Watch Eclipse Live from North America - June 15 2011

Update: The live showing of the lunar eclipse over the span of about 3 hours on slooh.com was GREAT!  The best camera angle was out of Cyprus.  At times the camera from Dubai was clear, but gradually become blurry and almost foggy. I hope everyone got the chance to watch it.  If not, I think you can find a copy of it through youtube via the google recording. Here is one link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw_gG3pNd14  - Yes it really is approximately 4 hours long. Some key "times" that you can zone in to on the bar is 0:30 *beginning to show the shadow; 1:05 dark shadow; 1:20-1:22 red hue begins; 1:52-2:17 total; and 3:17 changing back from the red hue to white. This view on the recording was from Dubai. Another way to scan through the recording is by pressing the keys 1 through 9 to quickly flip through the eclipse, for example, once it starts playing, press the number "5" to see the total eclipse section.
Previously: Check this out :)  The Lunar Eclipse is being presented LIVE at slooh ( http://eclipse.slooh.com/ )  and also on Google.com [as in "Right Now!"]

Grand Cross Reverberations

Cardinal Signs

Although the aspects of the Cardinal Grand Cross from the Moon's interaction is mostly over, the T-square of the other planets continues. As the Moon transits over those points, we will continue to feel the reverberations of the Great Squared energies. The Moon will transit over the T-square placements on August 12, August 19 and August 27. Another, less potent Grand Cross will occur on September 3/4 with the Moon, Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter retrograde. By this time, Uranus will have moved into Pisces (although it will still be conjunct to Jupiter) and the Venus/Mars conjunction will be in the later degrees of Libra. This should round up any messages that we are receiving from the Grand Cross. Read more about the Cardinal Grand Cross (aka Grand Square) influence at JAstrology.com

The Next Level: Moon Astrology = Lunar Astrolicious

The Moon sign is that subtle second astrological layer that reveals the perfection of Astrology. It is the hidden facet to understanding the psyche, and provides a great story of how psychology truly became a mainstay within our society. Most people don't even realize that psychology is a fairly new science in comparison to Astrology.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, doctors (scientists) were becoming interested in understanding emotions, thought processes and behaviors. This was an area that had very little "scientific" research. Scientific research was coming into its own during this time. Concepts of research were being scrutinized and assessed for validity. The fear was that too many scam artists were using here say and myths to bamboozle or hustle unsuspecting individuals. The world of "science" was going to fix this problem (hahaha) and make the world a better place to live. The science community basically felt that Astrology had no "place" in this research world. That Astrology was a bunch of mumbo jumbo voo doo occult magic making ideas and that there simply could be no validity. Despite the history of Astrology, the analyticals were going to leave Astrology in the dusty past with scientific methods. Or so they thought.

There was the need for researchers to understand why people do the things that people do. Why do some people shriek when they see a spider while others could care less? Why do some people lie when the truth would not cause any harm? These types of mysteries needed some investigation. People who called themselves psychologists wanted to turn away from using Astrology to explain these behaviors. Interestingly enough, their research never quite did away with Astrology. As time passed, the concepts of Astrology have waxed and waned very much like the cycle of the Moon. With each new answer, more questions arose.

Psychological research did not leave Astrology in the dust. Instead, in many ways, psychology confirmed that each individual has his/her own unique traits and temperaments. Similar to the concepts of Astrology, we have learned that some of what people do is instinctive, some of it is survivalistic, and some if it is free choice or free will. Research basically confirmed that people seemingly fall into basic trait categories with "extra" characteristics on the side. What we may be discovering is that individuals are a combination of traits borne out of nature and nurture and that Astrology may not have been all that far away from contributing to each unique trait, temperament and instinct.

So where does the Moon fit in to Astrology. Where solar astrology (sun signs) "fails" is where lunar astrology picks up. There are only 12 solar signs (or zodiac signs). How can all of humanity fall into these 12 categories? The fact is that they can not. When we consider the number of Sun sign and Moon sign combinations, we discover that there are 144 categories. Is that enough? Well, it's better than 12 categories. It is better because it helps define a person's basic outlook and his/her emotions. Western-based Astrology can also add more layers (characteristics) by incorporating the Ascendant or Rising sign. Based on the time of day that a person is born, it is possible to have one of 12 zodiacal signs on the "horizon" or the Ascendant that helps define the person's personality or persona.

Oh my goodness, now this really is getting complicated. When factoring in the Sun Sign and Moon Sign along with the Rising Sign, there is the possibility of 1728 categories. There are too many levels and the complexity is difficult to break out into isolated characteristics. When it comes to scientific research, it is hard enough to get a quality representation of population to do the research for 144 distinct categories, let alone almost 2000 categories. Well, any good psychologist is going to throw up his/her hands at this point and say "This is out of control!" Yet, to the astrologist, this is just the beginning! After the Sun, Moon and Rising, other facets to be looked at are communication style and relationship style. Yes, there are more layers to think about. These are what seemingly leaves psychological research in the cold. We are not a mere 6, 8 or 12 basic characteristics. Humans are way more complex than that. And Psychology has a long ways to go before catching up with Astrology.

To move on past the Moon sign and Rising sign, basic astrology uses at least five planets to help describe a person's "make up." The planets that can be factored in are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Yes, there are more planets, but those are considered "generational" because they move so slowly around the solar system.

When a person is born, the Sun, the Moon and the Ascendant can be in any of the 12 zodiac signs giving us the possibility of over 1700 combinations. However, that is not the case for the planets of Mercury and Venus. Mercury is never more than one sign away from the Sun's transit and Venus is never more than two signs away. So we can't do the standard 12 * 12 type of math to compute the number of variations possible. And this is where my math skills fail me. I can't even begin to comprehend whether to multiply or add or what? Regardless, it becomes obvious that psychology can not even begin to really touch all the facets of a person's personality in the same way that Astrology can. And, as any individual who has any understanding of Astrology knows; the more planets, the more layers.

Astrology may not be the perfect resource for helping to explain all human behaviors, attitudes and thought processes, but it stretches well beyond the single layer (Solar Signs) that gets routinely criticized by the "Scientific Community." Even if we only add in the Moon's placement within the individual's chart, we begin to see the complexity and the possibilities that are lost on Solar Astrology. Hence, Moon Astrology plays a significant role in Astrology (and possibly in psychology) in explaining human nature and "where" it comes from.

Horoscopes or Horrorscopes?

Sometimes I get asked questions about my monthly horoscopes. Since the majority of my website focuses on the Moon, people want to know if the horoscopes are written for the Moon sign or the Sun sign. Nutshell answer: Sun signs.

I write the scopes with the Sun sign in mind since most people know for sure what their Sun sign is. Only about five percent of the population actually knows their Moon sign. The scopes can also be used for an individual's Rising (Ascendant) sign for the sectors and zones that I bring attention to in the forecasts.

However, not all portions of my forecasts can be quickly converted for the Rising sign. The intervals of the month when I describe the dates that a person is more likely to feel flustered are designed specifically for the Sun sign. These "fluster" dates are the periods within the month when the transiting Moon is in a difficult aspect to that particular sign.

Some people ask why I don't give the "lucky days" of the month for the signs. I guess I don't do that because virtually any day can be a lucky day! Why single them out? I point out the frustrating days simply because they give a person a heads up before heading into that day that it could be a frustrating day. It does not mean that those dates will definitely be "bad," but if they are difficult, at least you will know ahead of time that the Moon is simply not going to help you cope with the frustrations of the day. We can usually deal with almost any challenge that comes our way UNLESS our emotions are on edge. And the Moon forming a difficult aspect to our sign can be a good indicator that we will be emotionally challenged on that day. So that's why I list those days for each sign.

I also list the dates of the New Moon and Full Moon with the probable themes. These Moon days can be used both for the Sun sign and the Rising sign forecasts. These themes give you a good sense of the issues that you are likely to need to focus on for the day leading into the Moon event and possibly the day after the event.

The Lunar Living Astrology horoscopes can be found at http://www.lunarliving.org/horoscopes.shtml

Since the Lunar Eclipse on August 16, 2008, there was a wash of emotions that came flooding out and they have now been purged. I have been able to let go of that which I can not change, and am moving forward with things that I can. I am reactivating this Lunar Living Blog as an added resource to the site. I formed the blog over 5 years ago, but I let it set dormant as I moved through a variety of other facets in my life. Thankfully, lunarliving.org has been my refuge for a long time now, and I have always enjoyed writing the articles and astrological resources that I have posted on the site. Calendars, daily activities, moon match relationship, scopes, more calendars along with the bi-monthly major moon events. It's all there and I'm always open for suggestions on ways to improve the material.

Thank you everyone!

Be well,