Pluto: Destroying Structure

Greetings, Gifted Reader.

New Orleans  'feels' Plutonian with its love for mysticism

As we head into Fall, it’s important to note all the movement crisscrossing the sky.

For one, Pluto turned Direct in Capricorn today. Like the underworld he represents, this dwarf planet can be mysterious, secretive and on a serious power trip.

So what happens when he occupies a sign like Capricorn which has rulership over the status quo, governments and business? There’s plenty of disruption, a tearing down so to speak in order to rebuild. 

Much like the rising phoenix, one of Scorpio’s (that Pluto rules) three symbols (the others are the eagle and scorpion), Pluto will wreak havoc in order to start all over again. Think of his actions as a type of death and reincarnation—often before his subjects are ready.

Just read the latest news about what’s going on with the US government, and you will see Pluto at work. He’s been occupying Capricorn—which is all about structure—on and off since 2008 and will sit there until 2024. So, there will be six more years of this stuff. The last time Pluto was in Capricorn was during the American Revolution.

Gypsy Stars visits Marie Laveau with a Scorpio
notice the ray of purple light emanating from her tomb

Being a water sign, Scorpio which is ruled by Pluto is mostly harmonious with the earthly Capricorn. But their compatibility is also where they clash—both wanting to grab the reins of power. 

While Scorpio is more intensely emotional, Capricorn can also be hard to deal with as a Cardinal sign that feels most at home being someone’s boss. Like Scorpio, that often hides its inner feelings, Capricorn is insecure when it comes to emotional expression.

With Scorpio Sun coming up on October 23, this time of year is conducive for celebrating holidays like Dia de los Muertos, All Souls Eve and Halloween—all events surrounding death, another specialty of Pluto’s. 

Please join us back here on December 31 when Mars enters Aries (do we really need more combative energy?). Meanwhile, check us out at the Urban Goddess Facebook page and on Cafe Press at T_zing tee shirts.

Good luck, light and love.

Gypsy Stars

Season Of Celebration During A Time Of Departure

Greetings, Gifted Reader!

Yes, Gypsy Stars is late (again!) in posting this blog, but it’s that crazy time of year. You know, this is the period when those of us in North America celebrate a plethora of holidays. Beginning with Halloween (or All Hallows Eve, or Day of the Dead) to Thanksgiving to Hanukkah to Christmas to Kwanzaa to New Year’s (not just on January 1, but beyond with all the various Asian New Years), most of us find ourselves hustling and bustling in an effort to party.

Persian cat...meow

Gypsy Stars would like to know exactly what holidays you participate in and, more importantly, why?

Did you do Halloween this year? Did you wear a costume or go trickin' for treats like me? Meow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

And what are your plans for Thanksgiving, or as some label it—a national day of mourning for the First Peoples, or the Indigenous, of this mainland? Read about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries, including Grenada and Japan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

Christmas pine

Soon, it will be Christmas and yet another new year. Are you ready for a rebirth or renewal of spirit at this cold and bleak time? Or, does celebrating a new year in the dead of winter, on January 1, not make sense to you? 

Wouldn’t you feel more renewed in early spring when the Sun moves into Aries, the beginning of the Zodiac, and blooming flowers?

Spring roses

What is it about fall and death, anyway? Gypsy Stars recently lost a very close friend and re-examined this time of year. While leaves end their cycles by falling from trees and leaving bare branches behind, other wonders of Nature also hibernate during this season. It's no coincidence that fall coincides with the Astrological sign Scorpio and the Eighth House—the ruler of death and regeneration. No wonder we celebrate so much during this time when heavy thoughts and feelings threaten to permeate our souls.

Spring deer

Dear Gifted Reader, I leave you with this wish for peace and light during these dark times.

Remember you can friend Gypsy Stars on Facebook and 'like' The Urban Goddess fan page, too. And, we have T_zing t-shirts on Café Press.

Good luck, light and love,

Gypsy Stars

http://www.gypsystars.com

In Sickness And In Health

Greetings, Gifted Reader!

There’s little that makes us feel more out of control than experiencing illness. There we are, lying in bed, barely able to move, with our bodily functions gone wacky. All of us, at some point, come down with a cold or a communicable disease like measles. And as we get older, we tend to suffer more.

chillin' in healing Honolulu...

But what do you do when you get sick? Some people prefer Western medicine and its unending supply of pharmaceuticals while others practice Ancient, Eastern or Indigenous healing methods. In the latter styles, the reasons for illness are often explored on a deeper level. In some cultures, being sick is attributed to something that’s occurring on a spiritual plane. Some even point to events that transpired in previous lifetimes as the cause for diseases in this life. Most metaphysicians believe that all illnesses manifest for a purpose.

If you’re experiencing a mild ailment, you’ll most likely be well soon again.

In a lot of cases, we can look at the particular area of disease and connect it to the way the mind takes things literally. Even injuries can be attributed to some signal that crosses between our conscious and subconscious.

healing at Lake Shrine, Pacific Palisades...

For instance, I recently stubbed my baby toe badly on the way out the door to a trip I didn’t want to take. Intuitively, I really dreaded this particular journey from the moment I knew I was going on it. And, I was right! It turned out to be one of the worst I’ve ever taken. Further, while I was on it, I was forced to think about my bad choice because of my continually throbbing toe.

On the day of departure, as I gathered my suitcases and checked last-minute details, I rushed towards the door. But just before I got to it, there was a moment where I half turned in a second of indecisiveness before tripping hard over my own feet. Wow. Could the message be any clearer? It’s called ‘stopping one’s self in one’s tracks’, and I was injured because something on another level was telling me not to go.

meditating in the hills of Colorado...

Another example is the inability to hear clearly. I’m not referring to those who are born deaf, but to those who develop hearing issues later in life. In almost every case I know of, that person has a hard time hearing others because they often talk over or interrupt them. Is it just a coincidence that they then experience hearing loss? Could it be their ears are saying, “What am I hanging around for if you’re not going to use me? I think I’ll just shut down.”

If you take some time to explore a recent illness or injury, you may very well pinpoint the reason you’re experiencing it. Obviously, I’m not a medical doctor, and these are merely my observations as a metaphysician. If you have an ailment, please see your practitioner. But if you’ve always wondered how your physical self works in conjunction with your higher consciousness, then meditate on it. Take some time to sit quietly in front of your altar and ask your higher self to tell you why you’re ill or injured.

soothing Sedona...

In Astrology, health is ruled by the Sixth House and is the domain of the sign Virgo whose ruling planet is Mercury. Hard angles to the Sixth House would predispose one to sickness although that can be remedied by any positive aspects. The Twelfth House rules hospitals and with a lot of planets deposited there, one may find oneself confined to (or perhaps just working at) one.

As for cures for illness, it helps to be in a healing environment where Nature can soothe away your troubles. Places like Sedona, Pacific Palisades, Hawai'i or the hills of Colorado all work for me.

Don’t forget to check out T_zing t-shirts on Café Press, send a friend request to Gypsy Stars on Facebook and like The Urban Goddess fan page. And, Happy Halloween.

Until next time, here’s to you good health and…

Good luck, light and love,

Gypsy Stars

http://www.gypsystars.com

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Greetings, Gifted Reader!

Many, many moons ago, I entered into a business partnership with another reader. Together, we organized and presented small psychic fairs around our mid-sized city.

This partner was also instrumental in my being hired by Psychic Friends Network where she had worked for some time. Because her mother was an Astrologer and she herself had substantial training in the mantric arts, I thought we were on the same wavelength. However, when I told her that that my reader name was Gypsy Stars, she reacted negatively.

Gypsy Stars
@ Psychic Fair

The reason I chose this name is because, for some strange reason, my Japanese national mother dressed me up as a Gypsy every single Halloween. Without fail, she’d put me in layered swinging skirts, cover my head with colorful scarves while allowing my long, jet hair to fly in the wind, decorate my ears with dangling jewelry, and paint my lips with bright red lipstick. Looking back, it strikes me as peculiar because neither one of us knew anything about real Gypsies except that the women were beautiful and danced with tambourines in front of fires on beaches in movies starring Gina Lollobrigida:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Lollobrigida

As for the Stars in Gypsy Stars, it’s not just Astrology that I was referencing, but my personal philosophy that everybody is a star…a la Sly Stone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m29F4FtVo-U

But back to my biz partner: Admonishing me to not use the word ‘gypsy’, she told me that Gypsies have a bad reputation as liars, scammers and thieves. I was astounded. Weren’t gypsies responsible for popularizing the idea of card, crystal ball and palm readings—which was the very service we provided? And, weren’t they specifically sought out for persecution by Nazis in Europe? How could Gypsies have been the culprits in that scenario?

Gypsy Stars
ringing bell
for Oshun
@Waimea

My biz partner’s slanted opinion sent me to the encyclopedia (this was before the Internet). After extensively reading, I still couldn’t find a definitive explanation for the origination of Gypsies that experts agreed on.

Did they hail from the India subcontinent as some believe? Or, is the word ‘gypsy’ short for Egyptian?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people

Certainly, I don’t believe Gypsies or Romani are all tramps and thieves as Cher sang back in the day. In her hit song, Cher--who has Armenian roots--talked about being mislabeled as her fictional family traveled the U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsys,_Tramps_%26_Thieves

Gypsy Stars
@Enchanted Tree, Honolulu

In any case, I have stuck with the name Gypsy Stars, and always will. I have a healthy respect for any group of people who practice metaphysics.

Do you have an opinion about this subject? Drop me a line at gypsystars@me.com

Meanwhile, the new Gypsy Stars website is up, but only on a temporary server. Next week, we’ll move to a permanent host and domain but here’s a preview.

http://edison.seattlecentral.edu/~ywinfr01/gypsystars/index.html

Remember you can friend Gypsy Stars on Facebook, “like” The Urban Goddess page that supports all metaphysicians, and buy one of our T_zing t-shirts.

Until we meet again, you should sing and dance like a Gypsy to find happiness.

Good luck, light and love,

Gypsy Stars

Halloween: Passing Spirits

Greetings, Gifted Reader!

Trick or treat! Happy Halloween! Just what do those words mean exactly?

According to Wikipedia, the Celtic festival of Samhain (old Irish for summer’s end) celebrated the “end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half” or what became known as the Celtic New Year. Ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the next one became so thin during that time it allowed spirits to pass through.

In order to keep harmful spirits away, costumes and masks were worn as disguises. The rationale was that if the costume you wore made you look like a harmful spirit yourself, the authentically harmful ones left you alone. Trick or treat!

Eventually, Samhain became today’s Halloween, or the evening before All Hallows Day. Happy All Hallows Eve!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

During my childhood, Halloween meant months of planning the perfect costume I would wear. I also looked forward to drinking hot apple cider, eating candied apples and popcorn balls, and, of course, gorging on all the candy I’d collect from neighbors.

As a little girl, I loved fall, October and Halloween. Without realizing it then, I probably felt a connection to the Libra Sun moving through my Ascendant at that time of year. And, the brilliant sunset colors of leaves turning orange, scarlet and sienna inspired me as an artist. October is also a month of windy storms and cemeteries—domains of the Ifa deity Oya.

Strangely, my Japanese immigrant mother dressed me as a gypsy nearly every year until I was in junior high school. Was it her psychic ability at work? How did she know I would end up reading Astrology charts and Tarot cards someday? Intuitively, my mother would clothe me in full skirts, wrap my long hair in a colorful scarf, add large hoop earrings, bangles and bright red lipstick--all the while knowing nothing of the Romany.

Perhaps there was something in me on a deeper consciousness level that recognized early on who I would become, and that something communicated to my mother to attire me appropriately. At any rate, the whole thing is another one of life’s great mysteries.

But don’t you remain one. Drop us a line at gypsystars@me.com to share your Halloween story with our readers. Hopefully, it will be as entertaining as my favorite short story author’s, Shirley Jackson’s, The Haunting of Hill House—available below.

Soon, we’ll meet again. Meanwhile, remember our T*zing t-shirts. And, don't forget to friend us on Facebook and like The Urban Goddess, too.

http://www.cafepress.com/t_zing

Above is a pix of me on my way to Sorrentino’s Halloween party dressed as a Persian cat. Meow!

Leaving you with good luck, light and love;

Gypsy Stars