Pluto in Capricorn, the sign of infrastructure, brings decay and rot and the metabolic processes to bear here. For decades. waste, rust, salt, and industrial waste have seeped, drowned, and leached through our stuctures, eroding supports, exposing hidden elements to the elements. We have often done little more than inspect and patch and occasionally demolish a structure. But the massive Pluto in Cancer infrastructure of the Thirties is reaching its natural life span, along with the people who built it, and we must now deal with legacy and replacement issues. But we have at least 3 generations of people who have been told not to value the work of their hands or that being able to build buildings precludes them from culture. The result has been the shuffling off of this work on trapped minorities and people who just can’t study in school. So there are only a few people arguing over this issues at the highest levels of government and culture. Once college students took weeks off during the summer and worked at the mill and on construction and got to know the people and the issues regarding infrastructure. The result was a bipartisan consensus on the importance of roads and bridges. Now they are called “pork” and Republicans fight paying these hardworking people a fair wage and would rather import cheaper and even more trapped immigrants to build, people with no real path to citizenship and power.

BTW, thanks to everyone who has stopped by the main site in the past few weeks. Hopefully the technical stuff will be done by Saturday, and I can finally provide some content for this huge site!

Amy Bishop Birthchart

(I am assuming that’s her birthplace, but if anyone has more accurate information, feel free to e-mail me

Old Antique Lace

Things weren’t always like this. When I was a kid, the frost came around Halloween, and more than a few of them were chilly. The heat would come on in November, the radiator starting to make its familiar knocks and pings which let you know that it was the time you could wash out a pair of socks, and hang them over the radiator all night to dry. And dry they would by morning. By the time November turned into December, the heavy, quilted covers would come out, along with the boots. The days would turn gray and raw and cold, with flurries that settled on the grass and threatened the easy walk on the sidewalk. By Christmas, it was a settled cold-you knew that it was winter and were accustomed to pulling out the gloves on a regular basis. There were some warm days, but they were like gems, singular and cherished, because you knew the next day it would snow or turn cold and damp.

Now, I almost feel like a fraud, wearing a lined coat. True, the temperature dips to something more seasonal, but at a time when I wouldn’t be out anyway.

A few principles to help you celebrate both the Earth and the Holiday: Reuse, regift(give something you already own), and be creative. The more we use what we already have the more we make things ourselves, the less emissions there are needed to manufacture and distribute newer items. As for me, I’ve become a freecycler: the joy of finding out that something you already own and no longer need is someone else’s treasure is gratifying.

Decking the halls can be green too. A Christmas find: three years ago I went to an old second-hand store and found perfectly good Christmas cards. The people there practically gave them to me, they cost a dime apiece, some just a nickle. They were clean with no writing and envelopes still with them. Why? Some people buy but never send their Christmas Cards, or they buy too many of them to ever send. I’ve sometimes have seen old boxes of Christmas ornaments, left by people who have upgraded to fancier ones, tree skirts, even half-used boxes of tinsel. Don’t buy the strings of lights-not only are they the old incandescents, but they may be worn with use.

For the people who like to make things, old second-hand stores are also good for some supplies, especially if you sew or knit. Look for half-used balls of yarn, old neglected craft kits, half-used bolts of cloth, toys that can be repainted-all can be a very cheap source of craft supplies, old packs of buttons, ribbons, tablecloths, art supplies-all can be excellent sources of materials for the do-it yourselfer when it comes to making gifts. If all thumbs, look for local artisans who are making things that are interesting.Local artisans can also be a source of gifts People who love what they do, and certainly need the money, especially at this time of years. For the busy, there are ecological gifts: Reusable Bags, Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Food is almost always welcome (Check on dietary issues first, though).

A common source of Holiday confusion: natural or artificial tree? Things are a bit mixed on the subject. On one hand, Artificial trees require a great deal of energy to make, are often made of non-renewable plastic, and are imported from overseas. However, they do last from year to year and can be passed to someone else if the owner wants a larger or smaller tree. Of course, they eventually end up in the landfill, but that can be several years or even decades depending on the quality of the tree. I’ve even seen old 1960’s tinsel trees in antique stores. On the other hand, natural trees are renewable, but you have to buy one every year-and trees are needed more than ever to filter the air and add oxygen, provide habitat for birds and so forth. So there’s no clear answer as to what to do unless someone offers a tree during a move, decides to leave the old artificial one behind. Save it from the landfill.

So, give the earth a gift, and have a Green Christmas. Reuse, recycle, regift, and be creative. Not only will Santa love you, the Earth will love you too. And I can actually get some real use from all that winter gear I own.

For Capricorns, ask a Cancer who’s in their eighties/seventies, a Leo born anytime in the forties and fifties, a Virgo born from 1956 to 1974, just about any Libra under 50 or so, those Scorpios, Sagittarians for advice on how to handle Pluto crossing your Sun. You may find yourself flirting with power of some kind and with concepts that will shake your world view greatly. The Cancer people had to deal with shocks to their sense of security and what was home. The Leo’s with new ways of performing, and issues of self-confidence and self-esteem. Virgo had to learn new ways of serving. Libra’s had to open up to love. Scorpio—well enough said. Sagittarians with changes to the free and easy way they are so used to..

It is also a time to look at its opposing sign to see what’s closing. Suburbia, and the American idea of the single family home grew during Pluto in Cancer..Pluto in Capricorn is likely to end suburbia because of its demands that things be paid for NOW and in full. We can no longer afford this. Not that the houses will go away, but they must be made more practical. Cancer brought in births that were more scientific-hospital rather than home, baby formula, the new approach to child psychology and scientific child-raising. Capricorn will bring the hospital to the home, make child feeding natural but guided by good information, and tradition will be combined with science.

Cancer was the era of the family auto. Capricorn will be the bullet train and cyberspace.

Countries that have the Sun in Capricorn, and there are a lot of them, will go through a period of cultural growth and dominance. Great Britain comes to mind readily, with a Capricorn Sun.

Pluto’s effect on Capricorn is likely to explode our ideas about hierarchy, government and tradition. During the last pass, monarchy-and an entrenched aristocracy ruled supreme. The French Revolution turned monarchs into constitutional rulers who presided over banquets while legislatures ruled. This time around I expect a lot more direct and networked rule. Our concepts of power will be more like a matrix than an up-down ladder or staircase. There will be bosses, but bosses that are more situational, that is a person is a boss for a project, not necessarily a person of a greater social class. What happens to Congress and executives? More direct democracy? Different ways of governing that allow for greater input by the commons? A separation of the Presidency into a President and a National Manager who handles the practical side of the deal?

On religion-the French Revolution brought in very briefly the religion of “Reason”, deism, and general skepticism not completely ended until the table rappers of the 1840’s. This time around atheism is likely to become another part of the spiritual spectrum, an viewpoint among many others openly held. Religion’s response is likely to be good-doing and an emphasis on ethics and ritual and less on the rapture or heaven or hell. I expect more interest in the historical Jesus and less on drama elsewhere.

So far it looks like the shakeup is in business: Circuit City and several other long-standing businesses like Lehman Brothers have suddenly gone poof. I read an online rumor that Sears may be next. I entered a downtown mall, and several of the stores I once went to have vanished, leaving empty storefronts. But once the credit loosened up again, a lot of small businesses seem to be holding on, and if you are handling essentials, you are thriving.

This is especially true for astrology. For years, the subject has been on the edges of the media world: books, while not rare, not necessarily best sellers, practically banished from the world of television and radio due to obscure rules and concern that the subject would just rile up everyone from skeptics to religious fundamentalists. When it wasn’t banned- it was trivialized practically to death-Sun in Leo today meant you would meet a tall, dark stranger in a golden Rolls.  (I consider Linda Goldman a mixed blessing in that regard)

Now we have the internet, with its limitless potential for self-expression. Say what you please without any need to placate anyone or the gods of commerce. Editors (unless you blog for a publication) and censors (unless you’re in China) are practically gone.  I can post articles without any regard to the length, audio without worrying about size. Technology and my ability to pay for bandwidth are the only real restrictions, and if what I have to say is larger and longer than that, then there are e-books,  podcasts, and links to files on remote storage sites that could store the entire digitized version of the Library of Congress if they were only given the contract.

But so far, I’ve been fairly disappointed. We have yet to have our equivalent to Daily Kos-a site where astrologers could post diaries, et al and meet for daily news and networking and technical stuff. Admittedly, it’s an expensive proposition with bandwidth, but not impossible, and hopefully I could create a similar account here. Many of the sites just don’t seem to cut it even visually, and audio has yet to make a dent as well.

With an Uranus-ruled medium, we should be one of the largest categories on it, taking full advantage of the new tools provided by the information age.

Till next post,
Aquariusmoon.

So here I am-for a long time, since the site is 2x as big as the old site, and I can now use all of the bells and whistles I have hoped for. There will even be another domain taking up part of the site as well….