Gemini North Node

Gemini North Node, South Node Sagittarius

Gemini North Node, South Node Sagittarius


“Thou shall not tell too much Truth” was once said to a friend of mine with this Nodal combination. She was told this as a child and then it reappeared later in her life as a repeating dilemma. When she told her Truth, and lived her life by her Truth, she often got “slammed by the Universe”. What was wrong?


After some discussion, she was the one who retrieved the answer. In telling her story, her opinion, her “Truth” in the Sagittarian South Node manner, she spoke it reactively, without reflection, and the abruptness of it often hurt people. Sagittarius suffers at times from “foot in mouth” disease, but more seriously, she realized that by adding more tactfulness as well as by being more objective and “contained,” she could still live and speak her Truth, but in a way that didn’t injure herself or others. She realized that this reflection and containment allowed her to see how life was much more differentiated into many shades of gray, rather than the black and white of her first reactive perception.


This Nodal axis takes the raw experiences of life and puts them into a crucible that produces either wisdom or bitterness. By the reflective “cooking” of these Nodes, the raw anger and bitter injustices of life can be distilled, and transmuted into a compassionate wisdom.


Gemini needs new experiences. A good idea for North Node Gemini is in the motto: "Let's do something different!" Your Soul longs for new experiences and different perspectives, and you may not even know it. You may think you've seen and done it all before....but now it's time to do it differently. Earlier in this life, or in a former life, you earnestly pursued Truth and developed a powerful self-convincing story of how Reality is. However it wasn't the whole Truth; you got the view from the mountaintop perhaps, but not from the valley or the marketplace. You may have been a cloistered monk, nun, or an opinionated scholar in a former life, but it was lonely, and now it’s time to ride into the market-place and take a fresh look at things.


Indulging your curiosities and breaking up your routines are good things for you now. Go to the bookstore, the cafe, get on the internet, and find new stories to tell. In this life you are challenged to be non-judgmental, to widen your perspectives, and to really listen to another person's truth in order to cultivate empathy and open-minded thinking. Your perceptual bias is changing, so that you can see things from many different angles—not an easy thing to do! Your reality may feel shattered at times, and you may wonder where your self-confidence has gone. Certain aspects of your life need to de-construct so it can be re-constructed in a new way. . By allowing yourself to follow your dreams and gently releasing old concepts of how it all is, you begin to break new ground. Life is breaking you open to enlarge your heart and widen your perspective; for you are being trained to be the compassionate communicator. You can be the one with new stories to tell that are grounded in personal experience. You're not just the book-smart armchair philosopher any more--you've walked your talk.


It will continue to be important for you to find ways to slow down, and simply connect with others in a way in which you each share the paradoxes and mysteries of life as well as your own "truths." That truth you came into this life with is in the process of getting much bigger. And as you do this, you'll find that writing, teaching, selling, counseling, and communicating in all forms can bring you great success. With your South Node in philosophic Sagittarius you've got some spiritual gold in your past, and now the trick is to take your old wisdom and new found “Gemini street smarts” and unite them. The world needs to hear what you have to say, that is, as long as you're following a path with heart. Keep checking in with yourself that your objectivity hasn't run away with your Soul. In your desire to embrace change, be gentle towards those who lead more mundane lives and don't be too quick to judge. You have so much to give!


Soul Purpose: It’s important for you to immerse yourself in the fullness and chaos of life; indulging your curiosities, being a communicator, and daring to risk your security for a life of adventure, both inner and outer. In telling your Truth and your stories skillfully, with objectivity and reflection, you awaken others to great insight. Communication is a key, but communication is not limited to words alone; it is inherent in the arts, healing practices, and in the “act of loving” in relationships.

Shadow: Your default pattern of letting your enthusiasm override your empathic listening, combined with a philosophic “know it all” attitude, could blind you to life’s complexities and wonders. If you are addicted to certainty, you will deny truths or experiences that run counter to your expectations and belief. Allow room for dialog and relationships that challenge you to expand your concepts of “how it all is.”

***

Maya Angelou, much loved American sage, writer, artist and civil rights activist has a Gemini North Node in the 10th house of career and public life. She has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer". Angelou is known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. She has been telling her story! Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie (1971) was nominated for the Pulitizer Prize. As testimony to her success, Angelou recited her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration.
Emerging from a violent and emotionally impoverished childhood, her South Node in Sagittarius in the 4th house expressed itself through harsh experiences of poverty and abuse, yet she was able to skillfully find a way to speak her truth with reflection and empathy through her writing and lecturing.



“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” represents Angelou's experience of racism and other forms of potential imprisonment: by drugs, marriage, or the economic system. This metaphor of the bird in the cage invokes the "supposed contradiction of the bird singing in the midst of its struggle". Maya communicates constantly (Gemini) the necessity for people to arise above conflict and despair, and to embrace life with renewed (Sagittarian) enthusiasm despite the circumstances.


Maya has used her Gemini survival skills and street smarts to rise above a childhood that could have imprisoned her—and as she says in one of her autobiographies: “Women who survive must be at once both tender and tough.” This combination of tender empathy, reflective thinking, and an intense desire to communicate expresses the essence of this Nodal axis.


Maya’s most common speaking engagements occur on college campuses, "where seating is sold out long before the actual event." When Angelou speaks, she sits on a stool and entertains the audience for approximately one hour, reciting poems by memory and following a flexible outline. Entertaining people, whether through poetry, music or acting, is a form of communication that reaches across boundaries and prejudice. Maya has been a public charismatic figure for most of her life, and is one of the world’s great wise women.
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All Nodal placements fall in a particular "house" or area of your chart. To understand your Nodes fully, you need to understand the house placement where your energy is best spent. Aspects, and sign rulerships, also effect the individual chart. To find out about readings oriented towards life direction and soul purpose, contact: http://www.elizabethspring.com/

Taurus North Node

Taurus North Node~

Scorpio South Node

With your North Node in Taurus, your Soul craves peace and serenity in this life--as well as good music, a loyal lover, and picnics on the beach with good food and wine! Doesn't everybody? Yes, but not like you---you need these things to remind your Soul that life can be good and safe and beautiful.

Having suffered too much drama and trauma either earlier in this life, or in a previous one, you're suffering now from a slight despair of spirit—one could even say that this Nodal combination has a “forgotten emotional memory” of life at its most tragic. The cure for this soul sickness is to nurture your self with the things that make life worth living. Cultivating loyal friends, enjoying nature and the physical world, and creating a beautiful home that feels like a safe harbor are all good things for you to do.

By choosing to find the "sacred in the commonplace" you re-awaken your Soul to the Divine in all things. You're not being a materialist when you truly enjoy the beauty of a hand-made wooden spoon or pottery bowl, or take time away from your work and ambitions to watch the sun set with an old friend. By seeing into the true nature of things, you get a sense of what many of the mystics have seen--that God is here and now, and found in the ordinary/extraordinary things of this life.

What do you truly value? What do you stand for in life? Something in you needs to know yourself deeper and to prove yourself worthy. The old path or habits that need to be left behind involve too much immersion in other people's dramas...a helping hand is fine, but don't get embroiled in dramas that aren't yours. Power and control issues as well as your ability to manipulate situations need to be let go of. You've done too much of that in the past. The focus now needs to be on you, and finding what you value and what nurtures you.

This life is about finding that mystical sense of belonging to a Universe that is benevolent. No easy task! It's a profound spiritual calling to find spirit in matter, and to find yourself in "right relationship" with others.

On the Taurus-Scorpio path it’s important to ground yourself with a workable level of financial and emotional stability. If you can do that you're ready to retrieve the gold in the shadow--your Scorpio South Node. There's hidden wisdom and power there, for in your Scorpio past you deeply understood other people and had a keen intuitive-psychic nature. You might have been the detective, the shaman, the priest, or the power behind the throne---the one who could hone in on the emotional bottom line. Now if you can bring your new level of security and grounded faith in the goodness of life into your relationships with others and into your work, you can nourish others with your profound wisdom.

Soul Purpose: serenity and stability, regaining a sense of the sacred in the ordinary, a sense of having earned and gained by one’s own efforts, honoring good traditions and preserving what is valuable for future generations.

Shadow: Looking to another for definition, self-confidence, or too much support. Taking things that aren’t yours. Collapsing into a felt sense of emotional pain from previous lives, and adapting an overly serious, gloomy attitude. Going to quickly into studying the occult and transpersonal realities, and thereby taking a spiritual bypass on your emotional life.

***Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, poet, novelist, and great wit had his North Node in Taurus in the ninth house. A man who celebrated his homosexuality in Victorian England, he paid the price of his passion and suffered a dramatic downfall—he was imprisoned for it and died at the age of forty-six. Wilde certainly shows the polarity of the Nodes in his life and art, and although the Venus ruled Taurus North Node would seek serenity, he profited in the world through using his dramatic Scorpio nature. The nodes, on the 3rd/9th house axis, relate to communication in all its forms, and his North Node in the Ninth house reflected his enthusiasm, his liberal open-mindedness, plus his enjoyment of startling people and breaking up the normality of life—all Jupiter/Sagittarius/9th house qualities. Wilde was also known for his humor and philosophic spirit—again, a 9th house trait. Although one might hope for a better balance with this polarity, and therefore a longer life for Wilde, he nevertheless might not have achieved his greatness without his life of extremes.

Installing Love

Installing Love

Tech Support: Yes, ... how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Te ch Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hu rt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades. Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: No w, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God. ;

Circling aound the Ancient Tower...

Thanks MM, from "Wanting to Be Here" for this beautiful photograph she took in Bath, England. Reminds me of this poem by Rilke:

“I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
But that will be my attempt.
I am circling around God,

around the ancient tower,
And I have been circling for a thousand years,
And I still don’t know if I am a falcon,

or a storm, or a great song.”

~elizabeth

On Leaving Comments . . .

If you are interested in leaving a comment on an article here, this is the way to go about it. At the bottom of each post, click on “comment”. This will take you to another page with a small window for leaving your comment. After you have written your comment, you will be asked to enter a series of letters in the word verification window. Please do so. Then you will find three options for signing in. The first is for people who have a Blogger/Goggle identity, the second option allows you to use a nickname, and the final option is for anonymous commenting. Choose one. Then you have the option of publishing your comment or previewing it. If you choose to preview it, you may have to re-enter word verification again.

If you are a bit obsessive as I am about spelling, you can easily check your spelling with the spell check option on the top toolbar – if you use a Goggle toolbar. :-)

We both are very interested in what you, our readers, have to say and encourage you to leave your comments and questions. Welcome to the wonderful world of Blogging . . .

North Node; Soul Messenger

The North Node: Your Soul Messenger



“The North Node is the single most important point in the chart...it describes what your Soul wants to learn and experience in this life. It is a Soul Messenger.”

Have you ever wondered what life-lessons and experiences your Soul wants to have in this life? Do you know what you truly yearn for? Unique insights into these questions are found by using the ancient astrological technique of examining the North and South Nodes of your natal astrological chart. Soul purpose and life direction questions are profoundly significant, and the Nodes in your chart address those questions from the perspective of your Soul---instead of your rational mind and ego.

The re-incarnational theory behind this is simply that your Soul chose to be born at a certain time and place so that it would carry over the gifts and challenges from previous lives, and that your chart reflects the original Soul intention on coming into this world. The great psychologist, Carl Jung, believed that the time of birth was not a coincidence but was a mysterious synchronicity that reveals a great deal. He used astrology in his practice with his clients, and found that it simply worked. So what may seem unimportant to you--your birthday, time, and place is actually a profound tool; an ‘oracle.’ And what may look like a mystery to you, is not a mystery to the astrologer who can read the meaning contained in the chart.

Let’s see how this works. There are three pivotal key-points in solving the mystery: the Sun, the North Node, and the South Node. . When an astrologer looks at your chart, these points–these clues--are described in some detail by their sign, house and aspect positions. But we don’t need to get complicated–let’s look at it briefly–

Your Sun sign, reads like a personality description presenting all the positive and negative ways you can “play out” your Sun sign. For example, as a Gemini Sun, you can play out the flirty, fickle, uncommitted aspects of the sign or you can use your great breath of knowledge to live a very full life in which you make wise and helpful decisions. You are the communicator of the zodiac. From the Soul’s perspective you chose to be born a Gemini in order to play out the highest octave of the sign. That’s the first clue to the mystery: look to the highest possible use and talents in your Sun sign. Almost any astrology book can help you with this.

The second clue is the North Node. Many astrologers today believe it is the single most important point in the chart. It is unique to each person and describes what your Soul wants to learn and experience in this life. It is a Soul Messenger, describing the evolutionary needs of your Soul. When we act out the qualities of this Node we heal and nurture ourselves. It tells us in what area of life we need to bring emphasis, and some of the ways to do it. The North Node has a sign, a house position, and aspects, and is an excellent suggestion---similar to the idea of a personal guiding North Star.

By contrast, the South Node describes the qualities brought over from our previous life, and describes how we lived when we were young. Our deeply habitual ways of being and thinking are shown here, and as we mature we tend to act out the qualities of our South Node less. It shows both the unhelpful and negative qualities that our Soul wishes to move away from, as well as containing what Carl Jung talked about as the “gold in the shadow”. This gold is the unconscious unrecognized talents and abilities that we bring over from a former life or that are simply latent or repressed qualities. It is wise to uncover and use the gold in the South Node, while leaving the negative old patterns behind, and to move in the direction of the North Node.

Most astrologers would agree that the South Node reflects karmic qualities of our previous life, describing the unfinished business and things that we didn't 'get quite right.' Although there are gifts and talents shown there, it is the North Node that points to the qualities our Soul wants to use and acquire in this life. So when you have a chart reading, take a long look at what your North Node tells you, even if it feels a little unfamiliar and challenging. It offers a potent suggestion.

So how does this all work together in a chart? Let’s look at my chart as an example. My Sun is in Libra, North Node in Taurus in the 2nd house, and South Node in Scorpio in the 8th house. “Houses” are the areas of life where things get acted out, and the Nodes are each in different houses. In many ways I acted out my South Node till my Saturn Return at age 28. I have tended to learn things the hard way, to be ungrounded and to go to excesses when I was young. It has taken me a long time to live into my true profession as an astrologer. I married late, and after 20 years of marriage was divorced for five years, and then I remarried my first husband. We've been married now since 2001, and continue to do the wonderful/horrible work that soul mates do with each other---we help each other grow. His independence and my desire 'to merge' are not comfortable together, yet I can see how he naturally pushes me to live out the independence and grounded values of my Taurus North Node. I encourage and stimulate the curiosity and expansiveness of his North Node in Gemini. There's grace and grit here; a true marriage.

My South Node in Scorpio suggests that my Soul purpose is, in part, to move away from hurtful melodramas and to ground myself in my own talents and resources. It speaks of the desire for serenity and to move away from the dramatic reactivity and the excesses of my earlier years and former life. I’ve needed to take on the qualities of loyalty and persistence of the Taurus North Node and to find the sacred in the commonplace, which is a beautiful quality of that sign. The “gold” in my Scorpio shadow-South Node is my intuitive ability and emotional intensity.

One could speculate that with my South Node in Scorpio (conjuncting Jupiter, the planet of expansion and privilege) I may have been the 'power behind the throne' to someone of importance, and was used to enjoying the largesse of another person and a more dramatic life. That is not the case in this life–I need to use my own resources and power based on that grounded Taurus in the 2nd house of personal values and resources. The Universe gives me strong hints whenever I move into territory that is not my own to claim anymore.

My Sun sign in Libra wants serenity, harmony and beauty. Yet it thinks in terms of opposing ideas, and about the paradoxical nature of life. I can get easily stressed, yet look poised. The North Node points to the necessity of creating calmness and living off my own values and resources. It's also significant that I have no earth signs in my chart—except the North Node in Taurus, and yet I was unconsciously drawn to compensate for that (the pull of the North Node) as I make pottery as well as do astrology. For many years I lived in a stone house, and married an earth sign, Virgo. Jungian psychologists would call this the unconscious compensation of my inferior function; the sensate.

An astrologer sees a chart like my mine and says this is an air and fire sign personality, whereas a Jungian therapist would say I was an intuitive-thinking type. This is labeling, and just the beginning of a deeper discussion, but it’s still useful.

The movement towards the North Node is a continuous process, not just one decision you make. For me, I needed to get lost, and found, many times--- I divorced and remarried the same man. I write and do astrological counseling, which is my true vocation, but I have ‘followed several gods home’. I continually need to recommit to ever deeper levels of grounding and persistence in my work and life. Serenity and home life is very important. I know I survived a difficult family karmic inheritance, yet I strive to act out the highest octave of the Libra Sun which pulls me towards tactfulness and deep thinking. And that South Node in Scorpio still tries to seduce me in every way you can imagine.

So, I come back to the chart and to the astrological work again and again as a spiritual practice. It helps me remember my commitment to the work of being a healer; an intuitive astrologer who is grounded and practical. Astrology reflects the internal dialog between the different parts of oneself, but at least now I know who to listen to and why. I am grateful to have this divinatory tool that helps make conscious what is unconscious in the psyche, and I delight in sharing the gifts of this Soul Messenger to whoever asks. ~Elizabeth

Soul Work; Prayer of Thanks

Soul Work; Astrologer's Prayer of Thanks

I want to give thanks for the work I do.
I want to pay homage to the gods, goddesses,
symbols, signs and synchronicities
that make their appearance as grace
when the choice is made ‘to ask and then to receive.’
Whether called or not called, God is present.

I want to give thanks for the chance to be a messenger—
To bring the good news that all is well,
and all manner of things are well--
that life has meaning
that there is a rhyme and reason,
a warp and woof, an inner and an outer,
an ‘as above, so below’.

I want to give thanks for the only system of knowledge
that makes sense to me; that honors our life cycles as well
as the season’s cycles-
that sees meaning, where others see despair
that sees patterns, where others see chaos
that sees hope and evolution,
where others see none.

I want to give thanks for this ancient soul language
that challenges me to find the words to translate
the subtle geometry of the Soul; a language
that sees little acts of change as large acts of courage--
that delights at seeing the shy smile of recognition
when the person story meets the archetypal story
and is truly heard.

I want to give thanks for this spiritual practice
That has repeatedly shown me that I am wrong--
That what I see first, is not all there is--
That people are far richer, more complex
and nobler than I could ever imagine,
and that what I see as God or human flaw
is flawless in design.
For the gift is in the effort--
In the practice of reaching to understand
all the unknowable mysteries
for which I am so truly grateful.

Elizabeth Spring www.elizabethspring.com

Transits, Transitions & the Nodes

It seems appropriate to do my first post on a blog titled North Node Astrology about the Nodes because it was Uranus in Pisces squaring my Nodal axis that propelled me into the astro-blogosphere. As is often the case, studying transits works far better in hindsight, mostly because when we are in the midst of an important outer planet transit we’re busy – very busy! I started posting on various astrology blogs for the first time when Uranus was making his first pass to my Nodal axis, made a number of new cyber-friends, went on to start my own blog, Neith.net and my cyber world has been expanding and growing ever since.

My North Node is in Gemini, widely conjuncted by Uranus, in the 7th House, and my South Node is Sagittarius in the 1st. The astro-blogosphere is a great place for one with NN in Gemini – zipping around gathering gems of information to share with a wide circle of friends from around the globe, promoting & networking and generally having a good time chatting people up. Gemini loves new information and with Uranus influencing my N Node, information gathered and disseminated through technology is an excellent fit.

Having the South Node in Sagittarius in the 1st House means paying attention to old ways and patterns of handling stress, particularly in the public arena – retreating to the monastery is not an option any more, literally or figuratively. Elizabeth provided me with a great clue when she asked if I found matters related to the S Node boring. And I had to say, “Yes!” One of those cases where the obvious was staring me in the face . . . I’m wondering if anyone else is experiencing this; if so, please let us know.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with me, here is a brief bio:

Neith has been a student of Astrology for more years than she cares to think about. In 1978, she studied with noted astrologer, David Pond, which led to collecting birth data from family, friends and acquaintances. That was when she started her extensive astrological reference library which includes Liz Greene, Steven Arroyo, Robert Hand, Betty Lundsted, Martin Schulman, Dane Rudhyar and many more. With Libra being the sign of both her Sun and Moon, her main area of interest is the astrology involved in relationships. She also started blogging on astrology in 2006 and that has opened myriad new avenues to expand her astrological knowledge base. As to formal education, she has a B.A. in Art with minors in Psychology, Sociology and Biology. She’s worked in art galleries, libraries, vet’s offices and is currently focusing on developing her online astrology practice.

Please feel free to ask questions and throw out thoughts and comments because one or the other of us will be happy to offer feedback. After all, we are both Libras and the dance of give and take is second nature.

This is one my wreaths made from cedar & holly from our yard and fir boughs from our Christmas tree. The circle of the wreath is a symbol of inclusiveness and fits well with North Node in Gemini.

"Souls connect, as leaves connect, rooted and fed by the Great Mystery that binds us all."

Jupiter/Pluto Conjunction

Jupiter & Pluto plus 5 planets in fire!! Enthusiasm, courage, daring to think big...why not apply your intentions on this significant day to an act of forgiveness and healing? What could take more courage than that? If this truly is a phoenix-imbued day, let the Self speak, rather than the bruised ego. We're bigger than all that small stuff---and this is another chance to act on that...we can never have enough chances for another new beginning.

North Node Astrology

Astrology of Menopause

My mentor-blogger at http://neithnet.blogspot.com/ posted a lovely piece about my menopause article which can be read at: http://www.elizabethspring.com/ Here's what she did~thanks Diane!

One of the best aspects of the Internet and the Astro-blogosphere has been meeting other astrologers. We share a common language, Astrology, and are tolerant of each other’s obsession with the pursuit of knowledge related to astrology. Top Ten Sources of Astrology News just keeps coming up with new people and sites to visit and I found another kindred spirit there, Elizabeth Spring.

Here is a very brief bio:Elizabeth Spring, MA. has a degree in counseling psychology, with an emphasis in Jungian psychology. Since 1969 she has studied astrology with Isabel Hickey, Alice Howell, LIz Greene, and Steven Forrest, as well as doing post-graduate work at Pacifica Institute and the Jung Institute in Switzerland. She has been a professional astrologer since 1992.She has a website: Elizabeth Spring.com and is just starting to work on a blog. Her blog is linked on my sidebar as Elizabeth Spring, astrologer.

The article that knocked my socks off when I read it was one she wrote on the “Astrology of Menopause”. She starts with the time around the Uranus Opposition (at about age 42) and takes us through our Chiron Return at around 50 and finishes up with the Second Saturn Return.
Here is an excerpt from The Astrology of Menopause:

~snip~ “Peri-menopause is powerful and underestimated, especially since it creeps us on us undetected. It’s as if our internal "shit-detectors" are amped up, and we can smell a rat or hear a lie a mile away. At this first entrance into the menopausal journey it’s time to consciously make new plans, craft new intentions, de-clutter our inner psyches and outer homes, and prepare for a new life. The Uranus Opposition is the first call towards what the Jungian psychologists call individuation; towards becoming who you truly are. Trying to maintain the status-quo at this time is the worst thing one can do. Let this be your motto: "Let’s do something different."As we move through our forties into menopause, it’s as if we’re being stripped of the Teflon coating of hormonal agreeableness, as we’re being catapulted into a time of intense honesty punctuated with times of intense irritation. The worst physical culprits, such as loss of sleep and hot sweats exhaust us, allowing the emotional rollercoaster of moodiness to have its way with us. When we’re awake and sweating at 3:00 AM, we may find ourselves contemplating the limits of sanity, divorce or freedom even when we’ve actually had had a good mind, a good marriage or good job---or so we think, up till now. Reflecting and reframing our lives is best done at 9:00 AM with our best friend over coffee, when we can exaggerate our "wet sheets story" just enough to get a good laugh and a tender hug.” ~snip~

For all of my readers out there younger than I (which is most of you . . . since I’m older than dirt!), if you are in your forties or approaching forty, this is a must read. I sure wish I had known this when I was starting into this very important transition time. And by the way, even though this article was written for women? Men, you also are undergoing the same astrological cycles without the advantage of an obvious physical clue but this transition period is no less important for you to tune into.

Elizabeth has a great sense of humor and a direct, no nonsense way with words and I’m hoping she will continue writing and sharing her hard won wisdom from an astrological perspective. Here is a link to the entire article: The Astrology of Menopause