Advice

Alacazem 2011.01.27

January 27 to February 3, 2011
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

The Tropical vs. the Sideral Zodiac

Last week I addressed the media whoopla and collective attention concerning what is generally known as one’s “sun sign” – the astrological identity we are given according to our day and time of birth.  Word on the street has it that due to some recent scientific discoveries, we have to “change” our sun sign. If you’re wondering about this, check out my column last week on either my website @ www.alacazem.com or the astrology page @ www.tellurideinside.com. You’ll find a brief explanation of the difference between the astrological Tropical Zodiac used in the Western world and the fixed star Sidereal Zodiac, used in Vedic astrology, which is practiced in India and much of the Far East. But, this week I’d like to address something I’ve also been asked about a lot lately - a mysterious 13th “sign” - a “new” constellation that “really screws everything up” and “changes the zodiac” even more, causing one’s astrological sign to be even further off kilter and, according to the good ol’ word-on-the-street, even more irrelevant.

Alacazem 2011.01.20

January 20 to 27, 2011
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

Having An Astrological Identity Crisis?

Last week I received several emails – including one from my TIO editor – asking me about the recent whoopla – apparently started or, at the very least, generated on Facebook – about astrological signs. “What’s going on? Am I really now a Leo instead of a Virgo? I like my astrological sign! I don’t want to be a Capricorn! I won’t do it! What should I do? What am I?” Indignation, confusion and disbelief – just a few of the emotions I’ve encountered since whatever happened, happened. The ethers have been bombarded with doubt. The validity and accuracy of astrology – our favorite “occult science” - is once again in question. And now, here I am down in Baja California, Mexico, no longer a recipient of in-house Internet, thinking just how much I’d like to log on to the New York Times and read the article I heard was published about this broohaha just days ago. Oh, well, crashing waves and swaying palms, what can I say?

Alacazem 2011.01.13

January 13 to 20, 2011
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

The Inner Wisdom and Practical App of the Capricorn Full Moon

As we reach the mid-point of January and the last week of Capricorn, holiday magic and mayhem flickers and fades. The last Christmas decorations are taken down and put in boxes, packed away for another year. Winter solstice has come and gone, the days have grown slightly longer and poco a poco - little by little - we inch our way toward spring.

This is a time of resurrection and redemption, even as we face the daily chores and realities of our finite, 3D lives. Waning Capricorn prepares us for the inspirational, vital charge of Aquarius – new ideas, new hopes and dreams – and requires a practical, realistic assessment of where and who we are, what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Physical and material worlds must be addressed - our bodies, our finances - our actual physical health and material security.

Alacazem 2011.01.06

January 6 to 13, 2011
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

The Power of Potential and the Big Dream of 2011

I’m always impressed by the difference between the energies of the New and Full Moons of each lunar month – especially during eclipse cycles. For me – and everyone I’ve talked to who witnessed it – the recent winter solstice total lunar eclipse was packed with an unbridled cosmic power that seemed to connect and resonate throughout both the celestial and individual body and soul. It was difficult, if not impossible, to pass unnoticed due to the plethora of media coverage, and of course, word-of-mouth, on the street shuck and jive. I, personally, was able to watch the event from my rooftop deck on a foam pad with blankets and a pillow, dozing and watching on-and-off in supreme comfort and bliss. Lucky me. I’ll never forget it! The Moon was directly above us at midnight here on the Tropic of Cancer, unbelievable! But, then, I’m an astrologer and I deserve it, right? Right!

Alacazem 2010.12.30

December 30 to January 6, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

Feliz Ano Nuevo & Happy New Year 2011

Well, here it is, the end of another calendar year, another revolution around the Sun. The high-minded, altruistic energy of Sagittarius has morphed into the more traditional, practical-minded energy of Capricorn. We face the finite reality of Christmas costs and spending, look at credit card charges for gifts and holiday travel expenses, gather our wits and prepare for the last blast of New Year’s Eve.

Today, I’m living in a beachside palapa on the Sea of Cortez, whales spout and fish jump, the ocean breeze cools the hot Mexico sun to temperatures in the 70’s. Back home I hear of abundant snowfall in the Rockies, but that Telluride is still waiting for their first big dump. I know well the call of the mountains, the pristine white of first tracks and the magical sparkle of snowflakes glistening in the slanting solstice sun. Years ago, my husband and I migrated to southern Baja for the winter and made a quiet little village on the East Cape our home. Snorkeling replaced moguls, fresh-caught tuna replaced homegrown elk, salsa replaced ketchup and Pacifico replaced Coors. In those days, we christened the New Year with Christmas lights on cactus, tortillas, shrimp and fireworks, bonfires on the beach, cassette tapes from home and the sweet guitars of the Mexican pescadores – fishermen – our new amigos and compadres.

Alacazem 2010.12.23

December 23 to 30, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

O Christmastime, O Christmas: Happy, happy and Merry, merry!

Amidst all the hype, hustle, bustle, commercialism and chaos of Christmas - and I use the word Christmas, even though it’s no longer politically correct and doesn’t really capture the broader spectrum of the word holidays – there is always the underlying message and meaning of this very special time of year that seems to filter through my mind and senses in to my heart and soul. For me, it really is all about love and spiritual generosity, peace and good will to all. I find myself thinking about the most silly and sentimental times, childhood with my family – going up in the mountains to cut our tree or the decadent chocolate mint pie we made for dessert, struggling to earn and save enough money to buy presents or driving downtown to marvel at the magnificent lighting display at the Denver Civic Center. There is something humbling and graceful about Christmas, something that somehow, some way brings out the best in us – even if it’s short-lived and squeezed between the mumbles and grumbles, stress and duress that we also somehow seem to experience at least once or twice this time of year.

Alacazem 2010.12.16

December 16 to 23, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

Calling all Angels....Sinners and Saints

[A total lunar eclipse takes place just past midnight on the night of Dec.20th/21st. Totality is @ 1:13 am MST. For more info, click on these links: Lunar eclipse 12.21.10.] & [Sky & Telescope]

This week is big for all of us. Winter solstice and the last full Moon of 2010 – which also happens to be a total lunar eclipse (visible in all of North and South America) – occur in tandem on Dec. 21st. A synchronistic ending and new beginning - the fruition of the December lunar eclipse cycle and the initiation of winter - take place at virtually the same time this year, heralding a cosmically charged celestial event, an energetic manifestation of ethereal regeneration and rebirth. Old patterns and fresh paths dance in circles of redemption and resurrection, life and death merge in an evolutionary process of energetic re-creation. Out of the ashes, from dust to dust, the alpha and the Omega. Biblical sayings and spiritual teachings, chaos theory and quantum physics, magic and miracles, angels and avatars gather as the shortest and longest days and nights of the southern and northern hemispheres fall in harmony with the exact opposition of the Sun and Moon. Our greatest expectations, most cherished dreams and most vivid memories collide in a process of reawakening and reinvention. We are at once aware of and in touch with the eternal partnership of polarities and are asked to see the inherent necessity, beauty and balance in and of them all.

Alacazem 2010.12.09

December 9 to 16, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Venus and Saturn  Evening: Mercury and Jupiter

Ecliptic Windows and the Warriors of Spirit

Here we are, on planet Earth, humans – men and women, boys and girls – walking the earthwalk, talking the earthtalk and living in harmony and disharmony – together. No matter how we cut the cake or divvy up the pie, statistically the male and female species is pretty much in gender balance, numerically equal. But is that the only actual, factual equality between the sexes?

I recently finished reading a powerfully awakening book entitled Infidel, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an African woman who after years of political, cultural and religious oppression, suppression and repression flees to asylum in the Netherlands, where she is able to attend college, work and eventually be elected a member of the Dutch Parliament. It is here she fights for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam, awakening the West to the brutal Islamic customs of female sexual mutilation, beatings, forced marriage and honor killings. Born in Somalia into a Third World hotbed of political and social unrest, violence and civil wars, her family migrated from Mogadishu to Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Ethiopia. As a result, Ali was forced to adapt and adjust, learn a variety of foreign languages – including English – all the while observing and experiencing the abject inequality of men and women in the Muslim world – including that of her own family. Her story is riveting, brave, startling, disturbing and ultimately triumphant - an inspirational, courageous journey of heart. And what does all this have to do with astrology?

Alacazem 2010.12.02

December 2 to 9, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Jupiter

Todos Santos, Venus and a Sagittarius New Moon

My husband Richard and I – and our three big golden labs – arrived safely in Todos Santos, Mexico, yesterday afternoon under sunny skies. It was 80ºF and breezy. Our 1,000-mile journey down the Baja Peninsula was cool and calm. Not much traffic – we crossed at Tecate – plenty of skinny, two-lane blacktop and a plethora of cacti along the way. We stopped halfway down to visit old friends and retired Telluride ski patrollers Mona and Gerry Wilcox at their Punta Abreojos casa and ended up sharing Thanksgiving dinner with them out at a camp on their favorite surf beach. Rod Martin, another ex-ski patroller, happened to be in the neighborhood – his sons Caleb and Nathan have a place there, too.

Alacazem 2010.11.25

November 25 to December 2, 2010
Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus and Saturn  Evening: Mars and Jupiter

The Goodness, Gratitude and Grace of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day. A day to give thanks. A time to pause, slow down, take a look around and count our many blessings. It’s a day of feasting and abundance, a national holiday that honors the camaraderie between the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the European pilgrims who crossed the ocean in search of new life, freedom and prosperity. They arrived in a land of great resource and wild frontier, a land of mystery and magic, a place of magnificent beauty and bounty.  But they were unskilled and uneducated in the ways of survival in this land, and at the mercy of the native peoples who inhabited it. And then, by the grace of a divine force, good luck or a simple act of fate, the Native Americans embraced and assisted the immigrants. They showed them how to hunt wild game and harvest native plants. They showed them how to live and survive. They showed them how to thrive.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that is quintessentially Sagittarian. Its philanthropic essence and unbridled spirit of generosity resonates with the over-the-top grandiosity and big-hearted giving the Archer is famous for. It’s a time to share the wealth, focus on the positive, recognize the goodness in ourselves and others, cultivate attitudes of gratitude and simply have faith. Gracious and loving, hopeful and hearty, let us give thanks to our angels and keep our eyes to the skies. Happy Thanksgiving!