Amy Winehouse: Shooting Star

It’s been two weeks since Amy Winehouse was found dead in her North London home. Somehow, it seems much longer than that, doesn’t it?

An official cause of death has yet to be announced and speculation ranges from drug overdose to alcohol withdrawal. One thing is certain. No one was surprised when Amy joined the infamous 27 Club. 

It's sad that no one was surprised. It's even sadder that the whole world was watching this talented young woman’s steady decline into addiction – and no one could do anything to stop it. Such is the power of addiction.

Most astrologers I’ve read jumped right on the “Death Chart” scenario. I wanted to go back and see what was happening in her chart as her life and career progressed.

Amy was born on September 23, 1983 in Enfield, England. A reliable source with Mountain Astrologer magazine places her time of birth at 10:25 pm BST. That gave Amy a Gemini rising sign, which fits with descriptions of her personality: clever, intelligent, witty and funny vs. abusive, violent, and addicted with poor impulse control.  

Her natal chart is a stunning cluster array of every planetary body spread across just four of the 12 houses: the 4^th house through the 7^th house.

Most of the heavyweights were in her 6^th house of work: Pluto (destroyer & reformer), Saturn (the taskmaster with the urge for security & safety), Jupiter (good fortune and expansion), and Uranus (genius, freedom, bohemian). 

There is one exception in that 4^th through 7^th house cluster: Chiron, the wounded healer who was unable to heal himself, sits in her 12^th house of karma and the subconscious in perfect opposition to her 6^th house Jupiter and Uranus.

Amy was born with enough on her plate and in her chart to deal with in a lifetime.

Amy received her first guitar when she was 13 and within a year she was writing her own music. At the age of 19, she signed with an agent who literally kept her an industry secret. They knew they had a talent for the ages on their hands. Sebastian Danchin, author of Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul quoted other artists (including John Legend) that  "Amy Winehouse was produced by people who wanted to create a marketing coup.”

In March 2003, Neptune made its entrance into Amy’s 10^th house of career. Neptune is the planet of spiritual and escapist urges. Neptune rules music, glamour, dreams, illusion, delusion, mystique, fog, drugs, drug addiction, alcoholism, sleep-walking, trances, hypochondria, and abnormality. Neptune will lead you to deceive yourself. It will make you want to seek the ideal. Neptune will fill you with a solar system of self-doubt.

Neptune’s action over the next few months would retrograde back into her 9^th house, then into her 10^th, crossing over her 10^th house cusp, just grating away at her self-confidence.

Work moved forward on launching the “Winehouse Phenomenon.” Her first release, Frank, was released on October 20, 2003. On that day, Neptune was back in her 9^th house giving her some reprieve. However, it was still close enough to her midheaven to affect her public life as well as how she was dealing with authority figures in her life. It would be influencing her to identify with illusion, impairing her judgment and causing her to suffer a loss of faith in herself.

Uranus was at the top of her chart, smack dab in the middle of her 10^th house. Uranus is the planet of originality, electricity, magic, and sudden change. It is the bolt out of the blue. Uranus was trining Amy’s natal Pluto, which represented significant life changes - difficult and inevitable changes where she would confront parts of her self she would rather not face.  Texts about this aspect state that “these events unfold over time. Running away from the battle will not help you for eventually you must admit the dark unknown and integrate it with your conscious self if you are to move towards wholeness and peace of mind.”

Saturn, the great teacher of lessons, was halfway through her 2^nd house of values and how she earned her money. This transit also indicated she would have dealt with doubts regarding her self-worth.

Jupiter, the planet of expansion, had just crossed into her 5^th house of creativity, giving her the opportunity to display her abilities.

Chiron was transiting her 8^th house signifying that old wounds were surfacing and she would have been experiencing challenges in intimate relationships, possibly with some sexual dysfunction.

Nonetheless, the match had been lit and the Amy Winehouse rocket was blasting off.

Amy had written all but two songs on her freshman release. Frank earned triple platinum sales and rave reviews brought comparisons of her voice to Sarah Vaughn's and Macy Gray's. Billboard called the album “stellar.” Amy won the Ivor Novello Award. 

Heady stuff for a 19-year old.

Amy, however, said that she was “only 80% behind (the) album” because of the inclusion by her record label of certain songs and mixes she disliked. This confirms that Amy was rebelling against the authority figures in her life.  

On May 18, 2007 Amy  married Blake Fielder Civil, a former video production assistant. Civil is widely believed to be the person who introduced Amy to heroin and crack cocaine. At the time, Pluto was transiting her 7th house of marriage and partnerships, in a sextile aspect with her natal Pluto. This transit transformed her urge for self-renewal and regeneration.

Transiting Chiron, the wounded healer, in her 10th house of career was in touch with a trine to her Ascendant. This transit portends a healing presence coming into her life. However, Civil is widely regarded as the man who introduced Amy to heroin & cocaine. Neptune still in her 10th house was just 7 degrees away from transiting Chiron.


January 24, 2008 Amy checked herself into rehab. Amy's chart for this day shows a snapshot of her natal chart's leading planet, Mars, transiting her 1st house of self. This would have been giving her a strong will and she was truly focused on herself. This transiting Mars was opposing her natal Neptune, giving her new spiritual insights but also a sense of confusion. However, with Neptune plaguing her career, Amy had to have had trouble sorting through what was real and what was illusion. She was imagining goals for herself that might not have been realistic and could never come to fruition.

Transiting Saturn was squaring her natal Uranus, urging her to break away from the forces that were shaping her life. It is also interesting to note that the transiting Moon was squaring her natal Chiron. Her feelings would have been related to the symoblism of suffering, transformation and healing. She would have felt healing energy coming into her life. The Moon was also squaring her natal Jupiter giving her positive feelings and beneficial contacts with people. Transiting Sun was in a strong trine to her natal Chiron, making her conscious of an energy of personal transformation.

Amy's demons seem to be caged. On February 10, 2008 she wins five Grammys including Best Pop Vocal Album for Back to Black, Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Rehab.
Her mother states that Amy was "on the road to recovery." At that time, Mercury and the Sun joined Chiron and Neptune at the top of her chart in her career house. Transiting Pluto was in a strong sextile aspect to her natal Saturn, indicating that she was feeling the push for a more vibrant way of being in the world and in the process of letting go of some part of her past. She was trying to create something new in place of the old.

By June 2010, Amy has divorced Blake Fielder Civil, has a fashion line ready to launch that is featured in Harper's Bazaar, and is dating a new man, British film director Reg Traviss. While drugs may seem to be out of her life, she continues to struggle with alcohol but she continues to seek help by checking herself back into rehab several times. At the time the photo at left was taken, Amy chart showed that she was, for the most part, in a better place. The twin demons of Chiron and Neptune are still transiting her 10th house and are now just 2 degrees apart.

On June 18, 2011, Amy gives a disastrous performance in Belgrade. She was late for the performance, forgot her lyrics, and wandered around the stage aimlessly. The crowd booed her. She cancels the rest of her 12-date European tour. Her old demon, transiting Neptune, is now in a strong square with her natal Chiron. It was a stressful time for her. She was working hard to dissolve old structures. She was experiencing the tension what she was trying to break away from and what she was trying to create in her life.

At the July 1, 2011 eclipse, planetary aspects were once again challenging Amy. This was the elipse that formed a cardinal grand cross with Saturn, Neptune and Pluto. The eclipse took place in Amy's 2nd house of values and self-worth. Saturn was transiting her 5th house of love affairs and creativity. Neptune, of course, is still sitting in her 10th house of career.

Pluto, the planet of death and transformation, had just crossed the cusp of Amy's 8th house - the house of  death and rebirth, sexuality and transformation.

Saturn transiting the 5th house would have Amy working to discover her true self and learning to love the person she found in the process.

Neptune transiting the 10th house indicates a period of confusion and a greater spiritual awareness concerning career and public persona, or self-expression in the world. She tended to give more than she received and found herself susceptible to suggestion. She also tried to avoid responsibility. One text states "you may branch out into a musical career."

Pluto transiting the 8th house would have Amy learning what she truly needed from close relationships in her life as opposed to what she thought she needed from them.

Trust Me...This is Major

Since the July 1 eclipse, I’ve been thinking of the ever-growing Murdoch scandal that has rocked England. This story is huge in its implications and as the saying goes, “the balloon has gone up” on the Murdoch empire. Keeping up with the mushroom cloud of developments is mind-boggling.

There are dozens of charts to consider but the main ones I looked at are those of  Rupert Murdoch and his paper, News of the World (NOTW).

This scandal has been festering for years so I looked at two eclipses: the lunar eclipse of October 17, 2005 and the solar eclipse of July 1, 2011. Granted, there were 24 other eclipses between those two dates, but I was looking for what triggers might have been in place to bring this story to light.

I chose the October 17, 2005 lunar eclipse because in November 2005, the “News of the World” (NOTW) printed a story about Prince William making a doctor’s appointment due to a knee injury. This small story prompted royal officials, suspicious that the report had so much accurate detail, to complain to the police about probable voice mail hacking. 

Remember Watergate? This stuff always starts out small!

Oct 2005 eclipse points: the Moon was in 24 degrees of Aries and the Sun was in 24 degrees of Libra.

Murdoch’s Chart

The eclipse highlighted his 5^th and 11^th houses. The 5^th house represents gambles as well as the arena where personal energies can be released into the world. It is the house in which things are created. The 11^th house represents goals. It is where the work in society represented by the 10^th is released by the individual’s activities. This is where visions for the future and group associations will operate in life.

There was a lot going on for Murdoch that day. He was born with the Moon in 24 degrees Sagittarius in his 12^th house of karma, secrets, the subconscious, confinement and self-undoing. A big player, Pluto, was transiting his 12^th house and on the day of the Oct 2005 eclipse it was sitting right on top of his Moon. This action would be interpreted as a process that would lead to significant and far-reaching changes. One source I have says it would be “stirring up feelings of thwarted infantile desire for power.”

Go back to the eclipse point: Sun in 24 Libra. Moon in 24 Aries. Natal Moon in 24 Sagittarius holding hands with transiting Pluto in 22 degrees Sag. 

            

NOTW Chart

 The eclipse highlighted the paper’s 6^th and 12^th houses. The 6^th house is about service to others including conditions of the day-to-day stuff of work. It is about “overcoming obstacles in producing the fruit of one’s achievements.” I supposed you could say that tapping into Prince William’s voice mails is one way to “overcome obstacles” in getting a story. And the 12^th house is, as mentioned above, the house of karma, secrets, the subconscious, confinement and self-undoing.

Ironically, the transiting eclipsed Moon is sitting right on top of the paper’s natal Pluto in 22 degrees Aries in its 6^th house. This is the second Moon/Pluto combo. Murdoch had one, too. 

There are a few other points of interest for the paper. As mentioned above, transiting Pluto was in 22 degrees Sag moving through the paper’s 2^nd house of money and values. The day the paper was first published, Pluto, also mentioned above, was in 22 degrees Aries falling in the paper’s 6^th house of work and service to others. This means that in the fall of 2005, transiting Pluto was shaking hands with  NOTW’s natal Pluto: “the death and rebirth energy of Pluto is up during this time and significant life changes are certain to result. These life changes may manifest on an internal level or sometimes outer events may bring them to the surface.”

I can’t move on without mentioning that NOTW was created on a day that put Chiron in 26 degrees of Leo in its 10^th house of career and public standing. This placement means that Chiron represents making a responsible contribution to society. It is rebellious of authority yet compulsively drawn to it. It can mean overexerting authority and making others feel oppressed. Chiron in Leo means that the paper would want to shine on the public stage but would find itself thwarted in its attempts to shine. NOTW was first printed on October 1, 1843 and was aimed directly at the newly literate working classes. It quickly established itself as a publisher of “titillation, shock and criminal news.” NOTW has long had to defend itself from libel charges and complaints of entrapment as a tool for gathering “news.”

Go back to the eclipse point: Sun in 24 Libra. Moon in 24 Aries holding hands with natal Pluto in 22 Sag. Transiting Pluto in 22 Sag. Natal Chiron in 26 Leo.

Were the cosmic strings being pulled that would lead to the unraveling of NOTW and the Murdoch empire? Let’s toss the ball onto this roulette table and see where the spin takes us.

August 2006: Because of that small November 2005 story about Prince William’s knee injury, Clive Goodman (photo below), a NOTW reporter, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator hired by NOTW to illegally intercept phone messages, were arrested.

January 2007: Goodman and Mulcaire were jailed for 4 and 6 months respectively. NOTW editor Andy Coulson resigned. Ironically, the investigating policeman on the case became a columnist for NOTW.

May 2007: Britain’s Press Complaints Commission cleared NOTW of wrongdoing in a report that stated there was no evidence that anyone at the paper was aware of phone tapping. Andy Coulson, the resigned editor, became Director of Communications for British politician David Cameron of the conservative party.

July 2009: A rival paper, The Guardian, known for its liberal slant, broke a story that Murdoch’s company paid an excess of a million pounds to settle cases that would expose the phone hacking. Scotland Yard refused to investigate. The Crown Prosecution Service looked back at 2006 evidence.

November 2009: Britain’s Press Complaints Commission AGAIN cleared Murdoch’s company of any wrongdoing.

February 2010: A Committee in the House of Commons found no evidence of phone hacking but stated it was hard to believe that only one reporter (the afore mentioned Clive Goodman) would have been aware of the practice. The Guardian reported that Scotland Yard uncovered more than 4000 names, 3000 telephone numbers, and 91 pin codes for voicemail access while investigating the only two men to be held accountable for any crime. Only 8 people were named in court.

March 2010: The Guardian reported that a publicist was paid a million pounds to drop a legal case that would expose other NOTW journalists.

April 2010: More hacking allegations led to the suspension of a NOTW feature writer.

May 2010: Three years prior, Andy Coulson (photo below), the disgraced editor of NOTW resigned to go to work for British pol David Cameron.  In May 2010, David Cameron was elected Prime Minister and Andy Coulson was now working at 10 Downing Street as the new government’s head of communications.

September 2010: The New York Times (liberal competitor to Murdoch’s conservative Wall Street Journal) reported that the phone hacking was both widespread and encouraged at NOTW. Said Scotland Yard didn’t do its job. Miffed, Scotland Yard reopened the investigation. British politician John Prescott called for judicial review of Scotland Yard.

January 2011: Former disgraced editor and chief talking head for the British government quit` his job. Wonder what door will open when the one that closed belonged to 10 Downing Street? Senior editor at NOTW, Ian Edmondson, suspended for being fingered in the scandal due to evidence from a court case involving actress Sienna Miller. She is getting 100,000 pounds in damages from NOTW for hacking her phone.

April 2011: NOTW editor Ian Edmondson and reporter Neville Thurlbeck arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages.

The July 1, 2011 Eclipse Points: The Sun & the Moon in 9 degrees of Cancer

Murdoch’s Chart

The eclipse was in Murdoch’s 7^th house of partnerships, open enemies, and issues that relate to other people. The other Cardinal Grand Cross points from that eclipse were: the teacher of all lessons Saturn in Murdoch’s 10^th house of career and public standing; powerful tear you down & build you back up Pluto in Murdoch's first house of self and the unfolding of his own personal destiny; bolt out of the blue shaker-upper Uranus in his 4^th house of foundations and endings.

News of the World’s Chart

The eclipse was in NOTW’s 9^th house, the house of publishing. The other Cardinal Grand Cross points from that eclipse: the teacher of all lessons Saturn in NOTW’s 12^th house of karma, secrets, the subconscious, confinement and self-undoing; Pluto in its 3rd house of how it communicates and how it operates mentally; Uranus in its 5th house of gambles and what it creates and unleashes to the world.

Our story continues....

 July 4, 2011: The Guardian reports that Milly Dowler (photo left), the young girl who disappeared in March 2002 and was found murdered in September 2002, had her cell phone hacked by the NOTW.  One of my London contact's said that everyone in Britain had to read that headline a dozen times before it registered. Hacking in 2002 means that the illegal practice had been going on for at least a decade.

July 5, 2011: NOTW editor and Murdoch favorite Rebekah Brooks (photo left) claimed she was “appalled and shocked” by this news. Britains collectively rolled their eyes.

        





July 6, 2011: Prime Minister David Cameron announced there will be a public inquiry but sees no reason why Murdoch can’t continue to try to take over Britain’s airwaves.

July 7, 2011: Allegations emerged of hacking of phones of dead soldiers families and victims of the July 7, 2005 terrorist bombing of London’s public transport system that killed 52 people and injured nearly 800. Advertisers and the Royal British Legion pulled the plug on their support for NOTW. James Murdoch announced that the paper will cease to publish.

July 8, 2011: Former disgraced editor and former Prime Minister head spokesperson Andy Coulson arrested. Clive Goodman, the reporter arrested and jailed at the very beginning, arrested again.

July 10, 2011: Last edition of NOTW.

July 14, 2011: The FBI begins to investigate Murdoch media’s phone hacking activities in the USA.

July 15, 2011: Les Hinton (photo left), CEO of Wall Street's Dow Jones & Company, publisher of the conservative Wall Street Journal resigned. Murdoch's company purchased Dow Jones on Dec 13, 2007.

July 17, 2011: NOTW Editor Rebekah Brooks arrested. The Chief of Scotland Yard, Sir Paul Stephenson (photo left) resigned.

More to come....

You're Shocked?

You're shocked? Did you forget Uranus was in play here? The planet of sudden and unexpected action, bolts out of the blue? Well, this bolt out of the blue said "not guilty."

 Judge Perry called Americans back to their TV sets and everyone back into the courtroom at 2:15 pm on Tuesday, July 5.

At that moment, the Moon, representative of our emotions, was in 10 degrees of Virgo transiting the USA's ninth house. The ninth house represents legal matters. Ironically, Virgo represents fact-finding as well as being methodical and discriminating.

The feminine Moon was in a mocking, strong square to the USA natal Uranus making our emotions subject to abrupt changes as well as indicating that issues with a significant female figure may suddenly change. The Moon was also in a strong square to the USA ascendant, making us aware of our limitations.

While some could say the limitations pointed to the inadequacies of our justice system, in reality they pointed to the inability of determining the facts of this case. As Juror #3 told ABC news, "If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be."

It also points to the difficult bar set by the concept of "beyond a reasonable doubt." Juror #3 was quoted as saying, "There was not enough evidence. Everyone wonders why we didn't speak to the media right away. It was because we were sick to our stomach to get that verdict. We were crying and not just the women."

I've found a few references to Casey Anthony's birth information on line and have created a birth chart. If the data is correct, and there are compelling indications it could be, it is interesting to note that Jupiter, the benefic planet of good fortune, is transiting her ninth house of legal matters.

Happy Birthday, USA!

It’s our birthday, USA! And here comes another solar eclipse to add to our 4th of July fireworks. From the perspective of those of us on Earth, this eclipse will take place in the sign of Cancer. Of course, this is the USA’s Sun sign (our nation’s collective ego and will). Good thing we have a long holiday weekend to chill out and not stress about the tension in the heavens around us. Let's consider what this eclipse might mean for the Good Ole' USA.

The eclipse will take place in 9 degrees of Cancer and that falls in the USA’s 7^th house of partnerships including marriage and business partners as well as matters dealing with diplomatic relations of all kinds including known enemies.

This eclipse will be in a position to oppose Pluto, currently in 6 degrees of Capricorn.  Pluto is the dark planet of transformation, destruction, creation, regeneration, healing, renewal, power struggles and upheaval. Plus, it rules taxes. This charming celestial body is moving throught he USA's 1st house of self, which represents ego, beginnings, initiatives and how the world sees us.

The eclipse will also be in a position to square unpredicatable Uranus, sitting in 4 degrees Aries. This is the planet of rebellion, indepdendence, invention, surprises, liberation, disruption, awakening, and my personal favorite, bolts out of hte blue. This blue bolter planet is moving through the USA's 4th house of motherhood, early foundaiton & environment, home, and cyclic end of matters.

The eclipse will ALSO be in a position to square Saturn, which happens to be in 10 degrees of Libra. Saturn is the big Kahuna. Dad. Father with a capital 'F'. Saturn is all about restriction, limitation, discipline, rules and regulations imposed on us by authority figures. It's also known as the Great Teacher for the limitations and lessons of Saturn actually help us to grow. This taskmaster is moving through the USA's 10th house of ambition, career, motivation, status, government...and how the rest of the world sees us.

Now that we have mapped out the heavens, how is this playing out down here on Mother Earth? Which headline should we look at, hmmmm? 

 "New York & Rhode Island Passes Civil Union Bills"
Same-sex couples can officially union just like the union of the Sun & Moon in an eclipse. Talk about 7th House of Partnership Stuff! Talk about a Uranus in our 4th House of Foundation Moment! Pluto in the 1st House Renewing and Healing us ! And there sits Mr. Conservative Saturn frowning down  from his perch in the"State of the Union," Big Government 10th House.

"Fireworks, Tears at Casey Anthony Trial"
This one has captivated us, hasn't it? The eclipse in the 7th House of Open Enemies opposite dark & destructive Pluto in how we see ourselves in the 1st House. Uranus, the unpredicatable, is sitting in our 4th house of Mom. Casey Anthony has not behaved the way we expect a Mom to behave. And how about that power struggle with Dad in the 10th House of Reputation? Watching the Anthony family undergo very public therapy by trial is showing us that our family might be (gasp) normal. DNA tests to determine if Dad is the, well, Dad/Granddad? Yuck.

                                          

"Floods, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, and Fires"
The destruction continues. Floods spring from Cancer, the water sign. Tornadoes spun from Libra, the air sign. Earthquakes shaking it up out of Capricorn, the earth sign. Fires flaming up out of Aries, the fire sign. The Cardinal Gang is shaking it up. And oh yeah, those nuclear plants? Talk to Pluto. He rules that stuff.

"Debt Ceiling: Do or Die"
Hello there Mr. Saturn moving through our 10th House of Government. Mr. Meanie holding us to our limits. NO. MORE. SPENDING. He means it! Credit cards are maxed. Yes, our 4th house of home foreclosures has disruptive Uranus stirring up our very foundations. Gotta raise taxes, says Pluto in our 1st House. Can't keep putting out without taking in. During the eclipse, the emotional Moon will blot out the willful Sun, but when the light returns...what will have slipped out from the shadows? Methinks we will have met the 7th House (known) enemy and he is most definitely us.

What will be the headlines occupying us post eclipse?



June 21: The Summer Solstice

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice is just a moment in time. It’s when the Earth’s axial tilt is at 23 degrees 26 minutes and the Sun is in the sign of Cancer. 

The word “solstice” is derived from root words that mean “stoppage”  or “stand.” The Sun appears to stand still in the sky when it reaches its maximum distance north of the celestial equator. 

June 21 is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight and is known as Midsummer. Originally a Pagan holiday, Midsummer is a time of fertility. 

It was believed that mid-summer plants like Calendula (Marigolds) had healing powers and they were picked on this night. Bright yellow marigolds look like small representations of the Sun.

Bonfires will be lit through out many nations, especially in Nordic countries like Sweden, on Midsummer’s Eve. Traditionally, the bonfire (another representation of the Sun) was meant to “wake up” the ground to make the fields fertile for another season. 

In Austria, a procession of ships will make their way down the Danube River while fireworks erupt from the banks and hill tops and bonfires blaze, lighting the vineyards of the wine-growing Wachau Valley.

In Denmark, the solstice has been celebrated since the time of the Vikings by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward off evil spirits. 

In Poland, young girls and women will dress in white wearing wreaths of yellow and white wildflowers on their heads. They will set candled wreaths afloat in rivers in hopes that young man will find the wreaths while fishing and fall in love with them. The rite is known as “Rzucanie Wiankow” (throwing of the wreaths)...much like brides who toss their bouquets to their unmarried friends.

It’s no accident that June marks the beginning of “wedding season” in our modern culture. 

The New York City Swedish Midsummer celebration has been celebrated in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan since 1996. 

The Seattle neighborhood of Fremont puts on a large Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant.  

Santa Barbara has hosted an annual Summer Solstice celebration since 1974 with a festival and a parade. 

Tucson will host its first every Earthwalk Solstice celebration his event features a walk through a giant labyrinth, musicians, healers and a ceremony. 

In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the large number of Finnish and northern European descendants will light a beachfront bonfire.

Celebrations will be held June 21 through June 24. Then we begin to ease into shorter days and we slowly slide southward into Autumn and Winter.

July 1, 2011 Partial Solar Eclipse

Usually, eclipses come in pairs, but this summer, we have three.

We’ve all heard that “things” come in threes. Good or bad. There is an idiom that says the third time’s the charm. No one can say for sure why that phrase became popular.  Some believe it alludes to the belief that, under English law, anyone who survived three attempts at hanging would be set free. Whatever the reason, we’ll have to see if the third eclipse of the summer of 2011 brings luck or not.

The July 1, 2011 partial solar eclipse will occur in 9 degrees of Cancer and will be visible to anyone who happens to be off the coast of Antarctica.  The June 1, 2011 partial solar could be seen only from the Arctic.

We have had a series of eclipses in Cancer or its opposite sign of Capricorn since July 2009. Those eclipses have been:

July 7, 2009: Lunar eclipse in 15 degrees Capricorn
July 22, 2009: Solar eclipse in 29 degrees Cancer
Dec 30, 2009: Lunar eclipse in 10 degrees Cancer
Jan 15, 2010: Solar eclipse in 25 degrees Capricorn
Jun 26, 2010: Lunar eclipse in 5 degrees Capricorn
July 11, 2010: Solar eclipse in 19 degrees Cancer
Jan 4, 2011: Solar eclipse in 14 degrees Capricorn
July 1, 2011: Solar eclipse in 9 degrees Cancer

Needless to say, those with strong Cancer or Capricorn signatures will be very happy to have this last eclipse out of the way.

The Sun represents our will. The Moon represents our emotions. The Moon is the natural ruler of the sign of Cancer. During this solar eclipse, the Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth and will be visible from what we consider the “bottom” of our world.  This is a New Moon and like all New Moons, this is the best possible time to start something new. A new relationship of any kind that begins at this time will be a keeper. However, one of you may behave as more of a mother-figure if a new relationship should begin. This time could signal a change in feelings. Or you could begin a new creative project.

I say this because Cancer is the archetypical sign of the mother. Cancer is sensitive, emotional, sympathetic, security-conscious, maternal, protective, calm, imaginative, conscientious, and traditional.

Where the signs of Cancer & Capricorn are in your chart is where the effects of the July 1 eclipse will be felt in your life. If you have natal planets in 9 degrees of any sign, chances are you’ll feel the eclipse more keenly than others.