Just a short note on a Saturday night after a 12 hour shift at the Eye....

Every single one of my readings had a common theme today: how the energy in May is so difficult with everything seeming to follow Murphy's Law. How true. And we've got another full week until we get any relief, then there's another, different hit coming.

This end to Saturn Retrograde, which goes direct on Sunday, May 30th, is like going to school for 12 years without studying any of the subjects and, in one week, having to take tests on everything.

Then on Monday, May 31st, Neptune goes retrograde for several months, bringing a higher emotional quotient to every aspect of our lives, especially for water signs, especially for Pisceans (and some can feel the affects of it now). I feel it will also ping on the people who have had brushes with alcoholism. I had a client in today who counsels addicts in a very exclusive facility. I felt her summer was going to be very busy.

So hunker down and survive, or hide if you can. Watch relationship issues because everyone's going to be testy and things can be said and done that you really don't mean.

Obviously, as with all retrogrades going direct, it doesn't mean the energy changes that day and it's all jolly time thereafter. It takes time. Try to stay out of judgment, give yourself a break, give others a break. We're all in this together and it's easy to blame someone else for how they behave in this weird energy. But then, from their point of view, you're probably behaving weird too.

Hang in, survive, and blessed be.

In looking over my last posting, I thought I should add something about the art of thinking and speaking intentions to help create a more positive reality.

We don't always pay attention to our words, what they mean, how they're received, or the power of them. I realized this when teaching Spellworking; the Words of Power used in a spell must match the intention exactly. I was surprised that students found this difficult, even though the basics are very simple. But it's just a matter of shifting the thought process.

So, here are a few tips to help you phrase your intentions for the highest benefit, or to write a really powerful spell.

Always speak/think in the present. To say, "I will have unlimited wealth" puts it in the future. Always. It is forever just out of reach and never attained. Tomorrow never comes, right? Instead, say, "I have unlimited wealth". Create the space for the new reality RIGHT NOW and let your subconscious (or guides, angels or ancestors) bring it into being.

Avoid words like "wish", "need", "want" as that sends out the energy of lack. The Law of Attraction says what you send out is what you get back. To send out lack means you get lack in return. So, instead of saying "I wish for perfect health", again, say, "I have perfect health". Create the reality in your mind and it becomes physical reality.

Stay away from any negative words like "no, not, never" and any contraction associated with them. The subconscious doesn't recognize negative words. In saying, "I don't eat bad foods" means we've just programmed ourselves to eat bad foods because the subconscious will just skip over the negative and give us what we ask for. We usually say the negatives with a lot more vehemence than the positives. If we want someone to stop doing something, we're usually a lot more forceful. That force is translated into giving us a lot of exactly what we don't want.

In one of the Spellworking classes, we go around the room so everyone can speak for five minutes on something difficult that happened to them recently WITHOUT USING NEGATIVES. It's not as easy as you might think. Try it sometime around friends and have them check you if you slip. Chances are, you'll slip frequently because our normal speech pattern includes negatives all the time.

When forming intentions in your mind, keep them positive as well. That's what we aim for, but sometimes ego can step in with barriers, especially when we're getting close to overcoming something we've been stuck on for a while. In chanting for 40 days (the standard discipline to alter reality), it's pretty usual that around days 20 or 30, we want to stop chanting because we're too tired or bored or don't feel it's working. That's just the ego telling us we're getting close to releasing something that's held us back. It doesn't want to change and will fight to the death with subterfuge to stop us.

In one of my favorite books, Kinship with All Life, the author, J. Allen Boone, is taught by a magnificent dog how to send clear intentions through thoughts. It's not any easier to do than speaking without negatives. We don't usually marshall our thoughts that closely. But it can be learned and the results are astounding.

Pet behavior/discipline is a good example. Say you don't want your dog to pee on the floor. Not only do you use the big DON'T in what you tell him, you're usually clearly visualizing the last time he peed on the floor. The "not" is thrown out by his subconsicous and he psychically receives the vivid image from you of him peeing on the floor, so to him that's approval. Forceful approval as you're usually pretty damn sure you don't want him to do it again.

So you're sending him a very clear intention with word and thought that he's supposed to pee on the floor. Then you get mad (or at least I do when my cats do it) and the animal doesn't know what's going on. Instead, send a very clear image of the dog walking away and peeing outside.

One of my cats, Gus, likes to wake me up if I sleep in later than usual. He's a great alarm clock, but not on my days off. He usually taps me on the head and if I don't rouse, puts a little claw into it. Not to break skin, just to get attention. I could easily shove him off the bed and tell him "don't do that." But instead, I send him a mental image of him lying back down next to me and going to sleep, with words like, "please stop" or "give me more time". It works every time.

Another trick with intentions is to use all your senses in creating them in your mind. Meditation or concentration that creates reality with sight, smell, taste, hearing and feeling is far more successful than using only visualization.

If these suggestions are difficult to get the hang of right off the bat, please try again. Our Earth and all of humankind need forcefully positive intentions and words. Change a little part of your reality for the better and it becomes a catalyst for a bigger change.

Blessed be.

Another word on the health issues of the day, going back over what I said in my last posting about the new germs and bacteria being released into the air by the quakes and volcanic activity that are affecting us so strongly because of our lack of immunity to them.

I was reminded by my friend and mentor, Carolyn Rehart (the brilliant woman who taught me Tarot and so many other things), that it matters how you deal with these new health issues. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a fan of the modern American Medical Association system. I don't agree with their lack of respect for the body as a whole. They're outlook, it seems to me, is based on the Piscean Age "control over" concept. And if we're learning anything with all these changes and challenges, it's that we no longer have control over anything.

I'm also reminded that a huge part of this ascension into higher awareness is the power of our own mind and intention directing new energy that then forms what is to come. Many shamans and teachers who have made these changes their main study have said that as the Earth shifts and gives birth to a new version of herself, humans have the power to program how they will learn and survive through positive thinking and intention. If we live in fear, we maintain fear and create more fear. If we live in positive thinking and possibility, we create the same. Law of Attraction, and all that.

In facing these new health challenges, it's probably not the best thing to just accept you're sick and immediately go for the antibiotics. If you do get sick, try to look at it differently. Why did you get this specific problem? You may be susceptible to germs that settle in your throat because you have issues of not being heard, or having your opinion stiffled in early life or a past life. Look at what any illness represents metaphysically. Stay in positive intention; accept health issues as a map to show you what you need to work on and be grateful for the clarity.

Carolyn said it very well in an email response to my last posting:

"I've been thinking about these "new" bugs you mentioned. We need to become Light Warriors and fight them with positive affirmations of health and invoking worldwide immunity to these and any other bugs that may be released in the future. Not only for ourselves, families and friends, but for the world at large. Affirming that we feel sick only gives them more power. I don't choose to do this. So from now on, if I catch myself saying, "I don't feel good, I feel sick, etc." I'm going to stop and say, "I feel strong and healthy, my body's immune system adapts quickly and surely to any and all illness."

Very well said.

I'm not telling you to stop getting medical attention, but as balance is our key word these days, do it with balance and look at what it all means. Be cautious of medicine that treats only a symptom and not the whole. There is a personal reason for every illness, from the common cold to the worst cancer. It may not even have to do with the issues of your current life. In fact, most of the time, I've found the extreme illnesses and health issues are ways of dealing with pretty heavy karma.

Disbelieve in disease! As a word, disease is dis-ease, just another way of showing imbalance.

And if you'd like to work on good health intentions every day, try this Sanskrit Mantra which asks the celestial healer, Dhanvantre, for guidance to find the most appropriate path to healing. It is written like this:

"Om Shri Dhanvantre Namaha."

And pronounced like this:

"Om Shree Dahn-vahn-trey Nah-mah-ha."

It's chanted on a single, droning note with the "trey" syllable trilled up and down a step to finish the Namaha on the same note as the begininng.

For more info on chanting, check out Thomas Ashley Farrand, aka Namadeva, and his CDs and books on chanting. It works! It really does!

Meanwhile, blessed be and think health!

A lot of people are having heightened health problems of late. Here are some things to be aware of, in my humble, non-medical-professional opinion:

Breathing issues are going to increase, so will problems with any kind of congestion-related sensitivies. We now have more new bacteria and particles in the air that haven't been on the surface of the planet for milennia. This isn't just caused by the fine dust/ash/ice/minerals/etc. released into the air from the Icelandic volcano eruption; but every time there is a major quake, old bacteria and germs are released from deep in the earth. We don't have natural immunity to these and we aren't getting a whole lot of time to develop immunity as the stuff is coming at us so fast.

As of today, Friday, May 14, 2010, there have been 14 major quakes (6.5 or above) since January. Remember, this is the Year of the Earthquake. People who already have allergies, asthma or other breathing problems are obviously going to be affected. People who have never had allergies or aren't usually susceptible to colds or flu are going to pick things up easily.

And since there is no "logical" reason for allergies, colds or flu to be worse (as volcanic ash and earthquake dust aren't being considered by the standard medical community, at least that I've encountered), people might think there is something far more serious going on within their own bodies.

A friend who has asthma recently thought she was developing heart problems because she was getting severe palpatations. But it was because her asthma was worse, so she used her inhaler more, and too much of the medication affected her heart activity adversely. With a new inhaler aimed at dealing with more severe asthma, her heart was fine.

Colds and flu bugs over the last several years have gotten very severe, not just because our bodies are developing resistence to antibiotics. Again, these are caused by new germs we haven't seen since humans have been on the planet, so we haven't built up immunity. People treat them like they're just regular colds and sometimes can end up in hospital with pneumonia in a matter of days because they aren't recognizing these as more dangerous bugs.

Then there are the stress related illnesses that are coming to a head because of all the forced inner work from the retrograde Saturn, Pluto and (just direct last Tuesday) Mercury. If there are health or stress issues that have been put aside, or you think you'll deal with them later, well, this is later. And in the last few weeks of Saturn retrograde (direct on May 30th), the push to take care of these issues is going to intensify.

Joint issues, whether new sensitivity or aggravated cases of pre-existing arthritis, will seem worse. Back issues, mostly spine rather than muscle related, will get a lot worse. Bad eating habits will increase because of stress increase. That brings on weight problems which brings added issues for physical health. Then there's the mental health, i.e. depression and anxiety, associated with feeling you're a failure because you can't control what and how much you eat, let alone have any control of how your life is going.

And there's the regular depression and the up-and-down mental juggling act we're all doing as we adjust to facing issues of the past (Saturn retrograde) while adapting to the new consciousness shifts without a roadmap. Humans can adapt a lot better when they know what's going on and not too many people really have a clue right now.

So please take care of yourselves. Eat well, build up your immune system, figure out ways to deal with stress because it isn't going to go away. It's actually going to get worse (sorry about that) and not just because the last weeks of Saturn retrograde are going to be rough. I'm talking years. We're in a time of major change and we'll all be pushed to what we think is our limit. But we can actually deal with a lot more than we think we can. Especially if balance within self is foremost. And every lesson is incredibly valuable whether we like it in the moment or not.

It may sound all New Age-y (well, this is the New Age of Aquarius and the Fifth Day of Mankind and the end of the Precession of the Equinoxes), but meditation, chanting, drumming, spiritual ceremony, prayer, song, energy exercises (Tai Chi, Qi Gong) all help a lot. So does drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of dark greens. And if you can't stop eating the bad stuff, at least add the good stuff in there somewhere.

The biggest lesson that seems to be on us now in all parts of our lives is balance: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional. And, like I said, it's a juggling act at the moment. Achieve balance one day and you'll be out of balance the next. That's because things are changing so fast. That's good, but it's also tough. We can do it. The first step is taking care of yourself.

Hang in there. We all agreed to be here and it may be tough, but you're here for a reason at this time exactly where you are. Find out what that is, and it makes it all a lot easier.

Blessed be.

Last time I briefly touched on the retrogrades we're facing: Saturn, Pluto and Mercury. For those who don't know, when a neighboring planet seems to go backwards in its orbit in comparison to the Earth's orbit, it's seen as going "retrograde". Whatever influence it normally has on us then shifts to what seems to be the opposite.


The most popular in modern awareness is Mercury Retrograde, probably because it happens more frequently and because its effect on us is so easily recognized: communication mishaps, automobile accidents, computer and electronic snafu's. This year, we have four times when Mercury goes retrograde for about three weeks each. We're in the second, which ends May 11th.

This go-round, some of the major obstacles to look out for are scheduling mishaps and simple miscommunication. That seems easy enough, but coupled with the Saturn and Pluto Retrogrades, of course it's not going to be that easy. Whatever lessons Saturn and Pluto have for us are going to be made more pointed because of Mercury.

Each retrograde - no matter what planet is involved - is a major opportunity for facing lessons, healing the past and letting go of what might be in your way. When the outer planets get involved (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), the lessons and challenges are deep seeded and can reach back into past life lessons brought forward in this life.

The main info I want to cover right now, however, is about Pluto Retrograde, as the planet of transformation is having such an important part to play in the overall and much grander scheme of the 2,000 year, 5,126 year, 26,000 year and 125,000,000 year shifts we're smack in the middle of (more on that in future blogs).

I'd like to quote from one of my favorite reference books, Annie Bones' "Celestial Forecaster". Every year, this book not only charts every astrological event that's happening, it explains what it means so anyone can understand. As I've mentioned in a previous blog, I know Astrology, but I don't KNOW Astrology. This book - new every year - has been of tremendous help to me in my work and teaches me something new every day.

So here are some select quotes from what Annie Bones has to say about Pluto Retrograde, which is in Capricorn and runs from April 6th to September 13th, 2010.

"This is a time to make life better by consciously transforming fear into determination and despair into belief in oneself, no matter what condition of fate surrounds you. We must acknowledge the evolution of humankind's current condition in order to survive the changes that are occurring on Earth.


"The destructive habits, prejudices, sufferings and haunts of previous generations must be acknowledged, addressed and altered to enable us to tackle the world of the future. We will all face greater challenges and tests of epic proportions. Outdated concerns must be dealt with so that we may find solutions to the new problems in front of us. We must face tragedies, diseases, losses (particularly monetary), shattered dreams and altered or unexpected doses of reality. We must look within.


"This is a good time to confirm our greatest strengths by directing abusive patterns into constructive and useful disciplines which will reshape and bring hope to the emerging outlook on life."

Pluto's not messing around. But it's exactly what we need. We have some very hard shifts coming. We've already seen some of them. Some are going to be very physical - monetary system crashes, earthquakes - while most of them are going to be consciousness and awareness shifts. Pluto is preparing us for them.

One of the statements above is something I try to tell people everyday: "...we must transform...no matter what condition of fate surrounds you." It's easy to be happy and balanced when things are going well. But it's important to know how to stay balanced and, if not happy then content, no matter how challenging things are. All change is good, even that which we don't like, because it teaches and helps us get to a higher level of awareness. It's easier to understand and experience the "bad" if you see it as opportunity not celestial harassment.

Let Pluto show you things about yourself you may not want to see. Face the lessons and challenges it offers and I guarantee you'll be better prepared to deal with the shifts that are coming.

I'm very lucky in the work that I do as a psychic, or as I prefer, spiritual counsellor, to note patterns of energy and behavior. It's wonderful to know these things in broad strokes based on Astrology, but it's extra helpful to see them emerge in a more personal way when five or six separate people come in for readings on a single day, all with the same issues.

One of the patterns showing itself now is that, with all the challenges of Saturn Retrograde, Pluto Retrograde and Mercury Retrograde (not to mention the physical changes of the Earth herself), people are trending to extremes in one of two reactions.

People are either feeling incredibly insecure and lost, and filled with self doubt, even when the general things in their lives haven't changed; or, people are standing in self righteousness demanding that God / Creator / the Universe / the Powers That Be give them a sign or make something happen because they feel they've done enough and they've had enough of not getting their own way.

Either of these paths can happen to anyone. Self-righteousness isn't only for the ego-driven, nor is self-doubt only for the thoughtful. They're both ways to face the lessons that are on us - lessons in self awareness and awakening. And none of it's easy because it requires a perception shift. It requires thinking in an Aquarian way instead of a Piscean way (more on that when I get to the Piscean Age/Aquarian Age changes in another blog).

It was pretty incredible to witness a beautiful, level-headed, even-tempered client come to me with surprisingly intense anger, demanding that something had better happen for her or she was going to give up. I laid down several Tarot spreads, all with very valuable information. But even before I opened my mouth I knew she wouldn't hear a thing I said because nothing was going to give her the answer she wanted. The energies I called on (hers and mine) were showing a way to overcome this temporary anger and see the bigger picture, but she wanted her way. She left as angry as she'd come - not at me, at the Universe in general. I knew she'd eventually come down from it - that wasn't her nature - but it wasn't going to happen immediately.

Most of the people, however, are on the opposite end - feeling insecure and lost. But, as far as I understand, these retrogrades are taking us back over past experiences that were not healed or had no closure and showing them to us so we can fix them.

It's definitely uncomfortable, but without this energy, we wouldn't be facing these past issues, which means we'd carry them throughout our lives and probably have them bite us in the ass at some time when we're old. Then we become stuck, grumbly old people looking at what could or should have been. I think we've all seen or know people like that. And by that time, it's too late to do anything about it. But it's not too late now.

Try something for yourself, no matter what you're feeling or what situation you're facing. What happens if whatever negativity is in front of you is perceived as exactly what is right for you in that moment. Our modern society, especially in the United States, has gotten so used to the "right to happiness", we avoid or try to alter what we don't like or feel is undeserved instead of thinking why it's in our way in the first place. Because there's always a reason it is.

I had an encounter with someone at work recently where I was treated unjustly as a scapegoat. My first reaction was indignation and anger but then I tried to look at it as if it was exactly what was supposed to be happening to me at that time. I asked myself what I was supposed to learn, and looked back over my life (the retrograde effect) to find the scapegoat theme had happened before. Instead of blaming him, I took conscious responsibility for having treated this guy exactly the same way at some time in a previous life. I didn't have to remember the details, the proof that I had used him as a scapegoat before was in him using me as a scapegoat now. The lesson wasn't his, it was mine.

That wasn't easy to realize or to face. Before I'd worked it all out within myself, I went home with my stomach in knots at the injustice of it all and had to do several sessions of Tapping (thank you to the great Marilyn Morris for teaching me that) and some deep yogic breathing just to relax enough to sleep. The next day, I had completely owned the encounter and felt at peace. Even though my human self still wanted to kick a little ass, my spiritual self knew I'd get over that.

No matter what you're facing, just try seeing it as a way to learn something instead of as an obstacle. And hang in there. We're in difficult times. If you're having a difficult life at the moment, try not to judge yourself for not doing better. What happens if you stand in the knowledge that everything you're doing is exactly right and if you look at it long enough, you'll see it in clarity? Kind of takes some of the weight off of things, doesn't it?

I've been watching the news trying to get info on the volcanic eruption in Iceland and usually get maybe 20 seconds of stunning footage of the cloud, rarely the actual eruption, and then 20 minutes of people stranded in airports in the British Isles and Europe. I understand how annoying and frustrating it can be to have the normal flow of human lives disrupted but I feel the focus is a little off. And the imbalance of the reporting seems to represent the imbalance of how we as humans are seeing this event.

Put aside that this volcano hasn't erupted in over 180 years and our technology has never been better in reporting this magnificent, rare Earth change (a report of which I can't seem to find without - again - being deluged by stranded travellers), this is our dear Mother Earth giving us a mild warning about what's to come. I say mild because it really is. People are being inconvenienced, perhaps severely; but for the vast majority, this isn't life threatening.

What I feel is happening is a lesson in being adaptable. The Earth is the most important life now; she's in the process of giving birth to a new, more aware version of herself. And anyone who's been in labor, or been with someone in labor, knows when it's happening, nothing else is important. And yet with her in this state, she still gives us this gentle warning without letting her full intensity reign down on us.

I feel there are so many more changes to come - we're still at the beginning of the 16 years of Pluto in Capricorn (it actually started at the end of 2008), a time of great transformation. The last time this configuration hit us, we had the American Revolution and the people born during those 16 years grew up to have the French Revolution. We've got changes coming in every aspect of our lives and physical changes to the planet as well.

If we see events like this as annoyances and wait for them to pass so we can "get back to normal", I think we're missing the point. What happens if this eruption lasts for two years, like it did the last time? What will that do to our normal travel plans? Or any of the other alterations caused by that amount of ash in the atomsphere? Are we ready to deal with it?

I think we should be. Or at least look at this change as an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. Now is the time to let the Earth show us where our focus needs to be to learn how to survive this challenging time. She's always given us messages but with mankind in our full "power over" mode, we've not noticed them.

With the changing of the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age, we're finishing "mankind" and becoming "humankind" with more awareness and responsibility. If we now listen instead of talk and tap into our own intuition and innate connection to the Earth, I think we'll be a lot better off. Her messages are very clear. Take a moment to look at things from her perspective and be ready.