Back in April there was this giant cardinal cross that was active for a couple of days while Mars served as the firing pin for this configuration and then moved on. Mars was retrograde and at that time there was this event with Putin getting all aggressive and generally stirring up the pot of peace with land grabs that made everyone get very nervous, but Libra Putin rather lucky–see my previous blog.

There were shouts of world war, that the whole situation was frightening (which in one sense it was). Still the whole situation, while not really cooling off, entered into a lot of diplomatic maneuvers and while everything is still stressful and high charged, the energy of the Mars seemed a little muted compared to what it might have been.

When Mars went direct and again hit the point of its trigger degree of the cross (though winding down), a much bigger threat appeared. A very savage and aggressive right wing islamist group is now pounding into Iraq. The country now seems on the very brink of civil war. And area won with the blood of US soldiers has now been taken by this ISIL group. Everyone now sees even more clearly the stupid and idiotic folly of the ‘W” years with Cheny and Rumsfeld. I digress.

Old religious wounds have been ignited in Iraq and truly this world is getting crazy. Don’t forget China, Japan, Viet Nam all battling over oil in the South China Sea.

It seems to me that this will take some very careful leadership to find some way through this. The midterm elections don’t look very promising. So, once again we must go to our meditation mats and find an inner center. The future is not clear. Yet we cannot let it dominate us. Still, we have seen that the long term repercussions from that great cross–one might say it will be our “cross to bear” for quite awhile.

Putin and I share the birth date of October 7. I am a little older. I was so worried about the effects of the Grand Cardinal Cross that I thought I would have bad luck–but I had great luck.

Lets look at Putin: 1- He is coming off a great Olympics, which many people would not be done on time and would have a terrorist attack, but he prevailed. 2 – He divorced his wife of thirty years and now runs around with a former gold medalist. I am sure she is a playful handful. 3 – In front of the world he took Crimea back into Russian control, secured a naval port. 4 – His personal popularity is at 80% in Russia who now feels pride that they have not felt in a long long long time. 5 – He has positioned himself as a major player in the world theater and threatens to grab more land.

While to the rest of the world Putin may look like a monster rising from the depths of testosterone — what with the shirtless horse back riding, shooting guns at animals, embracing babies, giving resounding and threatening images of the return of the cold war. Oct 7 looks not good on the outside looking in.

About me, Spencer Grendahl Oct7. I had the best luck I have had in a long time.My numbers of reading improved, I entertained at more parties as the Great Swami Spencer, palm reader extraordinaire. Plus, my internet funding drive in Indiegogo hit its mark and I have the money to publish a book of my thoughts on love: The Secrets of Love, sayings by Grendahl,the Palmist. I had professional successes in other aspects of my entrainment persona. Plus suddenly my palm reading by Skype has increased. And the Meet Up Group that Jim Schultz and I founded is hitting 40 to fifty people a meeting.

What can I say, for people who have trines (Putin and I both do) to the cardinal points of the Grand Cross saw that energy flow into good reactions.

I would like to give a little advice about surviving difficult aspects.
Let’s see: In January Venus was retrograde and went Direct on January 31. On February 6th Mercury went retrograde to February 28, March 1Mars went retrograde, March 2 Saturn goes retrograde. Jupiter goes Direct on March 6thMars goes direct on May 9, but on June 7th Mercury goes Retrograde on June 7th And finally Neptune goes retrograde on June 9th.

Wow that is a lot of aspects, now to mention there is are eclipses: Lunar on April 16th and Solar on April 22 the cardinal grand cross!
What do we do with all these changing directions of all these planets? My answer is meditate, and do Yoga. There will be stress enough for everyone to be affected in some way. There will be anxiety. One of astrology’s leading magazines, Mountain Astrologer has an editorial asking “I confess, I’m a little nervous –are you?” The conclusion of the editorial is a quote by Mother Teresa: “Lots of reasons to be unhappy, choose to be happy anyway.”

Meditation is the one mind skill that is up to the task to “be happy anyway.” Meditation puts things into perspective, no matter how the world in turning, meditation is, as T.S. Eliot put in that “still point in a turning world.”

There are many types of meditations. And whichever you use, start to really deepen your practice. Meditation given the peace of the inner self, the soul’s connection to the great intention of the Universe. In the stillness of meditation there are insights of the soul and the inner threads of all beings in the universe. Problems, anxieties, worries can be handled in meditation. We are married to a life of impermanence and change.
Meditation is growing not only among the “New Age” and other spiritual groups, but in business as well. More and more businesses are having meditation rooms — a small but every day growing in numbers.

It so happens that my chart is particularly active during this period, including the Grand Cross hitting my Sun within a half of degree. Pluto has been painful for me: deaths of family members, a divorce, cancer, financial problems. So I have a keen eye on the movements of the planets, and I was and am apprehensive.

My yoga mat is always handy and I stretch, do postures and meditate. This keeps my passions within do bounds, a deeper awareness of what my life and my soul are all about. Knowing the spiritual core of all life, a stream of beings on this planet, and the truth that we are star dust that can now look at the heavens and see the whole family of beings shining brightly every night.
Exult in your being!

One often hears amateur astrologers tell people that “hard aspects” in their coming transits that are going to bring an ominous event. This scares people. Sometimes amateur astrologers scare themselves by projecting ominous things coming up for them. Why is this wrongheaded?

It wrongheaded because it misses the positive power of hard aspects. Hard aspects make things happen, push events to start happening, makes an individual start to look at problems in their lives that they may well have kept under the rug. Things that you have procrastinated about, or, quite frankly, want to avoid.

The way to handle these transits is to note the areas of influence. Mars sq Venus is obviously going to be different that say Mercury sq Saturn. Next determine where you think the aspects energy will be released in your chart, start looking around. Are there events in the scope of these two energies that you know need work, then look the matter over. And prepare for something to happen. Maybe the exact event will not be what you deduced it would be, but at least you 1) anticipated a strong energy surge coming up 2) examined areas in your life that at that time might well need to be worked on.

The good news is that hard aspects bring change. The beautiful thing about astrology is that things keep changing, the aspect flow fluctuates as the live force moves along the life map of your natal chart. All change is not easy, life isn’t built that way. Successful people are resilient and forward thinking, looking for the silver lining and the truth that all situations pass and move on. And if one is ready to face a challenge and the adjustments it may cause, then charge on for these challenges are the source of changes that need to be met. It will bring success. It will strengthen you.

Every wondered why the three days in winter myths are so significant? The answer is the solstice points. The winter solstice point is when the sun enters 0 degrees of Capricorn. This marks the end of the sun heading south and the days getting shorter. It is the longest night of the year. Yet the sun stays slow at this point not moving a complete degree a day. Then it starts to move a complete solar arc a day.

This means that the sun emerges to full arc on the third day. This is the time that many myths proclaim that the sun has left the depths of darkness — for those of us in the northern hemisphere. The emerging of the light, the beginning of longer days is upon us.

These three day interval is why Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days, Jesus returned after three days. The three day turn around is key to understanding this.

We must also realize that ancient cultures did not have the astronomical exactness we have today and that adds another dimension to this interval and how holidays might be timed. The solstice is celebrated in many cultures as a feast day. Killing of livestock often occurred and the meat cured for the possible starvation days of winter. No further feasts happen until the equinox. The slaying of the cattle meant there would be more hay to feed those who remain. More might meat be available later, if necessary. But at the solstice holiday, everyone ate well.

In our age of agriculture and storage we can be sure of food in western countries. The event is not more of a commercial holiday that a spiritual event of hope for the light’s return. Third world countries still live in a world where starvation is a reality that must be seasonally worried about. They celebrate the light returning as the return of the agricultural gods and the seeds of new life, a new year.

The solstice is the coming again of the sun god, the king of light. Jonah had to save the others by being thrown into the sea and endure the belly of the whale and his light was passing on spiritual light– guidance to man. These experiences into cosmic darkness bring the seeing of the light, the assurance and hope that the light will bring a spring for the planting of the seed. The seed of the soul’s journey The celebration of civilization will have the heat and food it needs to live on and the assurance of the light of spiritual growth. The savior is born on the third day after the solstice

In myth we find the light, the thread, the golden bough, the morning of Masda, assurance that the cycle of light and darkness continues, that the light will bring the insight of the cultural survival. The rebirth of the year. Certain tribes in different cultures considered wisdom based on how many winters one had lived through, how many solstices had been experienced.

And for us all the solstice is a marking point for spiritual growth. It is a time for New Years resolution, the hope of doing better in this visitation of the rising light of a new year.

This will be short and to the point. On November 3,there was solar eclipse and for some reason I was deleting a single file in Solar Fire Astrology Program when suddenly the whole program flitted like a bad tv break and the program went down. All was lost. Luckily I had chart data back up only until July… foolish of me. However I should have been about to retrieve the file of my charts, but discovered that for some reason ALL MY DATA FILES ON THE PROGRAM WERE DELETED. I lost 2000 charts! Of course I had a heart attack, especially when my external drive had only backed up to the start of this year, despite my running it in July. Mercury was rx then as well. I was able to save 1500 charts. 500 were just gone.

So if you came for a reading this year,please send me your data again, or at know that this computer crash occurred and I will have to again get your natal information when you call for another reading.

I am so sorry about this for you my clients, but my sorrow is overwhelming. Those files also had my notes on our meetings–especially those in my cognitive astrology class.

This fall both the lunar and solar eclipses hit me hard, losing a friend and my astrological data. Jes saying — for me Mercury is really a sensitive time. Watch your electronics, communication in all areas and personal relationships.