The Moon is in Aquarius starting today and carrying us on a fresh breeze to the end of the week. This primes us for a Jupiter-Neptune alignment on Friday in this air sign. If you're experiencing an awakening of sorts, this expands and "spiritualizes" your vision. The bizarre notions you've pushed back....hey, that just might work! It's time for exploring ideas that are ahead of their time. From this elevated Aquarian view, it's easier to get some emotional distance. This gives you a freer mind to make decisions (not under duress). You see new paths that you couldn't see before.

The Aquarian skies foster a desire to bust out of the status quo and feel free to go with the unpredictability of the times. If the ground is shifting beneath us (for some, literally!), it's hard to make solid long term plans. An Aqua Moon friend of mine just bought an Airstream, and in particular, the Flying Cloud. It's shiny, aerodynamic, retro-futuristic and light -- a perfect home (Moon) base for her to go where the wind blows her. It's also an unusual plan to feel secure, and one that makes sense in a time when the only sure-thing is unprecedented change.

Astrologer Caroline Casey has a way of astonishing listeners with her “medicine,” which is language and the trickster. She says we each have a Medicine, with a capital M, to add to the collective elixir now. She and Starhawk are featured on Visionary Culture Radio in this archive from mid-May.

Finding this gave me a zing this morning, because I admire these two women as visionaries. Casey says it’s no good to fight tyranny since that adds to its power; she talks of composting it as a renewable resource! Pluto in its transit through Capricorn is demolishing our structures, institutions, roads, buildings, etc….even as there are signs of regeneration and rebirth. She says, “We’re growing the garden out of the compost of tyranny.”

What's refreshing is her attitude about this apparent dead end we've come to, and moving past blame. She says, "We let the boys conquer nature...." And we're all complicit in that, but that it's time to start the new party and invite everyone to join it! Specifically she mentions "green jobs" and how that's where the party is at in new building. Instead of "activist," she likes the phrase "sane and reverent people." She likes to use unexpected language to wake folks up, and skip the usual grooves that we're stagnating in. She says, The Divine itself wants to be liberated from the confines of the past human imagination.

You can lean more about Trickster Training and follow Caroline Casey’s work at her Coyote Network news website. There are coyotes on her site, some with lightning bolts shooting out of their mouths!

We're on the verge of a series of eclipses, with the first partial (penumbral) lunar eclipse and Full Moon in Capricorn tomorrow (the 7th) exact at 5:21 am EDT. An eclipse often brings startling events that change everything. It can feel fated, like destiny's hand has given you a shove. It may be disruptive, but isn't always "bad;" it takes time to have the sight to look back, and see how it was a catalyst for major growth.

The lunar eclipse means that the Moon is darkened by the Earth's shadow. And it's already a full Moon illumination in earth sign Capricorn. Reality intrudes in a big way; there's a confrontation with life's raw basics, practicalities and responsibilities. There may be foundation-rocking events that shock you awake to what needs to be done. You may be initiated into a period of testing or struggle, and find you are up for the challenge. It'll affect you most in the house where the eclipse takes place.

July's Mead Moon

The Fourth of July is a crazy birthday for a Cancer (me), but I'm definitely feeling the vitality of the solar return. We're heading off here in a moment for a camping trip by the coast. And the Moon is in sunny Sagittarius into Sunday, to keep the mood light. Every Zodiac sign expresses its dynamism in a different way. On the box of firecrackers, there's written, Caution! spins on ground...emits flames or sparks! Moonchild, this is your month to be "fired up" by the radiance of the Sun, and emit sparks.

With the triple conjunction of planets in Aquarius (Jupiter, Neptune, Chiron), there's an unpredictable live wire running through the collective, and that's emitting sparks, too. When you're zapped by its current, that charge is exhilarating. It's the unlocking of personal genius, while also feeling like a shared experience. It's the ideal of Aquarius and America (with the national Aquarius Moon)....to be exquisitely unique, AND part of the greater whole. In that kind of utopia, everyone gets to shine. I wish everyone a joyful, safe holiday and weekend!

In extraordinary times, we see extraordinary acts of courage that break the spell of powerlessness. These acts show a different kind of power. It's the fierce and righteous power of life itself. And it shines so gloriously in women, being the ones that are intimate with the power to create life.

With the full Moon in Capricorn approaching, the theme of personal authority is heightened. Its opposition to the sign of the Mother, Cancer, asks us to buck up, take charge of our lives, and summon a life-sustaining kind of power, and align with the Earth herself. This is our world, and we are responsible for it. What kind of power will stop this madness? This is a question I literally ask myself (and Spirit) every day.

The final stages of this centuries-long top down wealth and resource grab is proving to be brutal, ruthless, and let's face it, is endangering life on our planet. Two brave women are showing great courage, especially since most acts of defiance against injustice these days are of the David and Goliath variety. Sagittarian actress Darryl Hannah was arrested in West Virginia for protesting against "the dirty dinosaur of Mountain Top Removal coal mining." She has connected the dots of this tragic story that could rightly be called a crime against Nature. But true to the visionary and sunny style of Sadge, she ends with a call for the use of wind power, technology already available. Go Darryl!

But the bravest woman on the planet has to be former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, from my state of Georgia. Her boat, Spirit of Humanity, carrying aid to the Palestinians was stopped by Israel in international waters and she's been taken into custody. With her is Mairead Maguire, the 1977 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for co-founding a group that worked for peace in Northern Ireland. I've heard McKinney called disparaging Moon (women)-themed names like looney and hysterical for questioning the official story about Sept 11th, and for following her conscience -- and risking her life -- to bring aid to Gaza. The Red Cross reports that the Palestinians there, half of which are children, are trapped in despair, which has only grown worse since the December attack.

The coming full Moon/eclipse is followed by yet another new Moon in Cancer with a solar eclipse. There's the potential here for a re-alignment to the heart, and eclipses bring turning point events. We come from a place of power when we're in synch with our emotions. It's emotional intelligence of knowing that all acts -- both of people and nations -- have repercussions that linger in the heart and soul. And at some point, the truth of that finds its way out. This series of eclipses along the Capricorn/Cancer axis can balance authority with emotional integrity, and evoke some real healing. And we can tap into the awesome power that comes when our heart is in it.

• Cynthia McKinney speaks from an Israeli prison: "We were trying to bring crayons to the children of Gaza"
• In other news that brings Capricorn and Cancer together, U.S. Scientists Reveal NASA Secrets About "Cities" on the Moon

Uranus joins three other planets already in retrograde (Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto) today. Get ready for shocks, surprises and surreality. Watch for unexpected breakthroughs that seem divinely inspired -- Uranus is in Pisces -- and heighten the creative imagination. This especially flings open doors for the house or planet it is transiting in your birth chart. For nearly Wordless Wednesday.

Since the shocking death of Michael Jackson, I've been looking at old videos and been in awe of the global reaction. It's odd how the finality of death makes you step back and see the whole lifetime, and the poignancy of the journey. As a child star, his innocence softened many hearts to see beyond race. As David Wilcock writes, he bust through race barriers in the music industry, and paved the way for others to follow. Some of his later work, like Earth Song and They Don't Care About Us had a decidedly Us Vs. Them theme, and he stood defiantly with the people.

His passing has sadly hit some of his fans really hard, with suicides reported; like drugs, a way to check out of this harsh reality (associated with Neptune). MJ's death nearly took the Internet with him, and some souls in his fan network (both the 'net and networks associated with Aquarius). The Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke the language of Neptune when he said, "This is a time when hearts are heavy. There is great pain but great cause to celebrate Michael’s life. It made Michael happy saying 'We Are The World.' Don’t self destruct.” It's clear that his death has been a global event, with a unifying thread being the themes of his music. I asked Jessica Murray for her take on this coming under the triple conjunction (Neptune, Chiron, Jupiter) in revolutionary Aquarius. Was he some kind of unlikely Awakener?

From Jessica Murray, "Interesting point about the revolutionary currents (Uranus conjunct Venus in his natal chart; which also explains his genre-crossing and gender-blending) you hear in MJ's music. It does seem he battled against some 'Them' -- the shrinks would probably say this was his authoritative father -- while condemning himself for his own differentness. Eccentrics don't fare well in this country."

Jessica continues, " In the end I think his story can teach us that in order to stay whole with an outer-planet-driven chart -- to value the true Uranian genius MJ personified musically; and to self-transform (Pluto) in healthy ways -- one's self-cohesion needs to be solid as rock. Instead, to plead his case for individuality MJ fashioned his tragic face into a mask, destroying it (Pluto conjunct Sun) in a perverse effort to perfect it (Sun in Virgo). He made it clear he never wanted to grow up; and the 'children of the world' he said he wanted to save were clearly himself."

Another serendipity with the timing is the great purging of the recent New Moon in Cancer, which is inviting us to heal old wounds and learn to love our vulnerabilities. There's another chance to let go with the Full Moon in Capricorn and lunar eclipse on July 7th. It almost seems like we're due for a public keening, as the true hidden depths of the heart start to surface. And this early death of someone many of us knew since he and we were children, reminds us how old hurts can keep us from being all we can be....sometimes it can even cut our lives short. Writes Murray, Perhaps the best way to honor his life is by nurturing the vulnerable kid within each of us, the way his inner child was not nurtured; and by guiding it into a wholesome adulthood, where the little boy that was Michael Jackson never arrived. "

It's a half Moon today in Libra, favoring the weighing of the Scales, to see where to add or subtract to find balance. This air sign helps us negotiate our way out of off-kilter situations. The tension of the Sun-Moon square shows us where somethings got to give, in order to find a new equilibrium. Libra's light of clarity drops fresh ideas about how to set things right.

For some, the recent new Moon in Cancer has pried open the secret doors of the heart. The opposition to Pluto provokes a purge, and when you're in it, it can be disturbing. What you've kept controlled rushes up in waves and overtakes you. Maybe it's something you've been afraid to bring up, fearing that it'll ruin your relationship. But this is how hard-core Pluto heals, as it brings you back to the deeper truth of your experience. In her AstroFlash report, Barbara Hand Clow writes of this challenge, saying, "You may experience a cathartic emotional crisis that presents you with a newly truthful sense of who you really are."

Hand-Clow describes the paradox that we've been sinking into the dregs of our personal swamps, while opening to the higher energies of the triple conjunction (Neptune-Chiron-Jupiter) in Aquarius. She writes, "We've been driven into old pain, and many can see that these wounds are what have been limiting the expansion of feelings and knowledge. Each time we've allowed the process to run its course, we've been rewarded with stunning spiritual insight and exquisite ecstasies."

While considering this today, I thought of a quote that's always haunted me, "The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.” (Horace Walpole) We deal with heavy stuff in what's called karmageddon and tragedy is at times enveloping. There is so much suffering in the world that it breaks our hearts. But at the same time, we're seeing with new eyes, as Aquarian planets grace us with the detachment of a cosmic mariner, riding the waves with humor, curious about what's happening.

We discover that the world is full of tragedy and comedy, and that we can both feel (water signs) life, and use our minds (air signs) in a balanced way. It's a step on the path of cultivating the "observer" who is in the world, but not of the world. With the chaos of change liable to become overwhelming, this kind of detachment keeps us from going under.

A well-known astrologer is in jail after predicting the ouster of Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. With a popular TV show and politically oriented column in a major opposition party paper, Chandrasiri Bandara has a national following. The Telegraph-UK reports that Sri Lankan police are investigating the basis behind his predictions. Bandara spoke at a meeting of the United National Party (the opposition), and that's where he said Rajapaksa's fortunes will change on September 9th. He said the current Prime Minister will become President, and the opposition leader will become the new PM.

You could say Bandara's been Dixie Chicked since his prediction comes at a time when the President is riding high. He's seen as a hero to many for putting down the rebellion of the Tamil Tigers, and ending the civil war there. But the victory for the military has led to a tightening of press freedoms; since 2006, more than a dozen journalists have been killed there. As Bandara's arrest is made public, Mercury (press, media, communication) is in a tense square to Saturn (authority, restriction).

This kind of clampdown intimidates and sends a warning to the messenger (Mercury). Since astrologers hold so much sway, it's also an attempt to keep the opposition from influencing the people. The predictions are taken seriously, and the President himself gets regular astrological advice. When someone of influence, like Bandara, makes predictions about the political fate of the nation, these have the power to become waves that inspire movements. The stars set the atmosphere, but a political astrologer like Bandara is seen as having the power to focus the will of the people. That's why he's so dangerous to the powers that be, and why astrologers in Sri Lanka are deciding it's too life-threatening to read the horoscopes of high government officials. It's reported that some will have to travel to Kerala, India to see the astrologers there.

There's a long history of killing the messenger when astrologers dare to decipher the fate of those with worldly power. That phrase came out of Roman times, when emperors like Tiberias were known to throw astrologers off a cliff for delivering a bad prophecy. In Bandara's case, it's a deadly serious matter of shaping perception of future events in a climate of strongarm-style governance. I'll be following this story and hope to be able to report back on his release.