Author: Cynthia Hansen Zehm

Alacazem 2010.06.03

Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury and Jupiter  Evening: Venus, Mars and Saturn

Electric Light, Great Good Fortune & Me, Myself and I

The big news this week*** is the “superfund” conjunction of expansive Jupiter and explosive Uranus in impulsive, “it’s all about me” Aries. The exact conjunction of these two planets takes place on June 8th @ 0º18’ Aries, but the buildup to this big event has been happening over the last couple months in god-of-the–sea, Neptune-ruled Pisces.

As I take a look at myself, my world and my neighborhood, I find threads of this dancing duet everywhere. From the exploded oil rig and its gushing black geyser in the oceanic depths of the Gulf of Mexico to the cyberspace invasion of my personal email account last weekend, I see patterns of Uranian shock and Jupiterian excess woven into the fabric and fiber of each event and experience in our recent past and current present. Of course, I’m an astrologer and I “see” the world that way. I know I’m perceiving reality through an astrological lens, and that my view is “tainted” by years of practice, but, it blows my mind anyway – which is a totally Uranus/Jupiter thing to say.

Alacazem 2010.05.27

Visible Planets: Morning: Jupiter  Evening: Venus, Mars and Saturn

Wonder Woman, the Lord of Chaos and the Lord of Karma

I’ve run in to several people lately who’ve asked me if I know what’s going on. “Is this stuff astrological?” and “What’s happening with the planets?” are two questions that I've heard recently. As usual, astrologers always have explanations for “what’s going on.” Real or unreal, virtual or actual, relevant or irrelevant, astrology contains an inherent alchemy that correlates naturally occurring celestial phenomena with events and experiences taking place right here, right now. As above, so below – the ancient esoteric dictum of Hermes Trismegistus, father of medicine and magic, author of antiquity’s fabled Emerald Tablet – says it all.

Of course, everyone’s referring to these wild and crazy times. From the global economic whack-job to the oil rig tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico to the apparent ineptitude of big business and the stagnation, red tape and partisanship of government, we are held hostage in a multi-faceted, multi-national war of power and special interest. As synthetic and natural worlds crash and collide, the inevitability of our effect upon the Earth’s ecosystems is everywhere. Shrinking polar ice caps, vanishing wildlife, polluted oceans and disappearing habitats are just a few examples of humanity’s grasp upon the planet. Not even Superman or Wonder Woman can save us from ourselves.

Alacazem 2010.05.20

Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury and Jupiter    Evening: Venus, Mars and Saturn

The Sun enters the mutable air sign Gemini on May 20th at 9:34 pm MDT and initiates a zodiac month of increasing mobility, curiosity and communication. The traditional scholastic year is coming to a close; the thrill of summer looms upon our proverbial horizons and a sense of freedom and excitement is in the air. We think of trips and travel, places we’d like to go, things we’d like to see and people we want to visit.

Alacazem 2010.05.13

Taurus is the first earth sign of the tropical zodiac and the second zodiac month of the natural year. Its energy manifests in the physical plane via things that we can touch and feel, smell and taste, see and hear. Ruled by Venus, planet of attraction, love and beauty, Taurus attracts and receives, holds and secures. We experience it in the nurturing rain and warming sun, the melting snows and raging rivers that sustain and nourish life. It is here that seeds take root, trees bud and flowers blossom. The inherent fertility of the Mother Earth pours forth; we find comfort and feel contentment in the greening grass, soft soil and recurring cycles of life.

Alacazem 2010.05.06

May 6 to 13, 2010   

Visible Planets: Morning: Jupiter  Evening: Venus, Mars and Saturn 

Taurus and the Four Gates of Avataric Descent

It’s green, green, green down here on Wright’s Mesa. The quickly melting snows of spring have left us with thick carpets of emerald grass, budding trees and delicate wildflowers. The bright reds of Indian paintbrush are popping out amongst the scrubby sage and desert cactus. Bluebirds flutter and meadowlarks sing, a pair of young bald eagles dip and dive, hunting for prairie dogs, and a lone coyote trots through pinon, looking for rabbits. Mornings are still, the air is cool and the wind at rest. By afternoon, the earth has warmed and breezes start to blow. Clouds morph and shadows shimmy, calves frolic and lambs romp. We find ourselves smack, dab, in the middle of spring.

Alacazem 2010.04.29

Visible Planets: Morning: Jupiter  Evening: Venus, Mars and Saturn

Destructing and Constructing an Evolutionary New Dawn

The Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon took place on April 28th @ 4:20 am MDT, bringing to fruition the lunar cycle which began in mid-April with a late degree Aries New Moon. For many, this lunation was intense. I heard rumblings, mumblings and grumblings of irritability and dissatisfaction from personal, private and professional sectors. The world seemed ill-at-ease, restless and discontent, pulling, pushing, yelling and rebelling.

Not only was Mercury retrograde - it will go direct in Taurus @ 4:27 pm on May 11th - but just 36 hours prior to the April 28th Full Moon, the planets Saturn and Uranus exactly opposed each other @ 29º Virgo/Pisces. This was the fourth of five exact oppositions taking place in the time period between the fall of 2008 and the summer of 2010, each one marking a critical balancing and breaking point in our personal, political and professional lives.

Alacazem 2010.04.22

The Taurus zodiac month began here in the San Juans with gentle rain, rumbling thunder and magnificent lightning, but this morning I awoke to a world of white. Overnight, the rain had turned to snow. It wasn’t long before bright green popped out beneath Mother Nature’s soft, nurturing blanket - the next few days will paint the pastures shades of brilliant emerald and shimmering jade. There’s nothing like the snows of spring, followed by dazzling sun and blossoming life.

For me, this time of year is a time of memories, emotion and nostalgia. As the Sun enters my 12th House of the numinous and divine, I drift back to those halcyon days of childhood, when the world sparkled, fairies danced and the lands of magic, mystery and intrigue lived in and all around me. My imagination saw witches in babushka-clad old ladies, Indians riding ponies along Cherry Creek and dinosaurs traveling across far distant horizons.

Alacazem 2010.04.15

The distance and difference between the late degree Pisces New Moon of March 15, 2010 and the late degree Aries New Moon on April 14, 2010 is vast. In late Pisces, we are still vulnerable and trusting, emotionally sensitive and spiritually inclined. We are very near the culminating point of gestation, putting the finishing touches on our amniotic experience and preparing to emerge in the exciting outside world of new, uncharted territory.

By the time we reach the other side of Aries – the April 14th New Moon - we have survived the primal thrust of birth, left the womb-like comfort of illusionary reality and awakened to the power and push of self-propelled action and self-determined movement. It’s all about self-care and self-attention, self-motivation and self-concern. After all, if we don’t take care of ourselves, who will?