The Dome

The Dome is the title of Stephen King's new book. It is a very thick book indeed. A small town in Maine has an invisible dome suddenly appear and no one can get in and no one can get out. King uses the terrible accident he had in which a driver hit him while he was walking down the side of the road in this novel, he was prescribed Percocet for his pain. Someone in the novel contemplates suicide with Percocet, another becomes addicted to Oxycontin. The man in charge has become rich selling meth, "Big Jim". He has more money than a person could spend in 1 lifetime in an account in the Caymen Islands, but he doesnt' want to retire and sip Margaritas in some tropical local no sir. This little town is his town and has always been his town and he cannot stand the idea of someone else running it. He kills two people in his office with his own hands. Of course you know this is a King novel and that murder and insanity is sure to follow, but there is little magic except of course for the existance of the Dome itself. As for the writing itself I find it is about middlin' folks, middle of the road stuff that we have come to expect from King, which is on a higher level than most writers. King tells us about the motivations of these people and of the awfulness of people quite clearly.

For a writer who writes so much about the unlikely and the never gonna happen in a million years kind of stuff King paints a very clear picture of reality. For his people are real, and just as bad and as spiteful and as mean as they are in everyday life. Being lower middle-class or downright poor as King was in his childhood means knowing how bad people are, and that is a lesson I myself have learned. When people have nothing or very little, their natures are not improved for it believe me.

For all of that I enjoyed reading it, enjoyed a writer putting into words what I myself find so difficult to say. I enjoyed the way Karma has of catching up with the bad guys, now I wish that was a part of reality that I know also.

For life isn't about friendships or love or romance or any of that stuff for most people. It's about power. As the pirate says, "It's what a man can do or what a man cannot do" in Pirates of the Caribbean. I hear it in people's voices and in the way they stand and the way they say the things they say, I hear how much security they have in the world, and how much power. I am pretty much powerless, but I read the fantastic to hear the real so much more. In my own head when I read, I am just reading, just reading.

Scorpio Rising

Having recently realized that my birth certificate was incorrect and I am actually a Scorpio rising, I am pointing fingers at my silly self for taking so long to figure it out. Called the "Razor's Edge" ascendant because it is so very difficult and makes for a difficult life. Having worked once in Labor & Delivery I know they often put the birth time as whenever they get to sit down and write in the chart, which may be as long as 20 minutes later. Also, people tend to round numbers up, so 2:51 becomes 3:00. Also, the stars have moved after a couple of thousand years and the stars in Aries are now in Taurus. However I think the signs still valid. It has been remarked that these Aries stars being in Taurus has made them more peaceful and generally cooled down, which makes a sort of sense when you think about it.

However when you look up your fixed stars on the site Constellation of Words then the stars are where she says they are, (generally one sign away from where ancient people saw them).

The Rising Sign is important because it's ruler is the ruler of your chart. With a Sagittarius rising my ruler was Jupiter, with a Scorpio rising then my ruler is Mars as the ancient ruler or co-ruled or ruled by Pluto now in modern times. To make things more confusing the ruler of your part of fortune is said to rule the chart. Okay.

There was research that showed that the planet that was the closet to the midheaven influenced choice of career, but I understand that planet has to be 8 degrees or less away from the midheaven point. The midheaven is that dark line at the top of your chart. If there is no planet 8 or less degrees away then you go with the ruler of the 10th house. Mine is Virgo so the ruler is Mercury. It is amusing, if you have a toddler or a young one at home, to look at their chart and think of what they might be when they grow up. I am still waiting to grow up myself and still waiting on that career in communications that was foretold for me by Mercury, but even astrology cannot overcome serious screw ups such as myself. Venus at the midheaven fortells a career in something that gives pleasure and is female oriented, artistic careers usually. Jupiter foretells that whatever the career is, it will be big, big, big, 'cause Jupiter means bigness and if Jupiter is close to the midheaven astrologers say you're going to have good luck with your career for forever you lucky person. Even a bad planet at the midheaven isn't bad, 'cause the nobility of being there is transforming to Mars or Saturn. They are improved the stronger they are in astrology, if that makes any sense. A Mars in his home sign of Aries is a happy Mars, or in his exalted sign of Capricorn. (No one can figure out how Mars is exalted in the cold sign of Capricorn, the ancient astrologers say it is so. Like so much in astrology, we don't understand how they figured this stuff out.) Robert Hand is an astrologer who spends a lot of time looking up ancient writings and translating them. I was amused to see him finally on television commenting on, of all things, Nostradomus.

Einstein had Hamal in his chart, this star is known for making people independent. Einstein certainly went against convention in his math, which nobody cared about except other mathmeticians. Einstein couldn't believe how many people were interested in his work and in himself, when they couldn't possibly understand his equations. Other children were born at the same time as Einstein, and they didn't become Einsteins. That is true. I think it is our nature being made in the stars, not our intelligence. My 16 year old has Hamal at 6 degrees of Taurus on her Moon, and independant she certainly is. She works part time and buys her own clothes and stuff. It remains to be seen how being independant will show up in her life.

Fireflies by Owl City

Thank My Space for Fireflies, 'cause that is where this song came from. Electronic pop with fantastic, fanciful lyrics.
Adam Young wrote music in the basement of his parent's house in Owatonna, Minnesota. In the song he sings,
I get a thousand hugs
from 10 thousand lightning bugs
I'm much to tired to fall asleep
Adam Young is young, he is only 20 years old and "Fireflies" made it to #1 on Billboard's top 100 songs. Owl City is a musical project with Adam Young and so called "synthpop" music. On my daughter's computer, this song is called "electronica". It is kind of Disney like to me, like a cartoon, except when the chorus comes in strong with a kind of rock feel you realize that it is a rock n' roll song. On the Owl City site there are free songs along with Fireflies to listen to, one is called "Strawberry Avalanche" and "Hot Air Balloon". In the first song he sings, "this is a world of dreams and reverie". In "Hot Air Balloon" he sings, "We will stir the stars around...thinking of the weekend we were in love."
I think I know what he is singing of in Fireflies, it is that magical moment when you drift off to sleep. It is the doorway between being awake and your dreams in which magical and whimsical thoughts may occur to you. At the end he sings, "I fall asleep."
My 16 year old daughter was playing this song on our computer over and over and I thought it perfect for a 16 year old, not realizing at the time that the rest of the world loves "Fireflies" too.

Algol the Demon's Eye

Algol seems to be a star associated with catastrophes but also feminine energy that brings creativity to people. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones has his Moon on Algol. He wrote songs like "Under My Thumb" and "Stray Cat" that were not very nice towards women at all. The Stones have never wrote songs about romantic love. There is one song titled "Stupid Girl". A previous member of the Stones who died in their early years was Brian Jones, who had Uranus on Algol in his birth chart. Jones, who Richards says really made his mark and that he knew of 15 children at the very least that Jones had fathered, was always going from one relationship to another. Johnny Depp has his Venus on Algol and I don't know about his love life. There are also some scientists who were brilliant with planets conjunctioning Algol. Uranus is the planet of genius and when it is on Algol it is an indicator of genius, but of genius so great they may be rather freakish. All of this doesn't go with the idea of Algol being bad luck always, it may not be a bad energy, rather one that is intense and hard to handle. It appears to be a creative energy in the chart.
Diana Rosenberg has written a book about stars which I want to own badly says,
"Some of the fixed stars are harsh, yes....stars confer tasks upons us which, if comprehended and accepted offer great rewards of power and creativity." John Lennon had a planet on Algol, and his violent death is often associated with his having a birth planet on Algol. Also the star Facies is in his chart, a star it is said means a violent death. Well I have Facies, so if I die a violent death I am a believer for sure.
What I read about the stars I take the information with the proverbial grain of salt. Some things even professional astrologers seem to get wrong. I mean it seems to me that something is going on with these stars, that Algol makes one creative may be the only thing I can say for sure.
I must add one thing, I got interested in Algol because my hubby has his Sun on Algol in the 1st house. Now the 1st house represents the physical body, and Algol here on the Sun means a lot of accidents. I read an ancient text translation that said, "If the Sun be with Algol and Mars is also with Gemini, the hands and feet will be cut off." Strange, my husband had his foot amputated after a load of posts fell on him. He also injured his back vertabrae. He is always damaging his hands, but then he works with his hands so perhaps that is reasonable. It gave me a shiver to read that, it was close enough to what had actually happened in his life. His Mars is in Gemini. It also says if the Sun be with Algol then you have this ability to conquer your enemies. He has this amazing ability to win arguments and come out ahead I must say. Now Taurus is called Taurus the builder and my hubby has the ability to build anything, he uses wood. People bring him old wood all the time. He is well liked and people give him things, it seems to me they do so partly because of a sense of compassion. They just kind of feel sorry for him. Sorry he has had such a lousy life and that he is an amputee. Algol is in Taurus so if you are a Taurus then you might have this star on your Sun. It is given a 5 degree orb because it is a powerful triple star. Oh yeah, his Lot of Acquisiton is in Pisces, that most compassionate of signs ruling the lot of how you acquire things. He gets things because people have sympathy for him. Astrology just has these amazing predictions that happen to be correct. He also has me, who supports him. I went out with him because, yeah, I felt sympathy for this man who had lost a leg.
Also things miss, like my Lot of Acquisition is in Aries and Mars is there in Aries which means I should take in quite a bit. I don't. Anyway, Mars here means you get what you get by robbery or sports. Or it can mean the things you get, like you collect sports memorabilia and weapons. Mars is the God of War after all. Or it could be as Ms. Rosenberg says when she writes that a planet conjunct a fixed star takes on the qualities of that star permanently, from birth to forever. My Mars is conjunct a Mercurian star which rules the mind. So maybe that explains how I am more likely to collect books than I am to collect guns.
My chart also says I will be famous and perhaps rich, still waiting for that one.
My powerful Mars may have a lot to say about why I take something no one likes and defend it, like say for instance, astrology.

Predicting the Future

I have been bushwrangled and sidetracked by Astrology from other things I should be doing, but I don't think it has been a waste of time at all or anything like that. Personality, temperament and abilities seem to be shown by astrology very well and I have not been interested in it's alleged ability to see the future and uh....fortune telling.

I was astonished that my future may actually be bright after all, since I've studied triplicity rulers and the Moon will rule my life soon. I can't help but feel hopeful. To study your chart is to see those things that are good for you through the planets and what you need to stay away from. If you were born in the daytime Mars is the villian, if you were born at night it is Saturn. Mars seems to create enemies and Saturn seems to cripple you in some way. Say you have Mars ruling the 12th house (which is in Aries), a Mars that is in the 10th house. The 10th is our reputation and our career. The 12th represents jails, hospitals, things that are hidden, things done in solitude. I am talking about the horoscope of Mae West, who had Mars like this. Her vaudeville act was so obscene that she would be thrown in jail, she had enemies. This being thrown in jail damaged her reputation. Later in life her triplicity ruler became Venus instead of Mars and that was when she became famous. (I got this from "The Five Pillars of Fate" book by A. Garth.)

The 10th house is very important, it is our career and our reputation. It is a very lucky house. The house that is 10 houses away from your Lot of Fortune is very lucky and has to do with the same things, career and reputation.

I will tell you about myself (which is all I know at this point) and that is that when Mars ruled my first 28 years I got bad will from others because Mars rules my 12th house. Nevertheless I was born at night so Mars is not a bad planet for me, what was bad was that it ruled the evil 12th house. I seemed to only make friends with bad people, jealous or manipulative people all the time. I despaired of ever meeting a nice guy too.

When Venus became my ruler I was 28 years old and I still had the same job I'd had for years-but I started to hate my job. I quit and couldn't find anything except work as a waitress. My boss treated me badly. Venus rules my house of work and servitude, the evil 6th house. My triplicity ruler was ruining my work life. I applied for jobs all over the place but could not get a good job. I work now at a poultry plant, which is the best job I've had I am sorry to say. The thing is, the 6th rules small animals like chickens. I find that amusing. The 6th is like how are you a slave? I am a slave in that I have to do this job and they are a little rough on you. The 6th speaks to you of servitude and enslavement, it might be good and it might be bad but it will be in bad spirit. The 6th is a evil spirited house. For some the evil spirit will not be even noticeable, for me I notice it. Also my 6th is the 12th house from my Lot of Fortune, so it is kind of double curses on me.

My Moon is in the 8th house. The bad houses are the 6th, 8th and 12th. The planets that rule a nighttime birth are the Moon, Mars and Venus. My planets all rule bad houses, houses with bad spirits as Mr. Garth says. But I cannot say my life isn't worth a jar of poo dug up at midnight from a graveyard at All Hallow's Eve. (Joking!) All of us have these houses and all of us have some bad spirit in our lives, but we also have good spirit in the 5th and the 11th. The planets position in your chart can tell you a great deal, are they in good houses or not?

So all of this leads me to believe in some kind of luck, not like gambling luck where you will always eventually lose and the casino will get rich but not you, but luck that is fate. Fate as in no matter what you do you cannot change it, fate as written in ancient texts by ancient Greeks, fate as in I should forget some things because no matter what, and I don't know how or when or why, some things are just bad.

I have Saturn in conjunction with the Sun. Astrologically, this means I doubt myself. Confidence is something I don't know what it's like to have. I have attempted to change this in the past, now I believe it is fate. I have always been like this, I am always going to be like this and so what? I write like someone whistling while they walk past a graveyard, in defiance of a constant feeling inside that what I write ain't worth that check you get in the mail made out for a million dollars. I live and pretend it ain't so. I get by okay.

I write because I have gotten praise for it and it delights me more than ice cream with whipped cream. I need it like breath. With astrology I can say that Saturn is here, it explains the unexplainable and it does it so beautifully. Fate is hugging me tight and squeezing the breath out of me.

On every life falls a graceful note so it hardly seems fair of me to complain. I've got a real appreciation of things other people don't even understand, an emotional base from Venus and the Moon. I can love things, be crazy about things like Tori Amos. She is great. She carries me away to addresses not in the phone book.

I think there is balance. You get bad and you get good in a balance in life. I got a lot of bad in one area because I got a lot of good in another I believe. I can look at my chart and what I see that is good are the aspects between the Moon and Venus and Neptune. This is my magic, all these trines and quintiles aspecting these 3 planets. The planets of artists and musicians very often. They present their good faces to me because of their good aspects. There is fate and there are some things you can change and some things you cannot.

The Moon receives and is passive.

The Sun gives and is active.

I am a Moon person because I was born at night and because the Moon aspects every other planet except Mercury. I think it may be that most of our fortune can be told, it appears so to me.

So I guess I'll wait on the Moon, she will be my chart ruler. I am interested to see what may happen.