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August 4 to 11, 2011   Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Saturn

Dancing Divas and Laughing Lions

Tomatoes We experience the exact point of mid-summer on the cross-quarter day of August 7th this week, marking the halfway point between summer solstice and autumn equinox. This is when we notice the days are growing shorter, high country leaves begin to change and a wistful fragrance of summer’s end is in the air.

Here in the West End, emerald pastures are now touched with gold, tall grasses have gone to seed and fields lacking irrigation glow a bright platinum blonde. Azure bluebirds feast on fluttering butterflies and hummingbirds suck nectar from wherever they can find it. Cumulous clouds tower above deep blue horizons and snowfields still dot the mountain peaks. Brilliant yellow sunflowers sway in the breeze, tomatoes ripen, zinnias blossom and roses bloom. Olathe sweet corn is on the table and Paonia peaches are approaching harvest. Fruit stands are popping up along the roadside, filled with melons, peppers and beans.

06 August, 2011 /

July 28 to August , 2011     Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Saturn

 2012 Mayan End Times: Hubris or Humility?

122-doomsday2012 I’ve been thinking about 2012. It’s loaded, it’s wild, it’s awesome to know that there’s a collective force at work – the collective consciousness of an ancient prophecy coming to fruition - the long awaited Mayan end times.

I remember back to one day in the '90s – before the millennium turn and the predicted chaos of Y2K – when I was driving out of Telluride toward Lawson Hill with one of my editors. We were talking about how time seemed to have speeded up, how it felt as if the pavement beneath us was moving at a velocity much faster than the car traveling upon it. It was a kind of gravity free, out-of-body sensation, like flying through space at warp speed, meteors and galaxies whizzing by.

29 July, 2011 /

July 21 to 28, 2011

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

The Mid-Summer Leo Heart of Soul and Spirit

Leo As the Sun moves into Leo and we approach the annual cross-quarter mark of mid-summer, I can’t help but feel the intense vibrations of the Mother Earth. Life is a mystery, its magic and magnificence is everywhere. And the full-on vibrancy of the Leo sun-time brings it on full- force. Heart-centered, courageous, strong of will and full-of-life, the Leo archetype - symbolized by the proud and powerful Lion – is a typically masculine or yang energy that creates, excites and pursues. A fixed fire-sign, ruled by the Sun and characterized by romantic dreams, inspirational faith and optimistic generosity, it is where and when we feel and follow our hearts - guided by the pure, essential spirit, force and power of love. Loyal, childlike, creative, affectionate and fun, Leo energy is the self-centered ego and will - the heart of soul and spirit – that requires attention and is fueled by recognition. Seasonally, it is the height of summer’s glory – flowers blossom and fruits ripen – we can see, smell, feel, touch and taste nature’s awesome creative, regenerative, productive power.

22 July, 2011 /

July 14 to 21, 2011

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

The Incandescent Flush of Purple and Gold of Spirit

“Throughout my whole life, during every moment I have lived, the world has gradually been taking on light and fire for me, until it has come to envelop me in one mass of luminosity, glowing from within…The purple flush of matter fading imperceptibly into the gold of spirit, to be lost finally in the incandescence of a personal universe…” Pierre Tielhard de Chardin 

Delph&clem2 I love the full-bloom blossom of “high” summer. Luscious shades of green, fragrant roses and magnificent wildflowers make the days and weeks from mid-July to mid-August some of the most vibrant and delightful of the year. Meadows kissed with golds and blondes, glades of fluttering, lime-colored aspen and gardens bursting with kaleidoscope reds, blues and yellows open my heart to Mother Nature’s awesome power and grace. I am reminded that life’s most inspirational, transformational moments come at times of communion with mystical forces and mysterious sources; energies far greater and more powerful than I.

15 July, 2011 /

[click "Play", Dr. Paul Hokemeyer talks about parenting]

 

By Dr. Paul Hokemeyer

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer (Editor's note: After a pause to refresh, Telluride Inside... and Out's favorite shrink returns with his every other week column: Shrink Rap. Welcome back, Dr. Paul.)

In my psychotherapy practice I treat lots of adolescents and their parents. One of the changes I’ve observed over the past five years is how dismissive and disrespectful children have become. I attribute this increased lack of respect to the displacement of traditional, human manners with manners learned through the world of technology. Remember the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey?" Assuming the answer is "yes," is HAL  – or  his digital spawn – raising your kids or are you?

13 July, 2011 /

When I posted my weekly Alacazem Astrology column last Thursday, I had looked through my files and on the Internet for a good drawing or photo of the Scorpion constellation. I didn't find one. Then just a few days later, the Sky & Telescope...

11 July, 2011 /

July 7 to 14, 2011

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

Magnificent, Magical Summer - la Tierra Madre y la Luna Diosa

Pink&gold clouds2 Summer is magnificent and magical. Long, hot days and warm, embracing evenings cast spells on those who dance in the forests and swim in the waters of Mother Nature’s bounty. Rollicking rivers and bubbling brooks cascade through mountain canyons, travel across meadows and follow the land-curves to irrigated fields and gardens of harvest. Some of the water flows to the sea, some of it quenches thirst and some of it simply evaporates. Towering cumulonimbus clouds rise above swaying green pastures and parched, golden grasses, exploding in rain, electric lightning and rumbling thunder. Sunsets paint the skies with pink and coral as turquoise twilight slowly turns to night.

07 July, 2011 /

June 30 to July 7, 2011

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

The Sweet Love, Lust and Choice of Cancer Eclipse Energy

Cone rainbow I’m reading about climate change and thinking about 2012. It’s overwhelming. There is so much information available to us today. I’m stunned by and in awe of the Internet. I can’t express how lucky I feel to be living right here, right now on this magically beautiful planet Earth. In light of all the craziness, injustice, chaos and insanity of human life in our newborn millennium, I can still see and experience the enchanting power of a sunset, the blessings of rain and the drama of lightening; hallowed thunder and shimmering rainbows.

02 July, 2011 /

June 23 to 30, 2011

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

"There are so many ways to implode or suffer these days. But every once in awhile we enjoy a small respite… In such a ritual-poor society as ours, sometimes, very occasionally, we get it right."   Dana Gerhardt @ mooncircles.com

I’ve been writing my weekly Alacazem astrology column since 1988 – that’s 23 years of recurring weekly deadlines – and at times I wonder how I’ve done it. The answer is simple: One week at a time.

Yucca Today, the wind is strong and hot, gusting from west to east. Traveling across the sizzling sun-baked deserts of Utah to the snow-capped San Juans, air temperatures are in the 90’s. Tall grasses sway in the early summer sun, lush green meadows dance with gold and farmers are taking their first cuttings of the season’s hay. Irrigation ditches gurgle, mosquitoes bite and the sweet sounds of frogs caress the evening twilight. Yuccas and cactus are blooming in the pinion forests and pink rosebuds grace wire fences. I am grateful and blessed to be a part of nature, a human being living here on planet Earth, in southwestern Colorado, where the wild meets the tame and home on the range is still a reality, not fantasy. And yet, challenges remain.

I’ve noticed very few bluebirds this year. Headline news is all about climate change, wildfires, slow economic recovery, deficits and pollution, wars and loss, genocide. Uranium mills, nuclear energy, “clean” coal and hydraulic fracking. National and local real estate markets are bust, no new construction, no jobs, no loans, no money. Good news for the super-rich – there’s plenty on the market at very low prices – and bad news for those who have properties for sale.

23 June, 2011 /

June 16 to 23, 2011

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

The Roller Coaster Ride to Summer Solstice [June 21st]

Universe_man June is Gemini’s month. The mutable modality of the sign is everywhere. From late May restlessness – the wind, melting snow, muddy creeks and emerging greens – to mid-June madness – packed pools, slow motor homes and fast motorcycles, raging rivers and roaring crowds – the perpetual motion of the zodiac’s first air sign keeps us moving, thinking and doing, round and round, over and over, again and again.

This year, June delivered both a solar and a lunar eclipse to our hearts and heads. We were asked to be flexible and adaptable, detach from outcomes and get comfortable with uncertainty. For many, this is a large and difficult order to fulfill. Earth signs love stability and order. Water signs thrive on emotional security. Fire signs like excitement and air signs think. Obviously, the last two are more inclined to accept – and at times even enjoy - the ups and downs of Gemini than the first two. The roller coaster ride upon which we have been traveling this month is coming to an end. The teeter-totter polarities, scary cliffs and deep canyons of the journey are leveling out. The racy pace slows down and the erratic stops and sudden starts disappear. As we round the last corner and coast into cardinal Cancer, the winds stop. Soft, warm breezes and gentle mornings greet the day. Summer solstice [June 21st] brings us the longest day and shortest night of the year.  The season of sweet hot and sultry sizzle has begun. Happy, happy summer solstice! May you walk in beauty and live in joy. God bless...

16 June, 2011 /