Mystic Medusa's Astroscape 2010

Mystic Medusa is a Sydney-based astrologer whose witty and sensationally accurate column appears every Saturday in the Weekend Australian newspaper and monthly in In Style magazine.

Her website is www.mysticmedusa.com

Mystic Medusa’s

ASTROSCAPE

2010

SENSATIONALLY COOL AND ACCURATE

STARS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

First published in 2009

Copyright © Abnorm Pty Ltd 2009

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ISBN 978 1 74175 906 8

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Introduction

Mercurial Bats—How Not to Let Mercury Retrograde Send You Mental

Mercury Retro Dates for 2010

The Mars & Venusian Weirding of 2010—Carnal Ego & Surreal Love

Moon Mastery

Moons to Make Your Life Over

Mysteries of the Void Moon

Moon By Moon

The Moon–Pluto Shitzone

The Moon–Uranus Eureka Moment

The Moon–Neptune Dreaming

Diet Moons

Hair Moons

Month-by-month Moons

signs

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

Introduction

WELCOME TO 2010, YEAR OF the Suave Individualist.

As a grand old era ebbs away and a new age dawns, strong astro-weirding in the ‘cardinal’ signs of Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn has all of us exploring our leadership potential. Even if it’s only yourself you lead.

This year signifies survival via determinism, losing neither your nerve nor sense of humour. Hence the ‘suave’ in your individualism. It’s time to transcend faux lifestyles and relationships to daringly create your own realm, with glee. In the words of the nineteenth century Sagittarian novelist Louisa May Alcott, ‘[I] resolve to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her.’

In a time of potentially unprecedented socio-political changes and transition from one phase to the next, there is no point cleaving to the wisdom of the crowd. No matter what your sun sign, the trick of 2010 is to discover who you are and be utterly that. Thus do you shine your own light and, perhaps, by example, lead others out of their dark place.

It’s also the Chinese Year of the Tiger—yet another signifier of brazen, snazzed-up, self-actualising leadership. Creative resilience and audacity trump trying to cling to ancient paradigms. In your personal life, think of it as someone having thumped the ‘reset’ or ‘restore to factory settings’ button.

Amidst all the clean and sharp new-era birth pangs of change-gods Uranus and Pluto, we have the blessing of auspicious Jupiter—officially the luckiest planet of all—in Pisces, the sign he rules.

This, thankfully, adds a tone of compassion and mystical synchronicity to the year, helping us to transcend anxiety and ensuring our leadership is benevolent.

There are some absolutely stunning and powerful astro-alignments in 2010. Some, such as the electrifyingly reinventive Jupiter–Uranus conjunction at zero degrees of Aries on June 8, are so positive that you’ll want to time vital launches or new love affairs for then. Others should be worked around—when you’re best off not approaching peeps in power or trying to pull off something avant-garde.

Saturn, the keeper of boundaries and lord of time, makes two tricky aspects to Pluto this year. The last time these planets met was in September 2001. Late January, early February and late August are all brilliant weeks for the yoga ranch, yes? Peeps will be volatile as hell.

On a more personal note, the year starts with Mars Retrograde in show-offy Leo and ends with Venus Retrograde in sexy Scorpio. Mars and Venus are the eternal lovers of myth. Their cycles very much affect earthly lovers, would-be suitors and all forms of sexual crush. Knowing how to handle these fateful astro-passages is a prerequisite if you want to transcend non-needed relationship merde and dating dilemmas. So see the Mars & Venusian-Weirding sections on pages 9 to 12. For a simple start, don’t get married with either of them in retrograde!

Of course, the oldie-but-a-goodie and the best-known of all the retrograde planet crap-causers is Mercury Retro. Three times a year this dratted little planet that rules communications, travel and techie gadgets appears to go backwards through the sky. It’s an illusion but it sure has a potent effect on things. Triple-check everything and don’t sign a thing during these phases.

What else? Look up your sign for brilliant info on timing everything from sex & debt to fitness, romance, travel—anything pertinent to your sign in 2010.

Look up your friends’ signs to astound them with your genius advice. And check out your rising sign, too. The sun sign refers to the constellation that the sun was travelling through when you were born. The rising sign, a.k.a. ‘ascendant’ sign, is the sign ‘rising’ on the horizon at the time you were born. If you know the time of your birth, the rising sign is easy to discover. Simply visit a website such as www.astro.com. (Note that all times cited are Australian Eastern Standard Time, and adjust to Australian Eastern Daylight Time when daylight saving is in effect.)

Essential, too, is the Moon Mastery lunar planning calendar. Without having to burn ritual candles or chant affirmations into your bathroom mirror, get the edge on opponents and/or love interests by aligning yourself with mysterious moonie events such as the Moon–Pluto Shitzone, Void Moons and the ultra-productive Moons in Virgo, when you can accomplish a week’s work in half a day through sheer focus and self-guilting. Or, for example, time your next wilderness trekking jag for a moon when you will actually get off on you versus the great outdoors: Moon in Saggo. Time psycho-seductions with the Scorpio Moon and perfume buying when the Moon is in Libra. See the calendar for more info. Once you get the hang of it, it works fabulously.

So far as the sign-by-sign section of Astroscape 2010 is concerned, peruse your Precis and Rave to get the cosmic gist, then refer to the monthly guide as needed.

Have a beautiful year and may all the blessings of the cosmos be with you all your days. Go the Suave Individualist!

Mystic

MERCURIAL BATS—HOW NOTTO LET MERCURY RETROGRADE SEND YOU MENTAL

Mercury is the mythological messenger of the gods and the planet that rules such phenomena as emails, couriers, gadgets, computers, phones, letters . . . In short, communications and intellect.

On three, or sometimes four, occasions a year it goes ‘retrograde’ and can produce complete and utter chaos. Mercury Retrograde rules missed calls, delayed flights, lost data and stupid, vile misunderstandings.

Without wishing to be overly superstitious and bats about it, the Mercury Retro phases are best avoided for any of the following activity:

Signing any contract. An oldie but a goodie. I’ve done this—trying not to be too astro-goo-goo—and have always regretted it.

Buying big items. Especially electrical appliances, phones and computers. They tend to conk out in hilarious, trickster-style ways.

Making a significant move or huge life-altering decision. More info tends to come to light after Mercury is direct.

Beginning a book, marriage or business. It’s not bad, as such, but it is just not optimal.

Gossip. Très dodgy. It will create what spies call ‘blowback’. Be careful with all forms of information brokering.

But the phases when Mercury goes bung can be brilliant for finding lost objects, polishing off creative projects that have hung around forever, revision, blissful introspection and random synchronicity that reconnects you with important elements or people from your past. One often groks fabulous insights during Mercury Retro and the point is not to act upon them immediately but jot them down someplace so you can see whether they still have any form when Mercury is direct again.

A declaration made by a non-astrologically-aware character during Mercury Retro will often be reversed once Mercury is direct. It’s amazing how often someone will issue a ‘just friends’ or ‘can’t commit’ rant during Mercury Retro and then change his or her mind later. Likewise, don’t issue ultimatums during these times.

As you are bingling about your business, you’ll strike everyone by how suave and unflappable you are. They need not know that your enviable aplomb is because you’re triple-checking all communications, eschewing cryptic or perhaps-not-so-funny-after-all text messages and allowing extra time for all forms of travel, knowing the Mercurial Bats moments and having scheduled them in your diary yonks ago.

Apart from projects that are out-of-time or utterly unlinked to the work at hand, Mercury Retrograde is excellent for a wilderness retreat, zoning out at your yoga ranch, quiet bathrobe days of relaxation, reading trashy novels or re-reading adored books from your past. So, you get the idea—these times of the year are brilliant bunk-off phases, so long as you don’t overschedule the hols.

Finally, Mercury Retro is fab for laying ghosts of the past to rest, psych-consults that have to do with healing ancient angst, and even ancestor worship or research.

MERCURY RETRO DATESFOR 2010

December 27, 2009 to January 16, 2010

April 18 to May 12

August 21 to S eptember 13

December 10 toD ecember 31

Shove these dates into your diary and schedule accordingly, for brilliant results.

THE MARS & VENUSIAN WEIRDINGOF 2010—CARNAL EGO & SURREAL LOVE

War-godly Mars lords it over ambitions, libido and anger. Under Mars we can fight to vanquish evil on behalf of the weak or turn into monsters of selfish rage.

From the very beginning of this year and until March 11, Mars is retrograde in Leo. Mars in Leo is already a show-off, given to flashy displays of lust, talent and/or ire. And Mars Retrograde is not a good time to initiate anything, particularly an endeavour that could be considered Martian: a war, fight, dispute, lawsuit, assertive seduction, attempt at a promotion etc.

With Mars going bats in Leo, the sign of the arts, photography and film, it is not an ideal time to launch anything of that nature either, until March 11. It’s not bad, as such, but certainly not optimal.

In trad astro, Mars signifies men. That’s right. All men. Your father, a male lover, the local layabout. So, until Mars goes direct, one can expect a certain degree of recalcitrance from the male gender. Don’t push them.

The astro-caution for retro Mars is thus: monitor all impulses for signs of ego-fuelled cuckoo decisions, think thrice before making your stage debut, don’t pick any fights, and give men space.

Leo is also a ‘fixed’ sign so if certain circumstances seem unbearably stuck in your life, watch them free up and flow post-March 11. There are more details regarding this particular syndrome in your individual sign forecasts.

Arieans—being Mars ruled—and Leos are most likely to feel this retrophase—something to remember as they charge around wigging in and out all over the place. Mars Retrograde frustrates their healthy ego-expression.

From October 8 until November 19, Venus, the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture, is retrograde. This is a time when trad astro has it that you do not schedule a wedding, huge party, shopping jags, major beauty treatments (anything that is tricky to alter) or gynae surgery, if at all possible. Nor is it considered a good time to go for a loan or try to ‘win’ anything from someone. So, what is it good for? Health spa trips, female–female bonding, analysis of ye olde love affairs, culling your wardrobe & beauty products, getting a gynae or hormonal check-up and writing the secret history of your love life to date.

Venus is also retrograde in the sultry sign of Scorpio. In fact, she spends from September 9 until early 2011 in Scorp, with a brief hiatus back into Libra due to the retrograde.

Scorpio is the sign of death & rebirth—très cosmic & passionate. If you can stand the woo-woo theory of it, all Venus Retrogrades are credited with bringing past-life lovers back together, but there is no retro Venus more fateful than that of Scorpio.

F.Y.I. the last retro Venus in Scorpio was in late 2002. There is an echo of that time in the summer of 2010. The erotic mysteries of Scorpio are such that the astro-weirding effect oozes out into late August. The signs of Taurus, Libra, Scorpio and Pisces may well sense the profound and entrancing vibe of their newly karmic-feeling love lives more than any other signs of the zodiac.

Note also that, as Venus rules females in general, don’t try to rush a woman into negotiations for anything whilst Venus is retrograde. Not even a lunch date. It is, however, ideal for a reunion with a woman you knew from a long time ago.

MOON MASTERY

Lunar planning via a proper Moon calendar—à la the one in this book—is the old-school core of astrology. Knowing where the Moon is at any moment and making subtle adjustments in your life to flow the lunar energy is easy and ridiculously effective.

Everyone knows the Full Moon sends people loony—ask any fireman or emergency room nurse—but what about harnessing the startover power of the New Moon? Or bunking off with the Void Moon? Or working around the Grudge Flashpoint triggering Moon–Pluto Shitzone?

Tap into your everyday cosmic genius via Moon Mastery. Why is the Moon—a.k.a. the Moon goddess Diana/Selene/ Artemis et al.—so influential? One could pontificate about Luna affecting tides, being so close to the earth and human bodies being so watery and all but, really, why bother?

I love seeing the Moon at night and take her presence as celestial validation and (somehow) a supportive sign to me, personally. Along with seeing some of the planets—the return of Venus