at its worst: Super Bowl Sunday and Facebook.

“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer …”

In our social circles, networks and other such collectives, the shadows of competition, rivalry, backstabbing and envy often loom heavy. During the final days of Chiron in Aquarius we would expect to see these issues to reach a fever pitch. Chiron in Aquarius has been dubbed the “wounded community.” Where have our associations with groups, families, and bigger collectives been healing? Where have they only served to open up old wounds?

Usually it’s a combination of both, but with Chiron transits there’s the feeling of pouring salt into the wound in order to bring our attention to it. Aquarius rules our friendships, so it’s not surprising to hear people lamenting, “I don’t know who my real friends are anymore” or “Who can I trust?” Chiron in Aquarius taught us that true friends are precious, extremely rare and perhaps a dying breed.

Look to the placement of Chiron in your natal horoscope to see where your psyche contains the deepest wounding from childhood and consequently needs the most healing. But this is the kind of healing that one must give to oneself. Only through our own efforts, life experience and wisdom gained can we heal the depth of our Chiron wounds.

The lessons typically culminate in some sort of integrated fashion around the age of fifty during the Chiron Return provided we’ve done the work. Every seven years we have the opportunity to work an another layer of healing, similar to Saturn cycles. With Chiron in Aquarius, we were given the opportunity to honor and hopefully embrace our unique, eccentric, rebellious qualities despite the pain of earlier experiences of not fitting in, or feeling like a freak for being different.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” — Crankydragon from Dr. Seuss

The following guest post was originally published on the blog Empowering Astrology and is written by Katie Sweetman, manager of SaturnSisters.com and a member of the Saturn Sisters family. To learn more about Katie and Empowering Astrology, click here.

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Last week the world freaked out when a Minnesota astronomer sent out a press release stating that the zodiac signs had shifted over time and, surprise, you’re not the sign you thought you were. Even more shocking, there was now a new zodiac sign — Ophiuchus.

Thanks to the power of the internet, the press release went viral and people whom I never thought would care about astrology were suddenly losing their stuff. Mainstream American news like CNN and MSNBC even devoted prime time to this allegedly new revelation. Well known astrologers like Susan Miller breathlessly went on air to refute the ill conceived press release. I fielded emails from friends and colleagues who wanted to know if it was true.

The Saturn Sisters were quick to point out in their great post on LifeScript.com that this was a myth, but the damage was done. People were confused and indignant. And like the head of a hydra, more and more media outlets propagated the myth of the 13th sign despite attempts to clarify by the astrological community.

“So now I’m a Pisces?” an Aries sun sign incredulously asked.

First of all, it’s not true. IT’S NOT TRUE! Your sun sign has not changed. Ophiuchus is a hoax. Astrologers have known about the precession of the equinoxes since the 2nd century AD. I could explain further in detail, especially how this myth pops up every few years, but frankly I spent all my energy last week calming the panicked masses. Instead I will defer to the following excellently written rebuttals:

“Attention All Astronomers — The World is Flat” by Eric Francis of Planet Waves

“Ophiuchus puts his foot in it but it’s Cox who sticks the boot in” by Deborah Houlding at Skyscript

“Ophiuchus – the 13th Sign of the Zodiac” by Deiter Koch at Astro.com

Second, an astronomer shouldn’t be making definite statements about astrology without understanding what it is. After all, I don’t write press releases about quantum physics and cosmology. Just sayin’.

Once the dust settled, I had a realization. More people were emotionally invested in astrology then I would have previously assumed. Curious.

It’s not that I don’t think astrology has a place in prime time discourse, but it was a telling barometer of how many people followed their sun sign. It also made for a surreal moment when really talented and erudite astrologers were on cable news to explain exactly why western astrology doesn’t follow the precession of the equinoxes.

In short, this was astrology’s biggest moment in the spotlight since former First Lady Nancy Reagan was outed in 1988 for consulting an astrologer.

Okay, the world asked, if western astrology doesn’t follow the precession of the equinoxes and doesn’t shift the signs, then what does it do? What is astrology?

Now that’s a big question to ponder. How does one distill astrology into a short soundbite?

• Astrology is a language that conveys the human condition.
• Astrology is the study of the heavens as an archetypal reflection of our inner selves.
• Astrology is the understanding that we are are one with the universe.
• Astrology is a tool used to unlock the secreted parts of the soul.
• To study the stars is to study ourselves. To look at the stars is to pull back the curtain and see the inner workings of Source.
• Astrology is the study of natural cycles, whether it be day to night, spring to summer, or the planets in shifting relations to each other. To study astrology is to respect the natural timing of life.

In the words of astrologer Steven Forrest in his book The Inner Sky:

“Astrology is just a finger pointing at reality. Like any other language, it only provides a way of ordering our perceptions. At its best it aids us in seeing ourselves more honestly. At its worst it drops a wall between us and the rawness of our own experience. To be of value it must not only reflect the actualities of living; it must hone the cutting edge of our growth. If astrology does not give the mind the sharpness of a laser and leave the heart an open nerve, then it has failed.”

Although the glare of the spotlight is fading, we still have a chance to be ambassadors for astrology in the face of misinformation and ill informed skepticism. This is astrology’s big moment. Let us teach the world that as above, so below. The macrocosm is the microcosm. We are the stars.

(This blog originally appeared on Lifescript.com.)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Take a deep breath. Your zodiac sign has NOT changed. You’re still the sign you thought you were when you woke up this morning. Don’t hang up your bull horns and pretend you’re not stubborn, Taurus. Don’t trade in your sexy black negligee just yet, Scorpio. No reason to be meek, Aries. You’re still an adventurer, Sagittarius. But if you were duped by this morning’s “OMG you’re not the sign you thought you were!” story that’s gone viral on the web, consider yourself in plenty of company.

This is merely a false meme that rears its head every few years. (See this story from 2007). Sometimes, bored editors dig up conspiracy theories to draw traffic — that’s what’s happened here. Amazing, with all the important stuff happening in the world (massive floods, fishes and birds falling from the sky, attempted political assassinations, etc.) Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, the current incarnation of the myth is burning up BlackBerries worldwide.

Without overloading you with a bunch of jargon, let’s try to break down why and how your sign is still relevant to your life. Western astrology, the kind we practice, relies on the seasons and position of the Sun for its data – it uses something called the tropical zodiac.

Vedic astrology or Jyotish (practiced in India) uses the sidereal or fixed zodiac. Your sign in Western astrology is very often different than your sign in Jyotish, because the two systems don’t look at the cosmos in the same way. Jyotish relies on fixed stars, and Western divides the zodiac into twelve segments starting at the vernal equinox.

So although the exact positions of the signs of the zodiac have shifted in the last few thousand years, according to Western astrology, an Aries is still an Aries, and so on, and so on. Not that one system is good or bad — they’re both great. Although we study and teach Western astrology, we always encourage our clients to check out Jyotish too, for another perspective. (Want more details about all this crazy tropical/sidereal stuff? Click here.)

The other really important point to keep in mind is this: Astrologers from different cultures have been collecting data based on people’s birth dates for millennia. They’ve been noting the native behaviors and psychological profiles of their subjects, which is where modern astrologers get their basic information from.

In the last one hundred years ago or so, astrology has had an amazing renaissance, in part fueled by computers, which make our jobs much faster and easier. Mined from this rich history and contemporary advances, we can tell you who you are, what you like, whom you’re attracted to, and why. And based on the current positions of the planets in relation to your natal birth chart, we can give you insight into how your life will change, what kind of challenges you’ll face and how you’ll grow. (Also, when you might fall in love, break up, get a new job, have a child, etc.) We look at patterns and archetypes, and help you understand your own inclinations and motivations. And we think that’s pretty down-to-earth.

So, friends, the sky has not fallen. While we’re at it, we’d like to remind you that the world isn’t going to end on December 21st, 2012. But that’s a blog for another day . . .

In the stars,
xoxo The Saturn Sisters

Catch up with Lifescript Astrology Experts The Saturn Sisters at SaturnSisters.com, and on Twitter and Facebook.

Click here to check out your 2011 forecast in love, health, career and more!

The Saturn Sisters wish you the most auspicious, magical year you’ve ever had. As we embark on the challenging territory of 2011, you’re probably wondering when all the chaos is going to end. With birds falling out of the sky and fishes dying en masse in rivers worldwide, there’s seemingly something apocalyptic going on on planet Earth. We’re only one year away from the massive transformations that begin in 2012. There’s no reason to worry, however, because the Saturn Sisters are here to guide you.

During the whole month of January, we’re offering a special bonus Body & Soul report with all private consultations ordered through the site. You can even order a private reading for yourself and give the Body & Soul report to a friend as a gift. Feel free to order your reading now and book it for any time during the next six months, if you want to save it for an upcoming occasion like your birthday or anniversary.

And all new for 2011, we’re offering three tiers of sessions, one for every budget. Check out all the options here:

saturnsisters.com/consultations

The Cardinal Cross that started last summer will again hit each of us at a unique place in our chart during the coming year. Book a session with us today, and learn where the karmic points are in your chart; both where you may experience major challenges and breakthroughs. The world is changing, and you must change with it, but it can be amazingly empowering to learn how. Freaking out and having a breakdown is so 2010, darling. We’ll help you keep it together.

xoxo

The Saturn Sisters

“Instead of finding fault with others, try to look to your own weaknesses.” –Ammachi

Got Integrity?:

Capricorn is not kidding. Are you on your game people? Saturn is a relentless taskmaster that will find all of the cracks in your moral structure and expose them to high hell (especially if Pluto has anything to say about it). Saturn rules our bones: it’s about living the truth that gives us a straight spine — bone-level truth. Any selfishness, arrogance, laziness and pride will not be tolerated. It’s time to up the ante.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” –Steve Jobs

With four planets in the sign of the taskmaster: it’s time to get serious about time. The Devil will find work for idle hands — don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today — these are all quotes straight from Saturn. The more you procrastinate, the more you’re begging for depression to set in. We beat ourselves up for actions not taken only adding to the weight of the learned helplessness response of “what’s the point?” Depression is Saturn’s domain: anger turned inward. We’re often hardest on ourselves, and that is not the way to make constructive change. Saturn rules perfectionism. We want to get it right and cut out all the time-wasting, superfluous, superficial nonsense. If we can accept what is no longer working in our behavior patterns and have the faith and patience in ourselves to work towards making the correction, we can turn Saturn into our ally. Perfectionism can be a form of self-hatred and self-sabotage. Masochism is unconscious Capricorn and Saturn. It’s all about intention and focus. We must be true to our own path — this is also dharma. Time is in our mind. It is an illusion. It expands or contracts depending on our level of consciousness. When we are present and focused — time expands. When we structure our time — it expands. When set an intention — time expands. When we space out — time contracts.

Guilt, Fear, and Shame:

Guilt, fear, and shame: Saturn’s top three demons when we’re not true to ourselves. Capricorn rules the archetype of the Devil in Tarot. What are we most afraid of? That’s where we get zapped. Where do we judge ourselves relentlessly? We need to learn to laugh at our imperfections and stop taking ourselves so seriously to get out of the clutches of the devil’s harsh judgment. Otherwise we’re possessed and there is no reasoning with us. We work to cover them up via arrogance, self-justification, defense mechanisms and placing the blame. When you hear people using the devil’s mantra: “it is what it is” — you know they’re in the grips of their devil-shadow.

Taking responsibility for your actions does not mean doing a number on yourself for all of the foolish things you’ve done. Get over yourself — get over it. See it and commit to doing it differently on the next karmic round. Don’t waste time — yours and especially not others. Saturn is a brutal taskmaster and has little mercy for those unwilling to own up to their duty. Excuses fall flat. We are the creators of our own destiny and karma and there is no charming your inner or outer Saturn cop out of the ticket, penalty or other punishment. Better to own up and make the necessary corrections so that the offense is not repeated.

Mind Over Matter:

Saturn/Capricorn can be a patient and compassionate teacher if you’re sincere and putting in the hard grunt work. Shortcuts are a disaster under Saturn’s domain. Blaming external situations just won’t cut it. We need to be masters of our own mind and thus behavior. The planets may throw us curveballs for sure — but how we handle them is up to the integrity of our character. In fact this upcoming Mercury Rx (retrograde in Capricorn) will reveal any weak links in the fiber of our moral being. Do we over-promise and under-deliver (Sagittarius/Sagittarius Rising); Do we blame others or external situations (Virgo/Virgo Rising)? Do we revert to passive-aggressive measures to get our needs met (Libra/Libra Rising)? Or do we play the helpless child and blame the bad parent/ system (Cancer/Cancer Rising)?

Policing the Universe:

No one likes to play Saturn. When other people break the rules — push your boundaries, and take advantage of your time you’re forced to turn tyrant! When someone is late, or doesn’t show up at the appointed time — you start to feel like the punishing parent having no choice but to school the child. Not most people’s idea of a good time. And anyone with Capricorn rising or heavy Capricorn planet action going on in their horoscope knows exactly what I’m talking about. Why can’t others just be accountable for their own actions? Then no one would have to play the boring role of parent, judge or law-enforcer. No one wants to point out the faults, the trespasses or personal felonies of others. Yuck.

Do the Right Thing:

With Saturn in Libra, the element of fairness is always at question. Do we consider how our actions affect the other person or do we rest on our own egotistical laurels, justify, make excuses or blame the other? Fair is fair and that is why Saturn is exalted in the sign of justice (Libra). There is no playing favorites or buying favors — it’s about doing what’s right. Dharma: right action. And deep down we all know what ‘s right — whether we’re willing to fess up to it or not. Our selfish needs may interfere with choosing the correct path. But Saturn/karma will set us straight eventually. Saturn in Libra: the sign of mirrors/mirroring: take a look at yourself and make that change!

“Harder to look yourself square in the eye
Easy to poke yourself, easy as pie
Easy to take off, harder to fly
Harder to wake Galileo”

Saturn Return by R.E.M.

The following guest post was originally published on the blog Empowering Astrology and is written by Katie Sweetman, manager of SaturnSisters.com and a member of the Saturn Sisters family. To learn more about Katie and Empowering Astrology, click here.

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The 12th house in astrology isn’t known for being particularly transparent. It is, after all, traditionally the house of secret sorrows and self undoings. That can’t be good, my teen-aged self once thought, especially as I looked nervously to my Mercury, Neptune, and Mars conjunction hovering above my ascendant. Secret sorrows?? How does someone, especially an astrological novice, begin to wrap their minds around something so nebulous and frankly a little bit scary?

Marguerite Manning, karmic astrologer, author, and radio show host, has turned the lights on in the 12th house to reveal the truth behind its dubious reputation. She recently connected with Empowering Astrology to discuss the origins of her work and how the 12th house actually speaks of our previous life, not some tortured future.

To her, we all are spiritual beings having a mental experience in the physical world. Our birth chart reflects our “spiritual agenda” and the 12th house a rich mine of information that reveals why we are here in this lifetime and what we didn’t quite get right the last trip around.

In her book, Cosmic Karma: Understanding Your Contract with the Universe, Manning explains:

The 12th house represents the final stage of life, and, for obvious reasons, is said to be the astrological home of the soul. To most astrologers, it’s that place on the birth map that mirrors your spiritual development and karmic journey . . . This is the part of your natal chart where the inner you keeps the memory and imprint of all that you were before, all that you are below the surface, and all that is not apparent. Evidently, like still waters, the 12th house runs very deep. It’s supposed to.

When Manning looks at a natal chart, she starts with the sign on the 12th house and looks to the placement of its ruler in addition to aspects made to that ruler. Through that she is able to sketch a portrait of what she believes is our life previous to this one.

It’s more than morbid curiosity that makes this an important aspect of astrology. By knowing where we’ve come from on a spiritual level and proactively delving into 12th house unpleasantness, the “house of secret sorrows and self undoing” starts to look more like a how-to-guide for positive soul growth. If we are conscious of the aspects of ourselves that got us in trouble in our last life, then we have an evolutionary punch list.

Taking the horoscope beyond the veneer of fortune telling and utilizing it as a therapeutic tool for self development is an aspect of astrology that is very important here at Empowering Astrology. Other astrologers have successfully formulated their own unique therapeutic modality — Steven Forrest, Jeffrey Wolf Green, and Liz Greene come to mind. However Manning has claimed the 12th house as the cornerstone to her approach, using it and its ruler as the jumping off point for understanding the unconscious motivations of the soul.

I first came aware of Manning’s work back in 2008 when I caught an interview with her on an internet radio program. Since then, she’s grown to be a very popular guest with people queuing for a coveted on-air karmic reading, so much so that she’s now hosting her own bi-weekly show, Therapy for the Soul. And yet the phone lines still overflow. Her popularity is a testament at her ability to speak to deeply hidden aspects of the self that need to be integrated and healed.

“I want to validate the soul,” Manning says. And validate she does. I myself received an on-air reading and was dumbfounded by the story she told of my last life — a story both alien and familiar — that echoed aspects of my current life. Based on the affirmations of other people who have had readings, I am not alone in my experience.

I confess to Manning that the day after I received my own reading, I fell uncharacteristically ill — sudden chills, fever, energetic overload — as I processed very deep emotions associated with my last life. Manning confirms that it’s not unheard of for people to cry afterward as they consciously connect with suppressed grief in addition to other overwhelming emotions. That’s not to say getting a karmic reading is a negative experience, but her past life interpretations undoubtedly trigger something.

When you have an intense experience such as I had, the left brain begins to ask why. (Or maybe it’s my Gemini Moon at work.) I wanted to know how Manning was able to develop a way of working with the birth chart that was different than other astrologers and why the 12th house yielded the information that it did?

While Manning claims both Edgar Cayce and Carl Sagan as influences, it was astrologer Debbi Kempton Smith’s Secrets from A Stargazers’ Notebook that set her on the path of investigating the 12th house. “At the time, I was very inspired by her last paragraph in the small chapter entitled ‘Past Lives’ in which she suggests using the sign on the 12th house cusp to find out more about your last lives. That whetted my karmic appetite.”

It took Manning a couple of years to perfect her precise system of karmic astrology and “crack the code of the birth chart,” drawing on Edgar Cayce’s library of channeled information to create a hybrid of astrology and metaphysical teachings. She has come to see the birth chart as our “contract with the Universe.” And if it’s a contract drawn up before incarnating, then each planet represents a lesson, a gift, and a balance to redress. Neptune, for instance, is your karmic debt, the area of your chart where you promised to pay back. Uranus is your karmic gift of genius and the courage to go against the tide. Saturn, however, shows where we’re getting schooled in some serious life lessons.

“Saturn [in the birth chart] brings boundaries into conscious. It’s where we come into this world feeling incredibly inadequate. We’re given 29 years, until the Saturn Return, because we need that time to learn the lessons and do the homework.”

Cosmic Karma, published in 2007 by Llewellyn, is now in its third printing and a potential follow-up book focusing on the inner planets is in the works. Recent show topics on Jupiter and the Moon hint at possible book material. In the meantime, Manning utilizes her radio show, Therapy for the Soul, in addition to doing readings, as a workshop for teaching karmic astrology.

While there are many aspects to astrology beyond our karmic closet, it’s truly the 12th house where we find sleeping aspects of our soul. It is a place of empowerment, not disillusionment. Armed with a flashlight, Manning dares us to see beyond its terrible reputation and find true understanding of ourselves.