Things are about to shift into high gear. Between May 15 and June 24 we will experience, in the space of a few weeks, a synchronized portal of change, which includes:

A significant Annular Solar Eclipse (on May 20); Venus stationing Retrograde (on May 15) kicking off a cascading chain of Venusian energy that will culminate in a historic event, the Venus Transit (on June 5-6) when Venus walks across the face of the Sun; a Partial Lunar Eclipse (on June 4) within 24-hours of the Venus Transit - a remarkable timing!; the beginning of a new 2-year Venus cycle (on June 12); and the Summer Solstice (on June 21).

The portal culminates on June 24 when we experience the first of 7 events which are part of the epochal signature of our times: Uranus square Pluto - a remnant of the blockbuster Cardinal Cross which perfected in the Summer of 2010 and has brought revolution and its companion resistance all over the planet.

As the War on Women escalates, Venus makes an unmistakable appearance and delivers a mesmerizing message to Humanity about the Divine Feminine. As we look up at the sun and see a tiny black dot crossing its boiling surface, as the Goddess kisses the Source of all Life, we cannot tune it out. THE VENUS TRANSIT occurs in the intelligent sign of Gemini. Women are too smart to be kept down. It's a bad year to decide to pick on women as it is the Year of the Goddess and She will have the last word.

Expect Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring to heat up once again and resume their wildfire trajectory as they burn around the globe and light up Humanity's freedom urge. This energy is unstoppable. Both the revolutionary drive and the resistance that meets it with equal ferocity are here to stay. A midpoint must be found but it is not assured that a midpoint WILL be found.   

crackling sea change by carol ann ciocco 

copyright 2012 

The answer lies with Neptune, i.e. the energy of COMPASSION, which has returned to its home sign of Pisces. Here is the potential for a Spiritual Awakening which will create a peaceful revolution and a peaceful resolution of the entrenched opposites. The pure Neptune/Pisces energy is a slippery slope, however. It is treacherous when in the hands of unevolved humans - it could create mass delusion, we could go back to sleep, anesthetized to our loss of liberty and our inability to connect with Divine energies for help with our problems.

Humans on earth *discovered* NEPTUNE 165 years ago, and it just so happened that Neptune was in Pisces at that time. At the time we were experiencing the Civil War here in the United States: a similar violent and bloody Polarity Game that still hasn't been fully resolved. We meet the issues again, on a higher octave, and let's pray in a state of higher consciousness.

So we are experiencing our first return to the essence of Neptune on earth. We are getting another chance to make our attempt to somehow hold and express the sublime energies of Spirit without getting lost in oblivion. How will we handle Neptune in Pisces this time? With these astrological placements we could literally see a quickening and global awakening the likes of which we have only dreamed of, and which the sages and prophets have predicted would occur at this time. But the outcome is not completely certain. Your consciousness and the consciousness of each person you encounter will be the determining factor.

For those reading this newsletter, your job is to be there for those who are waking up. As a spiritual teacher of mine once said: they will wake up and you will cook them breakfast. Remember those who were there when you first opened your spiritual eyes, what a blessing they were/are! Now you will do the same.

Just remember that you can't escape doing your own spiritual/inner work. Neptune's downside is escape. At this time we all have to take responsibility for our addictions (drugs, alcohol, sex, work, debt, food, the list is endless) with Neptune in Pisces. Your life may really get messy because the desire to escape will be high but the repercussion of escape will be even higher. Addiction occurs in the vacuum of the separate self (the little self, the ego, also a Gemini consideration). The solution is Oneness, which stems from Compassion for THE OTHER WHO IS YOURSELF. It is easy for me to spout Neptune's platitudes, but to live them... well, that is another story. And so on the path we continue to tread, together.

venus transit eclipse by carol ann ciocco

copyright 2012 

When intense astrological energies abound, the hidden meaning is simple: it creates a celestial wind at our back to make changes that we have long wanted/needed to make. Neptune in Pisces is like having a million angels descend into your personal space and say: how can we help? URANUS and PLUTO squaring off gives us the opportunity to break free from the bondage of the ancient ways of self. Venus' appearance on the world stage throws down a brass ring-pass-not for tricking ourselves into enlightenment. The Venusian Gemini can lead to instant awakening - satori - wherein the house of cards that is your ego (your *story*) can come down and a fresh, clear mind can emerge. Gemini is androgynous so this Venus Transit is not overly yin and it is not overly yang - it is balanced and light in its expression, which is precisely what we need to be.

We also have the holiday of WESAK coming up on May 5. This is the Full Moon with the Sun in Taurus (Moon in Scorpio) which is celebration of the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, an avatar of Compassion. This is an annual event which provides another burst of grace free for the taking in the service of our spiritual progression. 

Well, I plan to write about the eclipses, and about the Venus Transit over the coming weeks. Personally, I am recovering from 3 surgeries in a 12-month period. After the 3rd surgery (on February 1st) I was very juiced up to get back on the fast-track but have found that this is not wise (nor is it possible) and am now slowly integrating and regenerating. Neptune in Pisces gently nudges me (and you) to go within and to make our spiritual practice (our inner life) our number one priority. Some are more susceptible to the influence of Neptune than others, but we are all feeling it. So much spiritual help is all around us, our job is to let it in and then to share it as best we can.

I have so many thoughts about the Venus Transit, it is almost overwhelming to imagine trying to articulate them. Especially when combined with the foggy brain of Neptune, Gemini is a difficult energy to pin down (it is mercury slipping through your fingers) and Venus' centennial message is in Geminian form. But we are now coming into the aura of this historic Venusian event and the energy of the Venus Transit is hovering. We will all be *downloading* the essence, the message. GEMINI shares info in sound-bites so don't write a book (advice to myself more than to you;). Short bursts of info, short bursts of insight, juggling the winged thoughts and laughing as you skip them across the pond of your mind like so many pebbles.

A Gemini mantra: When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky. - The Buddha (he should know:)