Hi folks, welcome to the Full Wesak Moon in Scorpio/Taurus. Click on READ MORE at the bottom of this post for more detail on Wesak, The Full Moon in intense Scorpio and the epochal changes we are living in right now.


Happy Full Moon! Happy Buddha's Birthday!


NOTE: There are some discrepancies in the day/time of the Full Moon in the click through articles (I'm blaming it on Mercury Retrograde:) The Full Moon officially occurs on April 28, 2010 at 8:18am EDT and 5:18am PDT. The reason I point this out is because the celebration of Wesak is time-sensitive. As mentioned below, the cosmic alignment of Wesak occurs during the eight minutes around the moment of the Wesak Full Moon. During the twelve hours surrounding this moment, your thoughts and prayers will have particular potency. In addition, Wesak's celestial dispensation continues for three days following the day of the Full Moon. The pinpoint moment of Wesak is a global celebration and communion of Love, Wisdom, Compassion and Enlightenment. Tune in!

Wesak (pronounced Wee-sock) is the celebration of Buddha's birth and Enlightenment - and in some traditions, also the time when he left Earthly incarnation. It is said that Wesak is celebrated at the Full Moon of Taurus in May (which is actually the Full Moon of Scorpio) when the Christ gathers the entire Spiritual Hierarchy together in meditation to invoke the forces of Shambhalla, the highest spiritual center.  
Mystics say that during the Wesak ceremony the Buddha returns to help regenerate the Earth and bring new light to the world. The esoteric philosophy states that the Buddha is the divine intermediary between Shamballa and the Hierarchy of the Ascended Masters. He is the expression of the Wisdom of God, the embodiment of light, and the indicator of divine purpose. Representing these forces, the Buddha appears and blesses humanity at Wesak.
 
The Esoteric Philosophy states that Buddha's illumination - and his embodiment of the Principle of Light - prepared humanity to recognize the Christ, who is the embodiment of the still greater Principle of Love. Wesak commemorates Buddha's enlightenment which is of great significance to human destiny. Buddha's own ascension has greatly illumined the way by which mankind can transcend duality and shift from a world of illusion into a new paradigm of oneness consciousness. - Children of the Sun
 
The brotherhood between Christ and Buddha is the axis of this powerful collective encounter in the Wesak Valley each year. The Wesak Festival is regarded as the supreme moment in the annual cycle, when the Buddha and the Christ come together in a sacred ritual. At the pivotal moment of the Full Moon in Taurus/Scorpio we have the opportunity to share in this high water-mark of spiritual blessing in the world. It is especially important now to appreciate the unity in our diversity, as groups of all faiths everywhere on the planet unite to invoke the Divine.
 
Each year at the time of Wesak, two great streams of energy - one focused through the Buddha and the other through the Christ - are fused and blended. In mutual service to humanity, the Buddha and the Christ bring about a linking that blends East and West, uniting the world's major religions in a shared holy day in which religious distinctions disappear.  
The ceremony of Wesak is held in the actual Wesak Valley - a mythic place at a rather high altitude in the foothills of the Himalayan-Tibet ranges. A vast crowd of pilgrim Humanity and Spiritual leaders/initiates assembles in the valley in front of a great rock table. Here, initiates led by the Christ arrange themselves into a great 5-pointed star (the Venusian/Taurean emblem of world soul) while the Buddha hovers over those gathered, radiating light.  (For the full Wesak legend click here: http://tinyurl.com/c56had)

On a personal level, the Scorpio Full Moon can be a turning point in personal enlightenment. There is great opportunity for personal initiations of the Soul. At this moment in time, the Buddha's energies assist all light bearers into greater levels of consciousness, enabling more and more beings to cross the personality threshold and enter into the life of the Soul.

The Full Moon in Libra (Sun in Aries) occurs tonight (March 29. 2010) at 10:25pm EDT. This Moon occurs at 10 degrees Libra/Aries, and is the Passover/Holy Thursday Full Moon. 
 
Passover always begins on the 15th day of Nisan, which is the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. (The Jewish calendar is a luni-solar or semi-lunar calendar. I.e. it is a lunar calendar that adjusts to the solar year.) Passover ends on the 21st of Nisan in Israel (and for Reform Jews) and on the 22nd of Nisan elsewhere.
 
This Full Moon is also an Easter Full Moon in the Western Christian faith. Easter is calculated as the first Sunday after the paschal full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. "The Western church does not use the actual, or astronomically correct date for the vernal equinox, but a fixed date (March 21). And by full moon it does not mean the astronomical full moon but the "ecclesiastical moon," which is based on tables created by the church."
 
Blood and sacrifice are contained within the Passover/Easter mythos. They are sometimes a part of being human; and blood has been spilled as we flail about in our evolutionary process. It reminds us of how fragile we are as humans, and of the senselessness of harming each other. 
 
This is not the end of the story, however. The whole idea behind Passover and Easter is renewal and resurrection. Every Good Friday is followed by an Easter Sunday. The three days in the underworld are simply part of the process. 

The Aries-Libra axis is about balancing self and other. Aries is ME and Libra is ME AND YOU.  In Aries, we fight for our cause with the ferocity of the mother bear. In Libra we wrestle with the great balancing act between OUR needs and the needs of our partner. Libra is not so much about Aries action, as it is about diplomacy and evenhandedness. Aries is the warrior and Libra is the peacemaker.
 
Libra shows us every duality that exists on this planet: self/other, masculine/feminine, war/peace, dark/light, good/evil, and on and on and on. You know the drill. Our job is to find the midpoint - that alchemical sweet spot between the two extremes - and stop the darn pendulum from swinging so wide and low. 
 
The answers don't seem easy or even accessible to us these days. One thing is certain, however: as mentioned above, compassion (going into the heart NOT the mind and its need to be right) is a big part of the answer. Another part is the ability to pull back and see the big picture, and to observe what is going on without getting sucked into one side or the other. But, above all, conscious awareness of our Oneness - our inter-connectedness - is essential in order to end the suffering created by unconscious duality.
 
Think about this on a personal level. If you are a liberal, how do you feel when the conservatives start hatin' on Obama? If you are a conservative, how do you feel when Obama passes legislation that goes against everything you hold dear with every fiber of your being? Do you instantly react with flaring anger and a desire to retaliate? I am playing with the idea of remaining NEUTRAL as much as possible. Think Switzerland.

Libra & The Weighing of the Heart

"The Ancient Egyptians believed that when you died, you travelled to the Hall of the Dead. There Anubis (the Egyptian version of Pluto) weighed your heart against the feather of Ma'at. Ma'at, the goddess of justice sits on top of the scales to make sure that the weighing is carried out properly. Anubis steadies the scales to make the weighing fair. If your heart was lighter than the feather, you lived forever. We still talk of "a heart as light as a feather" to mean care-free, and "heavy-hearted" to mean sad. Thoth, god of wisom and writing, stands by to record what happens." http://tinyurl.com/cb33nl
 
That sweet spot of resolution between the extremes is as soft as a feather - the sensitive and wise heart that doesn't condemn either side, but instead feels compassion for suffering humanity in both corners of the ring:
 
"Genuine compassion is based on the recognition that others have the right to happiness just like yourself, and therefore even your enemy is a human being with the same wish for happiness as you, and the same right to happiness as you. A sense of concern developed on this basis is what we call compassion; it extends to everyone, irrespective of whether the person's attitude toward you is hostile or friendly." - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
 
Ok, so it seems easier said than done. Under this full moon we might begin to see some options that perhaps we hadn't seen before.  
Oh and btw: the whole ostrich feather thing indicates that the midpoint/solution also involves taking our collective head out of the sand. *ahem*
 
Libra is the expert at finding a compromise. Libra is the compassionate peacemaking judge. Think of Solomon and the mothers arguing over the baby. Solomon knew that the answer was in the heart. Libras - lead the way.

Happy Spring!

The Vernal Equinox occurred today at 1:32pm EDT. This is the official New Beginning of any calendar year. And since Mars went DIRECT on March 11th - we really do have some OOMPH to push us forward. We will have another push on April 14th with the New Moon in Aries, which has a Spring Equinox effect.

The Full New Beginning will roll out on May 15th when Mars reaches the same degree  it was when it went Retrograde back on December 26th.  After May 15th, things will begin to move at warp speed as we enter a vortex of potentiality, allowing us to take on more light (en-light-enment)


The Taoists say that you can feel the turn of the season. As we were walking along the frozen canal in Beijing, one friend pointed out "Look, feel the wind. There is a softness to it. That is spring coming. - Waverly Fitzgerald


The Equinoxes are the seasonal time of balance and harmony when the days and nights are equal in length. During the Equinoxes, the Earth's auric or magnetic field is affected by the Sun's alignment with the Earth's equator. Twice each year, at the Equinoxes, the Sun rises and sets exactly over the equator, tracking exactly due East and due West, no matter where you are on the Planet.

The Equinox Solar Effect produces a reduction in the magnetic field of the Earth, providing easier access to other dimensions, beginning around 24 hours before and ending around 24 hours after, the exact Equinox point. Doorways or thresholds into the mysteries are more easily accessed during Equinoxes, especially when we consciously engage this Timing. Equinoxes are a powerful time for doing ceremonial activations at sacred sites or anywhere you happen to be.

Sacred sites such as Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest and the Mayan temple complex at Chichen Itza are examples of ancient sites that were built specifically to capture the light at the time of the Equinox. The ancients had clear knowing of the importance of this bi-annual PAUSE in the magnetic field of earth. A time to for we humans to pause ourselves. To listen for messages and/or send messages of our own through the opening. .....

CLICK HERE for the full article on the Spring Equinox, Mars turning Direct, and the New Moon in Aries coming up on April 14th.

Happy Valentines Day! Today is also The Chinese New Year, the beginning of The Year of the Metal Tiger. It is quite a powerful new beginning which adds its opinion to the building crescendo of 2010.


Each year, Chinese New Year begins on the second New Moon after Winter Solstice. And so, The 2010 Year of the Tiger begins on February 13, 2010 at 9:51 PM EST - The New Moon in Aquarius. Time to Roar, kids.


Click here for a look at the energies of this New Moon in Aquarius and the Year of the White Hot Metal Tigress: http://bit.ly/aHNrrV

Gung Hei Fat Choy! Congratulations and Be Prosperous!

THE FULL MOON IN LEO occurs at 11 degrees Leo/Aquarius at 1:18am EST on Saturday January 30, 2010. (Yah that's this Saturday - snuck up on us, didn't it?)


                           



Instead of a full newsletter to describe the The Full Moon in Leo, I feel like shorthanding it. Aquarius is The Lightning Bolt. So I think I'll bolt some info and then... bolt:)


SHORTHAND: FULL MOON

Aluna: World's First Tidal Powered Moon Clock. Info: http://bit.ly/6GCINm Watch in 3D: http://bit.ly/6gMrfA.  The Full Moon is our global tidal heartbeat. Our cultural recognition of this fact - expressed through our understanding of Time, our clocks and our calendars - will revolutionize (Aquarius) our reality.


SHORTHAND: IN LEO

Laughing Baby: http://bit.ly/3WjH7c - Leo: the Inner Child! Play! Laugh!


And now, a message from our sponsors: fun inspirational thoughts


INSPIRATION: FULL MOON

As the moon's silent light touches nature's places, let your eyes explore all the paths she traces. - @JoeMullally

Mama (Moon) takes us in her arms and rocks us like a baby. Whether you babble with delight or cry in despair, you cannot fall out of the nest of safety from which you were born. No matter how dangerous the world can seem, there are quiet places inside each of us where that stress does not exist. Spirit places breadcrumbs on the path to the place that connects each of us with the source of ourselves that is totally secure. - Allison Rae www.stariq.com

Late lies the wintry Sun a-bed, A frosty, fiery sleepy-head; Blinks but an hour or two; and then, A blood-red orange, sets again. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Rinpoche said: And I can see the moon. And I can see your heart. You and the moon are the same. And you can see the moon. And you can see my heart. The moon and I are the same. And one day you’ll remember What that really means. – h.koppdelaney via flickr, with accompanying photo, Bonsai Moon: http://bit.ly/dhK6ET

INSPIRATION: IN LEO

If you never did you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.~ Dr. Seuss

Permission not required: hang loose in your silly self. - via @naturalwtloss


We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. (Japanese Proverb)

It takes a child to raise a village. - @ChrisCade

'Nuff said. Enjoy your playful party-full illuminating moon dance.


Cheers
Carol

The Full Moon in Gemini occured today. (In the Eastern time zone at 2:30am EST, and yesterday in the Pacific time zone at 11:30pm PST) In astrology Gemini is the 'home' for the planet Mercury.


What's it all about? Thinking, communicating, chatting, gathering bits of information - that's the general Gemini/Mercury vibe. This is why the Mercury Retrograde cycle (which occurs about 3 times per year) is accused of messing up computers, text messages, phone messages, travel plans, and anything else having to do with the bits and pieces of information we swim in everyday in this Information Age.


Well, Mercury/Gemini are offering many treats tricks this week and next: the Shadow period of Mercury Retrograde is upon us once again. What is the Shadow period? It is a kind of 'foreshadowing' or 'landing preparation' for Mercury Retrograde itself. During Shadow period, Mercury begins to slow down for it's 'standstill' and it's a good time for us to prepare and tie up loose ends before the cycle officially begins. Sort of like a heads-up.



The current Shadow period begins on Wednesday December 9th. Then Mercury Retrograde begins on December 26th (and lasts until January 15th, 2010, which just so happens to be an Annular Solar Eclipse. It's not a Total Eclipse, but still).



Yes, another Mercury Retrograde is upon us once again. The last cycle was in September and covered the entire month. That was, what, about 5 mintues ago? Yes, I can hear you groaning and getting ready to throw tomatoes at me.



Listen: Don't kill the messenger! I'm just sayin'. *grin*



Yesterday was an odd day around here. Not only the influence of the Full Moon in tricky Gemini, but also the planet Uranus - chaos, sudden change, weirdness in general - went Direct (appeared to stop in the sky and will now 'turn around' to move forward). Caught up in the details of my life, I was unaware of this astrological situation. Soon it came to my attention: first thing in the morning, someone rammed their car into a telephone pole down the street and the power went out. One-half hour later, my cable-modem internet went out (unrelated to the power outage, custormer service told me). They were both down all day. Well, to distract myself I went shopping in a totally different part of town. Guess what? Someone had rammed their car into a transformer, and the credit/debit system was down for the day.



Just seemed strange to me. Think strange, think Uranus/Aquarius (Uranus is at home in the sign of Aquarius). Ah! Uranus Direct! I get it!



Anyway, this month is interesting in several ways, not just the tricky-chaos Grand Entrance.

We have two Full Moons this month. The second one - that wonderful Blue Moon we sing about - falls on New Years Eve and is a minor (very minor) Lunar Eclipse. (But still.)



And the Solstice is very powerful this year. On the day of the Solstice (December 21) We ave another hit of The Aquarian Conjunction (Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron) which began on May 27, 2009 and is a major signature in the zeitgeist of our times.

In addition, on the day before the Solstice, we have another major celestial happening: Mars goes Retrograde. This cycle only occurs about every 2.5 years and is very significant. It's a time to re-evaluate how we are using our energy in the world; and from a business/career perspective we start a 10-week strategic planning period.

I.e between December 20, 2009 and March 10, 2010 we need to re-visit what we have accomplished in the past 2.5 years and come up with a new better plan for the next 2.5 years. Since so many of us are going through career changes these days, the timing couldn't be better.



More on Mars Retrograde to come in upcoming newsletters.

Critics of the G20 afirm that the group is not entitled to make decisions that affect the whole world  because its member states are selected arbitrarily. They state that the G20 is an undemocratic instititution because it does not have a charter and its debates are not public. (wiki re G20)

You better sit down … Anarchists are descending upon our city.

Yes, I live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and - in case you haven’t heard - the G-20 Global Economic Summit convenes here on Thursday-Friday September 24 and 25, 2009. https://www.pittsburghg20.org/

Rumors are swirling as to just what the protestors might do while the G20 is in the 'burgh. They are said to be targeting Starbucks, Trader Joes, and PNC Bank. The prison is moving prisoners to make room for mass arrests. The Blood Bank is stocking up to pump into the hospitals. G20 Pittsburgh Resistance website: http://resistg20.org/ 

Additonal protest pics of the London G20 Summit in April 2009 can be found here: http://bit.ly/hITxL and here http://bit.ly/1XtpUs

Here's the website of a  local Pittsburgh group protesting the G20: http://bit.ly/I3yyw They host an annual Anarchists Ball. This really intrigues me. What kind of glass slipper is involved in that? I have to admit, the anarchist in me is both excited and terrified to have this battle only 5 minutes from where I live.

Welcome Saturnian Government officials! Welcome Uranian/Aquarian revolutionary anarchists!

Yes, Pittsburgh seems to be a kind of Ground Zero for the Saturn-Uranus opposition, in the form of the G20.

Times They Are a-Strangin’

P.S. when the G20 location was announced by the Obama administration back in May, the White House Press Corp snickered loudly enough to be heard on the video. Well, actually, they LoL'd. Apparently Pittsburgh is still the Rodney Dangerfield of cities. 


Ok, if you think so. Meantime, check out our robotics (most advanced in the world) at CMU and also the most cutting-edge transplant surgery in the world at UPMC Medical Center.  We aren’t steel mills anymore. That is SO 1950.

At any rate, let’s have a look at the G20 and - in future posts - how the Saturn-Uranus opposition relates astrologically.

What is and Who are the G20?

What is the G20? Here’s the wiki info: http://bit.ly/eMRBT. The official G20 website is http://www.g20.org/

Who are the G20 Leaders?

Argentina: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Australia: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Brazil: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Canada: Prime Minister Stephen Harper
China: President Hu Jintao
France: President Nicolas Sarkozy
Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel
India: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Indonesia: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Italy: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Japan: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Mexico: President Felipe Calderón
Russia: President Dmitry Medvedev
Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah
South Africa: President Jacob Zuma
South Korea: President Lee Myung-bak
Turkey: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
United Kingdom: Prime Minister Gordon Brown
United States: President Barack Obama

The 20th member of the G20 is the European Union, which is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank.

In addition to these 20 members, the following forums and institutions, as represented by their respective chief executive officers, participate in meetings of the G-20:

International Monetary Fund
World Bank
International Monetary and Financial Committee
Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank

Which Countries are Excluded?

Excluded from the G-20 are Taiwan, Switzerland, Norway, Iran and Venezuela, even though they rank higher than some members. Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Greece and Denmark are included only as part of the EU, and not independently.

NOTE: If you are so inclined, “send energy” to these leaders and organizations, as well as the protestors. Or, do as I am doing: simply pray for harmony, peace, order and the freedom of speech for 6 billion, not just 20.

See my Tweets on the G20, astronology, and other interesting and/or entertaining stuff at  http://twitter.com/carolann3888 (follow me: @carolann3888)

Who'd have thought baby Teddy would be the most influential Kennedy? - Newsweek

This being my second blog post about Ted Kennedy, I have to say that – despite appearances - I am not necessarily a Kennedy cheerleader by any means (Kennedy, as in family). Growing up in a Catholic family, the Kennedy's were seen as saints (picture of the Pope on the wall, joined by a picture of JFK).  And, in a weird twist of fate, my brother was born on the day that JFK was assassinated -  November 22, 1963.

But as I came of age, I began to see the dark side of this famous family ("America's Royal Family" as some have dubbed them). Chappaquiddick, Papa Joes' nefarious schemes to make sure he got a son in the White House, and oh my they made their money from bootlegging! The underbelly: not so glamorous.

And I think that's why Ted Kennedy is such a compelling figure for me. With both of his brothers assassinated - and he himself draped in scandal that spurred a defunct presidential run - he was left behind. And he did good deeds, based on his own convictions, to serve and help others.

Astrologically (you didn't think I'd leave that out did you?) Ted had a Capricorn Ascendant AND he had Saturn in CAPRICORN at 29 degrees. This makes his Capricorn energy especially heavy, and only more so because that Saturn is at 29 degrees - we astrologers call this a ‘critical degree’. It is said that those with a planet at 29 degrees must complete something in this lifetime that cannot be avoided. It’s a karmic burden, one might say.

And Ted Kennedy lived up to all that burdensome Capricorn energy (Saturn/Capricorn can definitely be oppressive). He did, after all, become the Capricorn pillar of society after a lifetime of hard work and service. His brothers flashed across the sky and dazzled us with their brilliance - THEY were the royalty. They made their contributions just by showing up.

But Teddy - Teddy got out the shovel and got to work. He earned his place in the institution of government. He became an esteemed statesman - that most obvious of Capricorn icons. At his death, he was the Kennedy with the staying power.

Many of us felt in our guts that one of the things that drove Ted Kennedy in his efforts to help others was a need for atonement for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick. We know for certain that this is true now because Ted's memoir was released shortly after his death (he died of brain cancer on August 25, 2009). In that memoir, Ted writes that he felt deep remorse for his "inexcusable behavior" on that fateful night in 1969, and that he sought atonement during the rest of his life.

And so we have a story of The Quest for Redemption - a story to which we all can relate. And the following excerpt from a  blog-post by RJ Eskow, further illuminates a possible deeper meaning of Ted Kennedy’s life:

<< Ted Kennedy was a Catholic not a Buddhist, but the remainder of his life reads like a Bodhisattvic exercise. (In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a"bodhisattva" is an enlightened being who refuses Nirvana and stays in this world to help others.)

His brothers flashed across the national stage like shooting stars, brief and brilliant. Teddy's was a slower fire, like the hearth around which a family could gather. He was the one who stayed behind to do the hard work. The dilettante younger brother, the drinker and partier from whom little was expected and less was delivered, the guy who cheated on his exams at Harvard because he couldn't be bothered to study ...

[Yet] he was the brother who spent five decades poring tirelessly over endless pages of legislation and policy briefings. He stayed behind to take care of everyone's children, to fight for the powerless, to do what needed to be done on a daily basis.

His personal struggles were well-known. He "struggled with his demons," people said, using a phrase that might have come straight from Tibetan symbolism. He was forced to expose his human weaknesses in a public way, a way that his brothers did not. I remember seeing him on Boston Common once during those dark days. It was a shocking sight, the once-beautiful scion reduced to an ashen specter. His skin seemed to be the same shade as his gray hair and suit, its surface the puffy texture of warts.

I don't know what tools he used to escape those demons, but people say he found meaning, purpose, and happiness in the hard work of the Senate. He accepted his fate - as a Kennedy, as the Kennedy who survived, as a hard-working solon - with what appeared to be joy and grace. He grew into the shape laid down for him by time and events. The gray lifted. With the brush of years he colored in the silhouette that inspired [so many on both sides of the aisle].

He kept the vow. He stayed behind. He relished the prosaic tasks of human existence. Chop wood, carry water - pass legislation.>>

His story is our story -  especially now, at the beginning of the 21st century, a  time of great change at the crease between ages. Whether you call this time the transition from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius, or from the Industrial Age into the Technological Age, I think we all can agree that this is a time of rapid change from one form to another.

We are all staying behind during these uncertain times, and doing the daily chores it takes to achieve at-One-ment and to forge real change in the world.

 Last summer - in the heated election campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain - Ted Kennedy gave one of his most memorable speeches at the Democratic Convention in Denver on August 25, 2008 .

He died one year to the day, on August 25, 2009. 

Click here for the video of the speech.

Remember when Obama's grandmother (the woman who raised him) died the night before the election in November 2008? I remember thinking: Obama's going to win now, because she is on the other side pulling for him. (Click here for my newsletter from that time.)    

I am hoping that Ted Kennedy 'on the other side' - and the goodwill that his death has generated here - will do the same for the healthcare reform we are struggling to birth now in America.    

Ted himself said that healthcare was "the cause of his life." Will he will help now - in some magical supernatural way - that he couldn't before? Will his passing dampen the furious anger at town halls and calm down the nearly violent and hysterical debate?    

I hope his passing (in his own words at the August 2008 speech) will "break the old gridlock, and guarantee that every American - north, south, east, west, young, old - will have decent, quality healthcare as a fundamental right and not a priviledge."    

OR have we lost an essential ingredient in finding common ground? Saturn (conservatism) is opposite Uranus (liberalism) in the sky right now, at the time of his death. These two planets are in fact approaching their third exact face-off on September 15th.    

Kennedy somehow was both - Saturn (the esteemed statesman) and Uranus (the lightning rod for change, pushing humanity forward toward greater freedom and equality for the people). And he was also well-known for working successfully with both sides of the polarity.    

Is he the last bridge of reason (and effectiveness) between those two extremes?    

Time will tell.

As an interesting aside, check out this blog post - from a political (i.e. definitely not astrological) website - which I have excerpted below:    

September 15th: D-Day for Healthcare

 http://tinyurl.com/ng7m4b

Ignore all the posturing and pushing and posing of this hot August recess. If you're interested in health-care reform, get out your red pen and circle this date: September 15. That's likely to be the crucial day in determining the course of the battle.    

 It's been an auspicious day in years past. On September 15, 1812, Napoleon marched on Moscow. On September 15, 1835, Charles Darwin landed at the Galapagos Islands. On September 15, 1959, Khrushchev arrived in America, and on that day two years later Hurricane Carla arrived on the Texas Gulf Coast.    

And just last year, September 15, 2008, Barack Obama and John McCain were essentially tied in the Gallup Poll (47 to 45 in favor of Obama), Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and McCain said, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong." That one day changed the course of the rest of the presidential campaign.    

It may be that September 15, 2009, shapes the course of the rest of the health-care fight as well. Because that is the deadline Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) has set for his Finance Committee to come to an agreement on a bipartisan health-overhaul bill.    

Perhaps instead the bipartisan effort will yield nothing-or reforms so tepid as to be nearly useless. In that case Democrats will be forced to go it alone, possibly using the budget reconciliation process, with its lower, 50-vote hurdle, to pass large portions of reform, and then fighting a GOP filibuster on the parts that can't be dealt with in reconciliation.    

Either way, we will know on September 15.

~ ~ ~

Hmmmm September 15th - what IS going on in the sky that day?? hmmmm (scratches head) ... OH YAH! NOW I remember! Saturn opposite Uranus! The same combination that occurred on Election Day November 4, 2008! hmmmm ... INTERESTING!