New Moon in Virgo August 30

If there’s anything or anyone you want to purge from your life, the New Moon in Virgo is the time to do it. The New Moon takes place at 7 degrees of Virgo, quite close to disciplined Saturn, at 3:58 p.m. on Aug. 30.

Virgo, the sign of the Virgin, is about cleansing and purification. If you’ve been eating junk food all summer, as I have, now is the time to go back to a healthy diet. It’s harvest time, so that makes it easy to embrace the fruits of the nature. I plan to make a big batch of ratatouille this weekend.

If you’re looking for something more extreme, it’s a good time to fast (not too long, please!) or start a new exercise regimen. The only thing I’ve been exercising this summer are my fingers, which have been dancing across the keyboard. I really need to get back to the gym.

Of course, the New Moon in Virgo means back to school for lots of children, as well as the parents who drop them off and pick them up. It’s back to a routine, another Virgo word, as we put our noses to the grindstone. In the Hudson Valley, where I live, there’s a giant grindstone in the lobby of the Town of East Fishkill offices that dates from colonial times.

When my friend Don and I visited the reservation of the Agua Caliente Indian tribe this summer in Palm Springs, the ranger who gave us the tour told us Native American women were traditionally judged by how finely they ground their flour. This was a mind-boggling concept for a woman accustomed to buying Gold Medal flour at the supermarket.

The concept of grinding finely comes naturally to those born under the sign of Virgo. They have fine intellects and a keen attention to detail. Everyone knows the stereotype of Virgos as neat freaks, but, as my former astrology teacher Eileen McCabe taught me, they can also be total slobs. Why? They just give up and surrender to chaos if they can’t achieve perfection.

That love of perfection can become an addiction in itself. It’s not unusual to see people with a strong Virgo emphasis in their chart to have body issues and struggle with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. This is mistakenly thought to be exclusively a female problem, but now that thin is in again for men, don’t be surprised to be hearing more about men and eating disorders.

Virgo also rules work, and therefore it’s apt that the New Moon in this earth sign often falls close to Labor Day, the holiday that honors the working class. As you rest from your labors this weekend and prepare to dive into a busy fall schedule, thank the Goddess for the fertility she bestows on our lives.

In exchange for these blessings, why not take time to perform service? Send a soldier overseas a goodie box, bring the neighbor next door some zucchini from the garden, or participate in a neighborhood cleanup. Better yet, perform a random act of kindness for a stranger. The lesson of the New Moon in Virgo: Virtue is indeed its own reward.

McCain’s Many Mansions: What Does the Fourth House Say?

As long as I’m chasing political stories today (see “Obama’s Brother From Another Mother?”), I may as well comment on the coverage that John McCain’s memory lapse is getting.

Evidently, the Republican Presidential candidate doesn’t know exactly how many residences that he and his wife Cindy own. Politico.com, my new favorite Web site, has the story.

Let’s look at what McCain’s chart has to say about this issue. If you like the 9 a.m. time, the Republican senator has Saturn ruling his fourth house of residences. Saturn, in turn, is in watery Pisces and opposing nebulous Neptune and beauty-oriented Venus. I can definitely see why McCain is in a fog about how many houses he owns.

Why is this a trigger for media coverage? I think it’s because the U.S. Pluto in Capricorn is conjunct McCain’s Moon in Capricorn, which is in turn opposed by Pluto in Cancer. I may be getting out of my depth here, but here’s my theory.

The presence of the U.S. Pluto on McCain’s Moon means that he hasn’t had a lot of choice in his life. With his grandfather and father both career naval officers, McCain had to follow in their footsteps and serve his country. Now, some astrologers would say that sounds like Saturn, the planet of duty and responsibility. I’m chalking it up to Pluto because I truly believe McCain didn’t have any choice.

And, of course, everyone knows how McCain ended up as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was forced to live in a cage. Of course, the guy wants lots of houses. He probably never wants to be stuck in one place again.

But that U.S. Pluto on his Moon also says a lot about McCain’s membership in the plutocracy that rules this country. And the pilot of the Straight Talk Express doesn’t want us to know how rich he really is, even though some of that wealth belongs to his wife, Cindy, who inherited a beer distributorship.

McCain not knowing how many residences he owns reminds me of a story that a 60-year-old colleague told me about his father. When his father was once asked the birthdays for his three sons, the man replied, “Ask my wife. I don’t know.”

I believe McCain doesn’t care how many houses he has; that’s Cindy’s domain.

McCain’s Sudden Surge: What Do the Stars Say?

A new Reuters/Zogby poll has Republican John McCain leading Democrat Barack Obama by five points in the race for the U.S. Presidency.

According to the poll, 46% of voters support McCain, while 41% favor Obama. This ratings picture is a flipflop from a month ago, when Obama led McCain 47% to 40%, according to Reuters/Zogby.

Given the dismal track record that pollsters have had in predicting the last two Presidential elections, I’d advise followers of both camps not to panic. As they say in sports, it’s not over till the fat lady sings.

However, I thought it would be interesting to look at McCain’s chart. This chart, from AstroDataBank, uses the 9 a.m. birthtime, not the 11 a.m. time cited by McCain’s mom in a Mother’s Day ad. Regardless of the time, McCain still has Neptune at 16 degrees of Virgo and Venus at 22 degrees.

As I write these words, Mercury and Venus are closely aligned near 18 degrees of Virgo. Translation: McCain is getting good news! But because his natal Neptune is in the picture, the information may not be reliable. Still, he’s headed for his Venus return, and transiting Venus in Virgo is broadly trining Jupiter in Capricorn. All is well in McCain Land, this week.

And even though I’ve declared my loyalty to a Presidential candidate with Pluto in Virgo (Obama), I’m going to do my best to remain objective about the astrological aspects and the election. With Saturn opposing Uranus on Election Day, this contest is going to go down to the wire and the outcome is sure to be a surprise.

Pamela and Monica Ponder the Vice-Presidency

I called in to Pamela Cucinell’s BlogTalkRadio show last night to talk about potential vice-presidential candidates. You may recall that Pamela has her own blog, AstroChatter.

Here’s my theory in a nutshell: With Saturn opposing Uranus moving to an exact aspect on Election Day, each ticket will have a Saturnian (conservative, safe) and Uranian (surprising, groundbreaking) element. So look for trailblazer Barack Obama (even if his politics aren’t radical enough for some folks, he’s a pioneer by virtue of his race) to pick someone “safe” such as Delaware Senator Joseph Biden.

Nancy over at Nancy’s Blog thinks Biden would rather be Secretary of State than hold the No. 2 job. Here’s her analysis of the “veepstakes.”

On the other side of the aisle, I expect Old Man John McCain, who could serve as the poster boy for Saturn, to get jiggy with it and pick a woman — someone like Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine or Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Another female veep possibility, though a long shot because of her lack of political experience, is former Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina, who has played a key role in the McCain campaign. Even if Fiorina doesn’t end up on the McCain ticket as veepee, she could garner a cabinet job for her efforts.

The blogosphere is buzzing with speculation that Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat who is now an independent, could end up as McCain’s vice-presidential candidate now that he has agreed to speak at the Republican National Convention.

That would be one for the record books — running as a Democrat with Al Gore and then as a Republican with McCain. Some people will do anything to live in the Admiral’s House!

McCain adding Lieberman on his ticket would fit the Uranian part of the Saturn/Uranus equation. If you can bear with some technical difficulties, click here to hear Pamela and me speculate on the vice-presidential derby.

Pluto in Virgo for President!

I was born at the tail end of the baby boom, in 1960. I was in diapers when the boomers were out on a surfin’ safari and was in elementary school while they were savoring the Summer of Love.

My teens weren’t quite as happy-go-lucky as those of the boomers because of twin energy crises (one in 1973, another in ’79). With gas prices going through the roof, no one was threatening to take my T-bird away because there wasn’t one in the garage.

When I left college in 1982 during a recession, I was so scared that my job offer would evaporate that I started working the day after graduation. Job security has always been a big concern for me and other members of the Pluto in Virgo generation, born between 1956 until 1971.

If I sound like I have a chip on my shoulder, you’re right. I’ve never gotten over the fact that I was born too late to line dance to The Temps’ “The Way You Do The Things You Do” (great Sixties time capsule in the video).

Some of the Pluto in Virgo crowd, those born after 1962, are more fortunate. They are considered to be members of Generation X. Their road has been a little easier because their demographic cohort is smaller, and the economic woes of the Seventies happened while they were kids, not young adults looking for work.

This group has trailblazing Uranus in Virgo as well as Pluto. They have helped bring about technological (Uranus) changes (Pluto) in the workplace (Virgo), and some have become Internet millionaires as a result of their pioneering efforts.

As a native of Pluto in Virgo, I want a job, affordable health care, healthy food, and clean air. And I want a president who shares those concerns, which earlier generations took for granted.

It’s always dangerous to generalize about people born under the same Pluto sign. It’s even more treacherous than sun sign astrology. Still, I think most astrologers would agree that baby boomers born with Pluto in Leo (1939-1956) like their toys, whether they be Lincoln Logs or Lamborghinis. They also treasure self-expression and generally value their children more than anything else in the world.

We’ve had two presidents born under Pluto in Leo — Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, one a Democrat and the other a Republican. They both like to have a good time and they both love their kids. (I know, everyone loves their kids, but Pluto in Leo devotion is different.) In fact, Pluto in Leo natives are sometimes said to be eternal children. They don’t want to grow up. Both Clinton and Bush have been guilty of childish behavior.

In the current Presidential race, Democrat Senator Barack Obama has Pluto in Virgo while Republican Senator John McCain has a home and national security-oriented Pluto in Cancer. Other Pluto in Cancer Presidents since 1960 (I only went back as far as my birth year) include John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush.

Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon both had Pluto in Gemini. Pluto traveled through the sign of the twins from 1883 to 1914, a time that saw major advances in communications and transportation. If you want to learn more about Pluto through the signs, here’s an interesting chart.

I’m not exactly sure what Johnson and Nixon had in common. One was a Democrat and the other was a Republican. However, it can be said that both favored behind-the-scenes or secret communications. Johnson was a politician of the old school, an expert at consensus-building through backroom wheeling and dealing. Nixon, as we know, liked to tape-record all his conversations, and was ultimately forced to resign after The Washington Post broke the story of the Watergate scandal. Here, Pluto in Gemini could be seen in the power of the press to unseat a President.

While proofreading this post, I noticed that I failed to mention the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan. Of course, he had Pluto in Gemini. Considering that I tried my best to tune out the Reagan years, it’s no surprise that I almost overlooked him in this post.

I’m not sure what this Election Day will bring, other than a lot of surprises, but I will be casting my vote for Barack Obama, not because I think he walks on water (Neptune square the Sun) or because he has rock star charisma (Sun in Leo). Why am I voting for Obama? Simply because he’s a Pluto in Virgo. I’m ready to have someone who shares my values in the White House.

Party affiliation means very little to me. If there were a Republican who had Pluto in Virgo who was running for President, I would vote for her.

What’s important to you? If you believe that we can’t have affordable health care, job security, and other Pluto in Virgo interests without first protecting the security of our Cancer nation, you’ll be voting for Senator John McCain.

Pluto may have been demoted from planet status, but he’s still guiding my decision this Election Day.

Obama Does the Rickroll

I’m spiritually refreshed after a long weekend in Lily Dale, N.Y. that included a wedding at 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2008. More on that later.

Regina at Gastriques, my ever-faithful tipster, has sent me a link to a “rickroll” featuring Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama groovin’ to Liverpool crooner Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. It’s here on YouTube.

Unlike most rickrolls, this one isn’t a prank.

I predict that the rickrolling phenomenon will get even stronger over the next month as the North Node in Aquarius moves backward to exactly conjunct Astley’s natal Sun conjunct Mercury at 16 degrees of Aquarius.

In fact, since I first posted on this a few hours ago, the YouTube “Barack Roll” video, which also features Ellen DeGeneres, has gotten 100,000 more views, to 558,000. (Unfortunately, all those viewers didn’t link from Astrology Mundo!)

And while Obama rickrolls, Regina rocks! In addition to being a shrewd political observer and an indefatigable supporter of her friends’ blogs, whether they be about food or astrology, she’s got a new food blog at Epicurious.

Now, let’s see if John McCain can bust a move!

Presidential Astrology at HuffPo

I’m going to have put Regina at Gastriques on the payroll here at Astrology Mundo. She was the one who tipped me off to the John McCain Mother’s Day commercial with an 11 a.m. birth time for the candidate and to the post at the Daily Kos with an official birth certificate for Barack Obama.

Here’s Regina’s scoop of the day: The Huffington Post has jumped on the Presidential astrology bandwagon with this column. You read that right, folks: a column dedicated to the candidates based on astrology.

Just the other night before our maiden radio show, my astro-pal Pamela Cucinell from Astro Chatter was predicting that astrology was getting ready to go mainstream. Maybe she’s right.

What’s great about the HuffPo column by astrologer Philip Sedgwick is that it’s funny, it’s smart, it’s accurate, and it’s accessible — all of which are musts for a mainstream astrology column. Kudos to you, Philip!

But back to Regina: How can I ever pay her back for all her scoops? The only way I know how — by clicking on the Google Ads on her Web site. Give it a try. You don’t have to buy anything. All you have to do is click and the money goes into her account at the Googleplex.

I am tempted to go the extra step and buy the Campaign Cola on offer today at Gastriques. I’m not going to link to it here. Check it out yourself. It’s pretty funny. I just hope that the soda is made with sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup, or Regina might boot the ad from her site.

Darn, I should have copied the link for Campaign Cola. Gastriques has been overtaken by a mother lode of kosher food ads in response to one of Regina’s posts. Well, I can always Google Campaign Cola. Where would we be without Google?

Pamela Does Paris

My radio collaborator Pamela Cucinell has a great post about Paris Hilton’s response to the McCain camp’s diss of her in ad designed to make Barack Obama look like just another celebrity. Pamela’s at the top of her game and Paris is fabulous in the video, which is embedded in Pamela’s post.

Ray Merriman’s prediction that the upcoming Saturn/Uranus opposition, exact on Election Day, will bring back the generation gap, appears to be coming true, if Paris making fun of Old Man McCain is any evidence.

I’ve Been “Rickrolled”

Have you heard about this? You click on YouTube to watch a video and all of a sudden you’re groovin’ to the 1987 song, Never Gonna Give You Up by British singer Rick Astley. It’s called “rickrolling,” according to the Wiki, and I’m the latest victim.

I was trying to find the commercial from the John McCain camp that’s getting so much hype today that compares Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama to the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The story line seems to be that Obama’s not a serious politician; he’s a celebrity. I clicked on a YouTube URL that purported to have the McCain commercial and I was transported back to the golden days of my Twenties with Never Gonna Give You Up.

Back to reality: Remember the Mars/Moon conjunction opposing Uranus that straddles the Ascendant/Descendant in Obama’s 2008 solar return? This is only the beginning. By the way, McCain is correct to detect star power from Obama: With a regal Leo Sun square nebulous Neptune, he’s got rock-star charisma.

Meanwhile, will one of you U.K.-based astrologers look into the celestial aspects triggering the popularity of Never Gonna to Give You Up? I suspect that this year’s Jupiter in Capricorn is triggering the natal Neptune in Capricorn of the song’s 1987 release date, though Astley himself could be a Capricorn and getting a lift from Jupiter. Scratch that theory: Astley’s an Aquarian, born Feb. 6, 1966.

It turns out that Kathryn Cassidy at Collaborating With Fate has looked into the “rickrolling” phenom, which also involves large groups of fans meeting to sing Never Gonna Give You Up. Cassidy looks into the connections, or synastry, between three dates: Astley’s birthday, the day the song was recorded (Jan. 1, 1987), and April 11, 2008, when hundreds of people gathered at the Liverpool Street Station in London to sing Never Gonna Give You Up. Here’s the scoop. I knew I’d seen this somewhere.

The U.S. Presidential Race: It’s Neptune vs. Neptune

This is going to be one of those quickie posts. I was just reading Pamela Cucinell’s post on “Obama and the Elusive Father” over at Astro Chatter (http://astrochatter.com/2008/06/02/obama-and-the-illusive-father/). I had read it before, but I was looking for new insight, given that Illinois Senator Barack Obama June 2 hit the number of delegates that he needs to win the Democratic nomination. (Astro Chatter is on my blogroll to the right.)

Pamela talks about how Obama’s Sun in Leo square Neptune in Scorpio has manifested in an absent father and what the implications are. Daddy gone MIA: That’s the news from the Democrats.

O.K. Over to the Republican candidate, John McCain. He’s got a Sun/Neptune conjunction in Virgo, though the conjunction is broad. So for the Republicans: Daddy is embroiled in a financial scandal (I know that was back in the 1980s, but it happened once so it can happen again) or Daddy is on the payroll of the health insurance companies.

It reminds me of the cynics who say the only real choice Americans have is whether to buy Colgate or Crest toothpaste.

So this November, our choice will be: Neptune or Neptune. For the non-astro readers out there, Neptune results in illusion, confusion, and deception. It rules storms, shipping, alcohol, drugs, disease, music, film, and altered states of consciousness.

Translation: The contest is between Smirnoff vs. Johnnie Walker Red. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got Mars square Neptune in your natal chart, like the U.S. does, and transiting Neptune in Aquarius heading toward your natal Moon.

Can we get this ship of state back on the right course?