Spirited Woman Blogger Team

Guest Blogger - Sheri Horn Hasan - The Benefits Of Mercury Retrograde

Sheri Horn Hasan, an expert in Karmic Evolution Astrology to do a three-part series on Mercury in Retrograde - but from a positive perspective. This is Sheri’s first post. - See more at: http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/go_blog_blog_blog/#sthash.BFuKtV7m.dpuf

Sheri Horn Hasan, an expert in Karmic Evolution Astrology to do a three-part series on Mercury in Retrograde - but from a positive perspective. This is Sheri’s first post. - See more at: http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/go_blog_blog_blog/#sthash.BFuKtV7m.dpuf

I invited Sheri Horn Hasan, an expert in Karmic Evolution Astrology to do a three-part series on Mercury in Retrograde - but from a positive perspective. This is Sheri’s second post.

Last week’s blog centered on how Mercury retrograde periods are quiet, barely noticed opportunities for the Spirited Woman to incorporate her innate, inherent, intuitive wisdom from her subconscious into her conscious brain, and vice versa.

This week let’s look at Mercury’s primary function and how all spirited women may benefit from Mercury retrograde periods!

The ancients regularly watched the planets in the sky and noticed how activity occurring on earth mirrored planetary interactions in the heavens. Way before the invention of telescopes and other technological devices this cause and effect became clear to them time after time.

Mercury is the messenger of the gods. His movement in the heavens foretells times when archetypal themes related to communication, learning, and how the mind processes information, occur. Mercury represents the twins Castor & Pollux and so is also directly related to siblings, early childhood learning, local commerce, and transportation.

Often during his retrograde periods - this one has been in effect from January 5 and will last until January 25 - we find ourselves reviewing rather than moving forward boldly into new plans, be these plans personal or business-oriented.

Watch for the themes mentioned above to become prominent now in one way or another as they seem to have been placed temporarily on hold causing us each various degrees of frustration…

Tuning In To The Rhythm Of Mercury Retrograde

As the Spirited Woman is being called to listen to her soul’s internal intuitive wisdom, and her psyche is busy becoming wiser, she doesn’t have the space in her brain to concentrate on moving forward - yet.

“The use of this cycle alerts us to the unconscious rhythms of reflection, and attunes us to our inner clock by dint of knowing when concentration and introspection are most needed,” writes psychological astrologer Erin Sullivan in her book “Retrograde Planets.”

“When to consider and reconsider ideas, projects, relationships, and lifestyle according to one’s own unique timing is the greater purpose of Mercury retrograde,” Sullivan concludes.

All Mercury retrograde periods for 2016 will be in earth signs. Earth signs are always about manifesting on the physical plane, and their general purpose - at least in part - is to ensure not only that we survive but that we feel safe and secure in our environment, our relationships, our careers, etc.

The current retrograde period is in the sign of the sea goat: Capricorn.

Guest Blogger - Sheri Horn Hasan - The Deeper Meaning Mercury Of Retrograde

It appears that a multitude of spirited women are interested in astrology. The stars seem to fascinate us. From sun signs to rising signs we are hooked. And often times, when a Mercury in Retrograde period comes up, which we are in now - we panic just a bit - because we have read so many negative things about it. I invited Sheri Horn Hasan, an expert in Karmic Evolution Astrology to do a three-part series on Mercury in Retrograde - but from a positive perspective. This is Sheri’s first post.

I turned to the study of astrology (a subject about which I'd always been curious) when I was diagnosed with a chronic, incurable, potentially-debilitating autoimmune disease nearly 16 years ago - to help me make sense of my world. I'd love to share with spirited women everywhere how the power of understanding the energies of the universe may lead us toward greater self-acceptance, self-love, empowerment, and true soul growth.

When I began my journey toward greater self-awareness, the first step became the realization that life is always a matter of choice and that my future lies in my hands and no one else's. Now a professional astrologer and past life regression facilitator (in addition to my work as a professional writing coach & editor), I believe the universe is benign, always works in our best interest, and provides us with continual and consistent opportunities to grow in consciousness each and every moment of each and every day.

While our egos may not always get what they want, we may rest assured the universe will always provide the spirited woman's soul with what it needs.

So when Mercury retrograde periods happen, as they do 3-4 times per year, instead of quaking in my boots, I began to go deep about how this time is better spent recognizing it as an opportunity for me--and all spirited women--to become wiser.

Many people think of these periods--when the planet Mercury appears to stop in its tracks in the sky and move backward for approximately 21 days—as times when communication between humans on Earth gets all screwed up.

Indeed, often we do miss appointments, lose our cell phones, forget our plane tickets, suffer the agonizing indignity of not having our phone calls or emails returned—for weeks!—and generally miss the small print on just about everything, from major contracts to minor purchases.

Never heard of it? Then let me give it to you straight: Mercury retrograde periods—which will occur four times in 2016—are meant to help, not harm, us.

We are, in fact, in a Mercury retrograde period right now--one that began on January 5. This period will last until January 25 when Mercury appears to stand still and then begin to move forward slowly, gradually picking up speed as he goes.

The good news?

Astrology Can Even Tell You When Nothing Will Happen

I’m one of those really thick headed astrologers. Maybe it’s because in my birth chart Mercury (the planet of communication and thought) is in fixed and deliberate Taurus. Or maybe it’s just because I’m Italian. Either way, I can be very obstinate when it comes to making up my mind.

This happens quite often when it comes to astrology and all of its traditional “rules.”

These nuggets of wisdom, when I read about them, never seem real to me until I test them out for myself. That’s what you get when you have a practical, level headed astrologer – I actually think that my healthy skepticism makes me a better one.

So lately I’ve been testing the theory of an astrological phenomenon called the Void of Course Moon.

Basically, the definition of a void moon is when the moon has traveled far enough into its current sign where it’s no longer making any major aspects to another planet in the sky. Old astrological lore warns us that if you begin anything during a void of course moon, absolutely NOTHING will come of it.

So if you start a business during a void moon, or sign an important contract, if you meet someone for the first time hoping that it will be an enduring relationship – and any other scenario you could think of – it will be pointless IF launched during a void of course moon.

Oh, did I mention the moon goes void every few days and can remain void for a period of a few minutes to a day and sometimes even more! So, there are many of us who routinely start important matters during a void moon, and we never know it.

I used to laugh at this astrological teaching – I really did. I would smirk whenever one of my colleagues muttered “I can’t do this right now – the moon is void.”

But then I said to myself, “Ok Maria, you need to test this out before you dismiss it.”

You Light Up My Life - But How?

Relationship astrology offers illumination about how other people perceive you and the potential you have for compatibility in a variety of ways, whether it’s a business, family or romantic relationship.

If you haven’t already gone to my website to create your free birth chart or the chart of a loved one please treat yourself to a look at the blueprint of your soul: www.InsightfulAstrology.com

Once you have the birth chart for yourself and the other person you can do something called a chart overlay where you take one person’s planets and superimpose them into your chart. Whatever house another person’s planet falls in your chart will tell you how you are affected by that person.

Let’s take the Sun for example. This is an all important part of the chart since it signifies your basic vitality and essence. Below is a short interpretation for each Sun placement of one person through the houses of another person. Enjoy the illumination spirited women!

Their Sun in Your 1st house – You’ll feel that the person will be very much like you, with a similar approach to life. There is a sense that we can easily express who we are around this person, in the most natural, uninhibited way.

Their Sun in Your 2nd house – There is a feeling that the Sun person is instrumental towards you obtaining what you want. Values play a central part in this relationship.

Their Sun in Your 3rd house – The Sun person will bring out the talker in the house person! The house person senses that the Sun person can teach him something significant. There should be a general harmony.

All The Love Triangles

Lately, I have been attracting clients to me like crazy who are all having the same problem – they’re involved in a messy love triangle.

My initial reaction to this new trend of similarities in my client’s plights was originally, I must admit, not very kind. For starters, I couldn’t help but think to myself: “Geez, your biggest problem in life right now is that you have to choose between TWO men? I’d take that problem any day!”

I admit, the betrayed woman in me still feels a little sting when it’s a client who’s having an extramarital affair. I never judge my clients because we are all involved in different situations in life but when something hits close to home I can’t help but feel affected. After you’ve lived through the fall out of “another woman” it’s hard to remain completely impervious. Sue me, I’m human.

But as I analyze the compatibility between my clients and their two choices in love the same thing is always so clear. It’s not about the “choice” it’s about the “chooser.” Something is always at the root of this so called problem and it has nothing to do with indecision over whether to go for the dreamy doctor with the curly hair or the sexy bodybuilder.

And this is what I love the most about astrology. I can help my clients get to the root causes of their problems during that one single session. Astrology is not just fortunetelling. I can see into your psyche – in a deeply intimate way.

One woman realized that her fear of repeating her mother’s pattern of cheating on her father was what kept her so unsure about which man to choose. It was a pretty deep revelation for her. And it was all there in the birth chart.

A male client who has this wonderful new woman in his life is still pining away for a woman who he never even had a relationship with but is convinced is his “soul mate.” Well, guess what his friendly neighborhood astrologer told him? It was more about his fear of commitment than anything else. It’s easy to “commit” to a woman you know you will never have. Ahhhh the light bulb went off.

In the end it doesn’t matter if you’re involved in a love triangle, a love quadrilateral or if you’re alone, wondering when the hell love will come your way. The truth of the matter is, unless you have really learned to love and respect yourself one plus one will never equal two. 

- Maria DeSimone, www.InsightfulAstrology.com
Click here for more of Maria's posts.

Guest Blogger - Joyce Mason - Winter Solstice on December 21: Hug the Dark

Rituals or exercises - or to astrologize - welcomes the holiday season. Just as all of nature shifts in a noticeable way when the seasons change and the Sun enters Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, so it is with our inner growth. The solstices and equinoxes are a time to review our progress in becoming more spirited. They’re reason to celebrate!

In Astrologize! Exercises for the Winter Solstice to Warm Your Heart and Light Your Way Part 1 and Part 2 that I blogged about for Spirited Woman last year, you learned the two core astrologizes I do with my Solsisters every winter. But variety is the spice—make that mulled spice for winter. This year’s astrologizes expand on my article Hug the Dark.

Winter is a period of dormancy. Animals hibernate and all things in nature rest, as should human beings. But most of us think we’re “human doings.” We overdo so much during this time of year; we end up holidazed. It’s essential for our mental, physical and spiritual health to set aside time each winter just to “veg.”

These astrologizes will help you hug the dark starting with Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year.

1. Hug the Dark – For at least 10 minutes on as many winter nights as possible, sit quietly in total darkness. Bring something huggable—a teddy bear, stuffed toy, or a pillow. It’s OK to feel a childlike fear or wariness of the dark. This astrologize helps you adapt to the dark as a place of quiet wonder.  Sit in the silence for the first five minutes. Notice the peace it holds. Next, let the dark hug you back! Embrace your cuddly object, thinking of all the people you love and would like to hug. Imagine hugging them and their hugging

Big Changes - Astrologize - Your Autumn Harvest

Autumn! Crisp cool breezes. Warm sun. The bounty of crops bursting fulfillment, including your seeds of intentions planted in spring. In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving with gratitude for all we have—the cornucopia of a generous universe.

Autumn is harvest and fulfillment, yet it holds a haunting sadness. Autumn is the fullness before dying— Halloween and Day of the Dead. We thumb our noses at death, still knowing our stay on this beautiful planet is temporary. Autumn Equinox greets us on September 22 with light and dark in perfect balance, but from here on out, darkness increases until Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.

In this pool of mixed feelings, autumn shouts life at its fullest! In the ceremonies I do with friends to celebrate the changes of season, we focus in fall on gratitude.

“Astrologizes” are exercises aligned with the changing seasons to help us stay in touch with the natural world. The more we’re grateful, the more we receive. To be a Spirited Woman is to hug Source and express appreciation. Let’s start with a Gratitude Box.

Your Gratitude Box - Find a box with a lid. I often purchase ones already decorated at a crafts store, but you can take a simple shoe or recycled gift box. Decorate it to taste. One idea: Paste your favorite quote(s) on gratitude outside. Here’s mine: If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. - Meister Eckhart

Cut some strips of paper. This astrologize is even more powerful when done in a group setting, although the first part is done solo:
- Review your seeds of intention that have bloomed since spring. This is easy, if you did the spring astrologize. Just review your seed packet. If you didn’t do the spring astrologize, no problem. Just add this pre-step. Recall those desires and resolutions you were working on in late March. Write them down. Now review them and write what you’re grateful for that has come to pass on your paper slips.
- Once you’ve written your gratitude for the seeds you consciously planted, move on to write thanks for the pleasant surprises—those gifts you received that were unexpected. “Box” them all.
- If done in a group, go around the circle giving each person a chance to share select slips of gratitude. End with a prayer or poem on gratitude.

Gratitude Journal - Gratitude isn’t a season; it’s a way of life.  Keep up your supply of blank paper and add to your Gratitude Box daily. It’s great to dip into the box on a blue day for reminders of the blessings in your life. An alternative: add a column to your journal, Things I’m Grateful for Today. I always aim to find ten. This positive thinking and delight in good things that come your way keeps a woman spirited and in the flow of life’s gifts. It will truly change you.

Happy Harvest!

- Joyce Mason - www.joycemason.com
Click here for more of Joyce's posts.

Joyce Mason has been an astrologer for over 20 years and a writer ever since she could hold a pencil. Her trademark is insight with humor. Learn more about Joyce, her two blogs, and her library of articles on topics from A to Zzz (astrology to dreamwork) on her Writer Joyce Mason website. Don’t miss her spirited living blog, Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights or her astrology site, The Radical Virgo.

Big Change Signs in the Astrological Sky – Part 2

In Part 1, we talked about how the current astrological patterns suggest we’re on the brink of big changes—now. Let’s talk about some other belief systems that also support that idea.

Mayan and Hopi Prophecies
Many spirited women have heard about the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 and predictions of the end of the world. Along with many others, I don’t believe this literally, but rather think it portends the end of the world “as we knew it.” Our world could use a major rehaul! On July 17-18, 2010, there was an event called the Conscious Convergence. It’s related to the Harmonic Convergence of August 1987. It was just the beginning of a global celebration of unity consciousness, considered the 9th and final wave of “mind changing” needed before the Mayan prophecies are fulfilled.

Like the one mind and unity consciousness of the Mayans, the Hopis spoke of how two-hearted people (with consciousness of duality) would again become one-hearted. You may have heard their moving catchphrase: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” While the Hopi prophecy isn’t time-specific, the Mayan is—and the time is now.

What To Expect
Examine your relationship to change. Uranus in the astrological mix is like "Anything Can Happen Day" on the original Mickey Mouse Club. Now, that’s every day! We dread change; we put it off. Now it’s not put-offable, if you want to be spirited and happy in a world that’s being reborn. We see the forces of Saturn (tradition) and Uranus (change) coming to terms, particularly in the U.S. with the banking system and health care. From a global perspective, nothing is a more moving statement of the need to set selfish interests aside for oneness than the Gulf oil spill. Environmental disasters illustrate that we are all part of the same ecosystem and spirit-stuff. What hurts one hurts all.

Big Changes in the Astrological Sky – Part 1

Are you and many other spirited women you know “going through a lot” lately?

This shake-up reflects significant rockin’ and rollin’ in the sky. Four planets are in a tight configuration called a T-square. A T-square refers to a T-shaped ruler used in drafting. In an astrological T-square, planets are in opposition - in this case, Saturn and Uranus, recently joined by Jupiter - on the “handle.” Opposition is just what it sounds like - opposing forces. Saturn is the status quo, Uranus - change. Jupiter adds a touch of both blessings and exaggeration to the Uranian aura of constant upheaval.

Further “complexing” things: they are all squaring Pluto. Yep, just like it sounds. Squaring off, not exactly blending like peaches and cream. Pluto doesn’t just ask us to change; it demands it. If you don’t go along with the program, you’ll feel like you’re dealing with Tony Soprano. The good news? Pluto brings us resurrection and turns us into more evolved and spirited women. Letting go into the unknown darkness of the rebirth canal is the path to a new and improved life.

Cardinal Drama

All the planets in the Big Change Transits are in or near the beginning of the Cardinal Signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. If your Sun or any other planet is at or near those positions, you’ll feel it most acutely.* Cardinal signs start the four seasons in our calendar. They are turning points. This sky drama at the Cardinal cross quarters or the four directions of the Medicine Wheel tells us it is about our willingness to change. It calls for personal and planetary evolution. Parts of the drama continue through 2012-13.

Other Scenes

Everything in the sky is always moving. Another recent change was Chiron’s shift from Aquarius to Pisces in April 2010. Chiron is a planetary body discovered in 1977 between Saturn and Uranus. It offers an ongoing bridge or mitigation of their contrary archetypes. In myth, Chiron was a centaur - half man, half horse - a teacher and healer who trained heroes. He helps us bring out our best, our inner hero in challenging times.

Astrologize! Jump Over the Summer Solstice Flame in a Spirited Dance of Life!

Painting by Shiloh Sophia McCloud

One of my favorite inspirations above my personal altar is a print of the painting, Prayer Dancing by Shiloh Sophia McCloud. Three women twirl under a sunlit, orange, and dove-filled sky. The caption reads, Dancing Our Prayers. What a way to welcome summer—to dance our gratitude for light and love.

It also brings to mind a Summer Solstice ritual where participants dance around or jump over the solstice fire. The flame can be as big as a bonfire or small as a candle. Ancients believed the solstice fire was a blessing, a cure for disease, and a preventative for snakebites.

From an inner perspective, summer is about our soul work. In spring, our lessons for the natural New Year are set up for the summer growing season. On the outside, summer is for play and celebrates our physicality. Above all, it is a celebration of light, but a more flamboyant light than the inner light we celebrate at Winter Solstice. In summer, we are drenched in the physical manifestation of the spiritual light that joins us all. Those doves in Shiloh’s painting mirror the peace we experience when we celebrate that oneness. It’s reason to dance.

“Astrologizes” are exercises aligned with the changing seasons to help us stay in touch with the natural world we live in. In spring you planted your metaphorical seeds for growth. Now it’s time to nurture and enjoy what’s blooming.

Culling Your Seed Packets

If you did the spring “astrologize,” Making Your Seed Packets, the summer astrologize will be easy. Simply review again all your seeds of intentions, whether a new diet, a new project, or a new way of relating to loved ones. This time, make a realistic assessment of which intentions are taking off. These are the ones on a fast track toward blooming over the next several months. Those intentions will be your focus this summer.