In celebration of the final pass of my third-house Saturn return next week, and my return to the land of the living, I’ve done some major remodeling on the site here. I’ve brightened up the old colors, and stripped everything down to a more minimal layout that even the Lord of Karma can appreciate.

The actual layout of things hasn’t changed too much. The blog has moved off the front page to its own section, and I’ve simplified the old quick links and pushed them up to the top. I’ve also called out some of the more important and popular posts on the side, or you can take a spin through the freshly organized archives.

A few changes:

• Office hours are back in session, now on the first and second Fridays of each month. Open-door policy- if you have a question, need a bit of astro tutoring, or just want to say hi, I’d love to hear from you. These were great fun earlier in the year, and I’m looking forward to more of your smart questions (and cool trivia).

• I’m experimenting with a new version of Moon Tracker that will be easier for you to download, add to your calendars, and use. I learned a lot from the first few months and it will return to the shop in a more streamlined version.

• I’ve added a taste of info about urban retreats for you here in Seattle. I’m still getting the details of this worked out, but I’m excited to share the wealth of amazing local tools and resources with you.

If you’re a design nerd, or want to check out some of the meta-astrology behind the site, you can take a look at the colophon for all the minor details.

I’m releasing Moon Tracker, a set of lunar Google calendars, for you today.

The set includes two calendars, and everything you need to export them:

• Lunar signs and voids for February 2011
• Lunar phases for February 2011

Works with Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook, RSS, or you can just print it out the old-fashioned way.

They are $5 for each month right now. I will be putting together a subscription option for next month. February is up mow, and March will be available soon for advance planning. Enjoy!

» Check out Moon Tracker now

I’m at the Playground this week, so there will be no office hours tomorrow. Next week will be business as usual.

Many exciting things are in the works, and a couple in particular, that I really really want to tell you about but it’s not quite time to spill the beans yet. Extremely soon, though. Yay!

Tiny hints:

• Calendar of awesomeness. Print-friendly for bonus convenience!
• User-friendly Google calendar of moon activity
• Slightly more elaborate Google calendar for transit wonks

I’m also running a banner for Chris Brennan’s Hellenistic astrology course for a little while. This isn’t paid advertising; I’m only putting it there because it’s pretty darn amazing and I’m a fan. Probably best for hardcore students, but it’s info you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

I’ll be in the cave for one more day projectizing. Have a great weekend!

I’m really feeling that for 2011 I need to make some larger changes to my life, and also to my business here. The good and also difficult part of being an astrologer—just like being self-employed in any field—is that there’s no standard career progression.

I’ve gotten an amazing response to my talisman work so far, and this year I am concentrating on creating more practical tools that you find useful, whether you have the time or inclination to study astrology or not.

Astrology isn’t only for people who want to study astrology. You don’t need to become a meteorologist just because you want to know when it’s going to rain. And the newspaper horoscopes are all fine and feel good, but those don’t quite hit the spot either when you want to know what’s really going on under the surface.

So for 2011 I’m looking at:

• Creating more malas and astrological jewelry, especially custom pieces for transits and birth aspects.

• Writing more forecast posts, although I’m not sure of the format yet.

• Having a more relaxed posting schedule here. In 2010 I think I put too much pressure on myself to write certain kinds of posts at a certain pace, so I need to back down from that.

• Documenting my own transit experiences and learning more about yours.

• Writing a series of chakra-oriented astrology pieces.

• Creating more tools you can use to understand and adapt to the flow of events in your life, both in general and specifically for 2011.

• Creating more accessible, readable material on certain astrological topics.

I’m also going to be shifting the site here to a simpler format soon. If you read the blog via RSS things won’t change too much for you, but it will become easier to navigate the actual site. I want to start recording some audio and possibly video posts, and the changes will make it simpler for me to post it– and for you to find it.

My word for 2010 was transition.

My word for 2011 is connection.

You’re important to me. You, reading this right now. I toiled over books and charts late into the night, and eventually left the kitchen altogether, because it’s really important to me to make this kind of information, these personal road maps we have, more accessible. To put it in your hands if you want it.

But I can’t write in a vacuum, and I can’t just guess what people want. I don’t want to be a blowhard projecting my view of the universe out there onto innocent bystanders. It’s been amazingly refreshing talking to some of you on Twitter, on Facebook (the Facebook page needs a cool name, I think), and out there in the internets. I want to know how you’re doing. I want to keep learning from you, because every one of you has taught me something new.

And if you love to lurk that’s totally fine too. I hope you find things here that feed you, and I silently tip my hat to you in return.

::

2010 was a big year, and a difficult year for many (if not most) people. 2011 is going to be a big year too, but it doesn’t have to be MOST EPIC YEAR EVER if you’re not ready for that. We’re finishing up some things we all started last year and in the past few, and we’re dipping our toes into a few new things that will play out over the coming years.

Jen Louden wrote a terrific post in that vein a couple days ago, and I heartily agree. A lot of people are running around talking about how this is a big, world-changing year, and we need to be ready to make giant changes too. The world is going to change this year. Things are going to shift in some major ways; there are plenty of indicators lining up for that whether you’re an astrologer or not. But you don’t need to badger yourself into living up to any kind of bogus celestial pressure. If the cosmos is truly applying pressure to you to change… believe me, you’ll know it. But don’t get down on yourself because you think you’re going to miss the boat on some major event this year.

If it’s the right time and needs to be done, you’ll do it. If it’s not, you probably won’t. We have a miraculous way of moving heaven and earth when something actually has to happen, so trust that if you can’t work up the motivation for some major change, that fruit probably isn’t ready to be plucked yet.

We have a bit more time to learn and contemplate things. Scale back your written plans just a little, so that you have room to go in new directions if all the wild new 2011 juice gets into your blood later. This year is going to be an adventure, no matter what you decide to do.

Happy new year!

For a couple months now I have been experimenting with making talisman paintings and objects for different astrological events. With all that Libra, I tend to be overly cerebral and I’ve found physically making things to be a good meditative practice for me.

Between this year’s Neptune transit and some projects I’ve undertaken in the last couple years, I’ve become a lot more energetically sensitive; I decided to play with gemstones and minerals in addition to painting, to see if I could learn anything new. It has been very interesting, especially since I decided not to do much reading on the topic beforehand so I wouldn’t build up too many preconceived notions.

I’ve found I have a knack for making objects that capture a certain flavor, and that have their own personalities. It has been really exciting to create something that captures the essence of a transit, or that really resonates with some kind of assistance. These are all one of a kind; I make them for relaxation so I won’t be mass-producing anything.

smoky quartz - SOLD

I’m planning some more timed pieces soon, also. I will be making a couple different Jupiter ones in the coming weeks, as well as some more lunar-oriented ones. I’ll also be making body-oriented malas for those of you doing color therapy or chakra work.

I’ll post periodically when I have new things, or when I’m planning to make something for a particular transit. You can also see works in progress and new photos on the Facebook page. If you have a particular stone or purpose you’d like, email me and I can make something especially for you.

Thanks for your support and feedback! I really value all the encouragement you’ve given.

Photo by Jayel Aheram (cc)

It’s that time of the year again, when everyone dons red t-shirts and buys red iPods and feels good because $3 of their $400 American Express bill will go to raise awareness. Raising awareness is awesome, and there are lots of great causes that deserve attention.

But I have an axe to grind about this one. Not gonna lie to you.

This shit is personal.

I have an HIV-positive parent. I’m lucky enough that they’re a medical marvel; 23 years now(!) without developing AIDS. Even the docs are pretty impressed. But that’s partly due to the fact we live in a city with some of the finest immunologists walking the earth, with access to the most current research and shiny new drugs. And they have awesome health insurance. The vast majority of people are not so fortunate.

HIV is in my family and daily life- it’s not something I think about when I open the newspaper, it’s a factor in active play. I have to pay attention, whether I want to or not.

So here’s the deal.

20% of all your session fees during the month of December will go directly to AIDS support and research.

If you buy a package I’m counting the full amount, so you could be getting a reading as late as May that will still be helping to fight the good fight.

I believe in backwards and forwards support, so this year I am again donating a 50/50 split to:

• Lifelong AIDS Alliance, one of the oldest AIDS organizations in the country, and
• HIV Vaccine Trials Network, which funds the world’s most promising vaccine research.

Updates from last year:

• Seattle HIV Vaccine Trials did not have a study group I was eligible for last year, so I’m trying again for 2011. New budget year, new studies and resources.

• I did end up taking last year’s video down, because I got a lot of ugly ugliness from… well, never mind, but suffice to say they have decided I’m nutty anyway, so whatever. When I find the file I’ll put it back up and post it here again.

• Donated $130 last year. I’d really like to blow that number out of the water this year!

Thanks for your love and support and retweets and comments. Onward!

Photo by Adam Baker (cc)

Happy (American) Thanksgiving!

This week has been super-interesting on my end… I’m in Portland right now, a burg my dad’s side of the family is originally from (my great-great-grandfather started the first newspaper in Oregon Territory). Portland and I haven’t ever spent any time together though, so it’s nice to be able to get to know it on its own terms.

And, El Pisces is coming to duck out with us for Thanksgiving too! Excitements.

Some news

I have been amazingly productive and wrote a nice fat cushion of bite-sized transit updates for now until nearly the end of the year… if you don’t want to think about transits, this may be just the thing for you. And I have written them to be actually relevant, instead of things like “Vucleano is in the eleventeenth house of Ophuichus” or something equally useless.

You can subscribe on Twitter, through the RSS feed, or via email.

More news

I’m cooking up an entirely new project, which will be ready by new year’s. Can’t tell you yet! So excited to tell you! Oh man. More about that later.

Photo by Bùi Linh Ngân (cc)

Starting this week, I will be offering office hours every Friday from 10-11am Pacific time. So if you want to chat for free, this is your chance.

I won’t be pulling charts, but I’m happy to answer your questions about timing and astrology, tutor you in a confusing area, talk to you about a transit you’re in, or anything else.

For all the details take a look at my new office hours page.

Talk to you soon!

Image by Q. Thomas Bower (cc)

When I originally started this blog last year, it was largely as a brain dump for the stuff I was thinking about during my last Pluto transit (the kinder, gentler version). I’ve put a fair amount here, but what I’ve been really surprised by has been how many friends I’ve made since I started doing this.

Excitement!

A few of you have been hanging out on Twitter and Facebook and over here more, which has been a lot of fun for me. So I’ve added a big-kahuna-commenter area on the side here (and some little stars in the comment area)- go check out their sites and say hi!

I really dig the conversations that start here, and the weird tangents too, so I welcome you to free-associate your heart out– you don’t have to speak a word of astro-babble. I am excited to hear from you.

A note about profiles: if you’re getting a little grey guy in the picture area, stop by Gravatar.com and add your photo. After that, the picture you choose will show up here.

Lots of love to everyone who drops by with something to say, and lots of love to you guys who come by to read quietly, too!

And a question…

What do you guys want to see more of around here? I know not all of you are astrologers… what do you find really helpful, if you aren’t? What tools do you need? How can I make the things I write easier for you to use? Talk to me.

Photo by Eric Jusino (cc)

Tomorrow night Australian astrologer Michele Finey will be giving a talk on oriental and occidental planets at the Washington State Astrological Association’s monthly meeting. If you live in Puget Sound, come see us– it’s only $7 for first-timers, and I’ll be sitting at a table where I may give you a goofy Hi my name is sticker if you really want one

If you live further afield, don’t fret! WSAA is recording all lectures and workshops so there will be downloadable mp3s available later. This year’s lineup is pretty impressive so I’ll let you know when the recordings become available.

Photo by striatic (cc)

A few things are happening in the next few days, so here’s the skinny. If you want the luxurious, full-fat version skip off to the sidebar on the right and sign up for the newsletter, because I’ll be sending it out in an hour or so.

New moon in Libra

This new moon is big, kids. We have four planets in Libra right now (sun, moon, Mercury, and Saturn) so it’s all about the Libra right now. Today has the potential to be emotionally heavy as we are being pushed to reevaluate our relationships with everyone in our lives, along with how we relate to ourselves. If it’s a melancholy day for you, take heart- it will pass soon. But give everyone around you a break, because they may not be feeling much better.

Remember that new moons are great for wishing! Write a few down, put them under your mattress or in a book, forget about them for a few weeks, and then be surprised. No, seriously. Try it.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio

Venus goes retrograde about every eighteen months, and our next round begins tomorrow just after midnight (Pacific time). For the next six weeks you will be prompted to examine what’s going on inside you, and what the hell it is you want, exactly. From your friends, family, work, home, life in general, and from yourself. And Scorpio will want you to dig in the dirt. Don’t put this one off, or it will get ugly. Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

New material coming down the pipe

I’m working on a few new practical downloads for you guys- instant gratification is good, right? Keep your eyes peeled for more material on these things over the coming months:

• How to read your birth chart
• Prenatal eclipses, and what they’re actually good for
• Scheduling with moon phases
• The Pluto transit survival guide

There’s some other stuff on my desk too, but these are the most exciting to me right now. And if there’s something you’re dying to know more about and can’t find anywhere, email me and I’ll drum up some info for you.

NPR donations

Last but not least… for some reason, whenever it’s pledge drive season I get a bunch of googlers stopping by here looking for NPR phone numbers. So:

If you’re trying to donate to NPR, go here:
http://www.npr.org/stations/donate/

If you live in Seattle and are looking for KUOW, go here:
https://www.kuow.org/pledge/

If you live in Seattle and are looking for KPLU, go here:
http://secure.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/pledge.pledgemain?action=pledge&pg=pledgeForm

Yeah, that is an ugly link. But KPLU gets a pass because they have the hilarious Alec Baldwin ads, which you should listen to because they’re funny as hell. Check them out- at least listen to the first one:

http://www.kplu.org/alec-baldwin

Photo by Elliott Brown (cc)

Today El Pisces and I are leaving on Secret Vacation—secret because he still has no earthly idea where we are going—so I will be a little bit out of touch for the next ten days. I really wish I could tell you where we’re going right now, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise for him. There will still be new posts here, and the bite-sized transits will be running like clockwork for you, so all will be well here on the blog in the meantime.

I’ve been planning this trip in a general sense (plane tickets but little else) since the spring, but only in the last few days have all the details come together. I’m really looking forward to this… I could be described as unreasonably excited right now. A few things I’m looking forward to:

• trees
• altitude
• El Pisces playing with meditation
• the little hillside cottage thingy we’re staying in
• getting my Shivanaut on
• reading together
• big crazy full moon on Wednesday night
• mind maps
• staying reeeeally close to lots of sacred and amazing places
• lots of yoga, perhaps?
• walking and hiking

I will be back refreshed and ready for a lot of new projects. Saturn has my number for the next couple years- transiting in some fashion my Saturn, descendant, sun, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Mars, lunar nodes, Mercury, IC, and my moon. It’s going to be a busy couple of years for me. Saturn and I are old acquaintances, so I don’t think it will be so much about struggle, but I have no doubt my nose will be to the grindstone for quite a while to come.

So in a way, this feels like the last gate, the last stop, before I head out into the wilderness for a while.

In different iterations of the Moon card, the focus stays the same: things coming from the depths, the wild and domesticated together, and a path leading through the last outposts to unknown lands beyond. Lately I almost feel like I’m living inside a waking version of this, and I’m about to reach the gates. It’s quite something.

So off we go on an adventure; I’ll be back before I know it, I think.

I’m adding a punchy new stream of real-time transit info for you on Twitter, RSS, and email, starting today. If this is your sort of thing:

Moon in Gemini is about to trine Saturn in Libra right this minute. Get a post-it and make massive, world-changing plans on it. Ready… go!

or this:

Moon is about to go void of course until 11:10pm PST. Stop trying to make things happen for a little while, and go have a glass of wine.

or this:

The moon is in Aries all day today; not much else is happening. Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead on your world domination plans.

then follow me on Twitter for time-sensitive updates. You won’t be bombarded with obscure transits and technical info… I’m focusing on just a few things:

• when the moon changes signs
• when the moon goes void of course (think miniature Mercury retrograde; recharge time)
• major planetary events
• shit you can do at each of these times

If you want the new micro-forecast but you don’t hang out on Twitter, you can subscribe to the bite-sized transit RSS feed instead. All of the useful info, and none of the chatter. Would you rather get it in your email? Subscribe to the bite-sized transit email update to send them straight to your inbox.

Here are the three ways you can get the new transit updates:

1. Follow @PotentSigns on Twitter
2. Subscribe to the bite-sized transit RSS feed
3. Get them delivered to your email inbox

Enjoy!

In the spirit of Mercury retrograde, I’ve been rethinking and reworking my news updates lately. I have a nifty and even more useful new format for you now.

My newsletter will now be coming out twice a month, at the new and full moons, to help you stay in sync with what’s going on upstairs. This is just often enough to get you timely information when you need it, without cluttering up your inbox.

I’m keeping the current moon phase and transit calendar, book updates, and transit guides. In addition, I will be writing more in-depth information about topics like:

• ways to cope with Mercury retrograde and other events
• practices for getting the most out of each moon phase
• forecasts of upcoming astrological events
• using astrology to smooth out your days

The new update is going out tomorrow, so if you aren’t already receiving it be sure to pop your name and email into the sidebar form right now!

Photo by Nina Matthews (cc)

Oops, I screwed up.

I learned that some of you were getting an “invalid-email” message when you were trying to download the Moon Cycles packet yesterday… if you use the form straight from your email or feed, the newsletter service thinks it’s a spambot trying to steal your address.

You’ll need to click through to the actual post to subscribe: free download goodness

You can also use the newsletter form on the right sidebar of my site.

Give it another go if it didn’t work for you before- I’m sorry about the confusion!

Good news, everyone- I’ve put together a sample of my upcoming ebook Building Momentum with Moon Cycles for you!

Why read this thing?

It’s a mini-guide to using the phases of the moon to time your activities. Stuff has been hard and ridiculous lately, no? Make your daily life simpler by doing your tasks and projects when you have natural support, instead of fighting the current and feeling like you’re not getting anywhere.

It’s a quick read, so you won’t be overwhelmed with another giant pile of new information to process. There is a short list of things you can do to start putting it into practice today. You don’t have to look up other information to use it. And you don’t have to know a single thing about astrology. So if this interests you, but you’re thinking “I’m not an astrologer, and I sure as hell don’t check a planetary calendar 6 times a day”, don’t sweat it. This is just the right tool for you.

How do I get it?

Subscribe to my monthly update, and you’ll get it right now.

If you’re already on the list, you got your copy last night. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I won’t even make you go all the way to the right side of the page- you can do it right here:

(If you’re reading this in your email or RSS and have any trouble, click through to the actual post to subscribe.)

You’ll get an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Just click the link in the email, and the goods are yours!

I won’t bombard you with messages, and I think spam sucks so no one will ever see your email but me. Once or twice a month you’ll get an update with some astrology news and a calendar of important dates to look out for. (Plus, I’ll be releasing a few free workbooks and mp3s just for my newsletter people soon, so you’ll want to sign up now so you don’t miss those.)

The main book is a work in progress right now so if you’re thinking man, I really hope she talks about xxxx in it, or this part didn’t say enough about yyyy, be sure to tell me what you think.

Enjoy!

Photo by Mike Baird (cc)

I will be available in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area from July 9-18 for in-person consultations. Of course, you can do a phone, Skype, or email session with me from anywhere in the world- my most recent clients have hailed from places like Seattle, Fairbanks, Kelowna, Honolulu, and Perth. Geography loves technology.

I’ve just added an online scheduler also! You can see at a glance when I have time available for consultations, change the time zone to match your own, and reserve a session immediately. Take a look… the time zone feature is especially neat.

Thanks, everyone, for your interest and your business. I’m truly honored to be able to help so many people in so many different places.

Photo by Adam Baker (cc)

A quick announcement:

I’ve been elected to the board of the Washington State Astrological Association for 2010-2011. My position was reconfigured to roughly equal technology/marketing wonk, so we’re planning to bring a lot of exciting new online ventures and digital media to the astrological community this year. Stay tuned for a new website rollout as well.

If you live in Washington—anywhere in Washington—you will be excited about this year’s list of speakers (we’re excited! but we can’t tell you who’s coming until everything is confirmed) and you’ll find WSAA much more responsive than in the past.

And if you live further afield, we’ll be providing audio downloads and other materials from each of our speakers, so you can listen our lectures and participate in discussions even if you’re not in Washington State (or the US, or the western hemisphere, for that matter).

The full board this year is:

Co-presidents (can you tell the Pluto in Libra generation has arrived?):

Kate Fluckinger

Stephanie Gailing

Treasurer:

Laura Nalbandian

Recording Secretary:

John Chinworth

Membership Secretary:

Shannon Garcia

We have a lot of great stuff in the works. People have begun to really talk about how our profession has gotten stale and needs some new leadership, and I think the Pacific Northwest has reached critical mass. Cascadia loves growth, and this is no exception! The excitement here over bringing the community together and starting new projects is almost palpable, among both local and national astrologers. And really, the speakers list this year is going to be great. We’re pulling out all the stops. More to come about this, later in the summer.

Photo by steve Jurvetson (cc)

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the slow posting this week- I’ve had some server issues and have decided to switch hosting.

I should have it all taken care of in the next day or so. I don’t anticipate any downtime for the site here, but I’ll let you know if I need to take it offline for an hour or two while the actual switch is made.