MORE Star-Reporter SATURN In Libra ... responsibility, partnerships, fair-play

Ever have a night where it seems the stars are screaming for you?  Well, it was one of those nights for me.  We had unplugged the vardo of electricity, and Pete was out in his deep sleep space.  I climbed out and off the futon, pulled on my robe and beacon hat and opened the door.  The umbrella roof shielded the sky, but I knew they were out there, waiting.

Ka Makani returned after a day of hiding somewhere else.  The tall trees that are our companions were doing their hula e, e.  Graceful and powerful I watched the pines thick heads move.  When I rounded the corner of the house, there they were.  Millions of 'em. 

Quiet was loud, and the lack of electricity running through the thick extension cord pervading.  Ever feel the lack of electrical current?  Years ago I used to travel to Yachats, Oregon a coastline town that has long been a favorite place for me.  I lived on O'ahu and made these trips to join Amy and Arnie Mindell in workshops.  Those were the days of my life when I facilitated or joined large groups of people to explore social change, healing potentiality, and on and on. 

Back to the point of Yachats and this Star-Report ... one thing Arnie Mindell encouraged us to do was to get regular doses of STAR DUST and STAR LIGHT.  We are star dust and we need to be refreshed on it was message.  I've never forgotten that, and can still recall my star light walks alone in Yachats, Oregon.  The star dust within me are the finings and those million stars are the magnet. 

So ... last night I was out there with the stars and went back to sleep refreshed as well as a woman sleeping unplugged in her snug home.

STAR-reporting  Saturn (long-term character building) is in the sign of the Scales (Libra) until 2012.

From CafeAstrology this bit about Saturn in Libra
http://www.cafeastrology.com/saturninlibra.html#libra

"...Saturn will be looking for balance, integrity, and fairness in the sign of Libra. We will be redesigning our definition of "self" that includes an "other". Our ability to commit comes into question. Our ability to play by the rules in partnership also becomes critical. This is a time during which we explore our personal boundaries in partnership. Just how much a partnership limits us becomes glaringly apparent, especially in terms of our own fear of losing someone, or fear of rejection, and how that fear might limit our personal freedom.

NOTES FROM MOKIHANA:

Boundaries and partnerships are playing hard in the 2nd House of Ways of Making Money/Income and the 9th House of Higher Education/Philosophy and World-view for Pete and me.  "Our ability to play by the rules in partnership also become critical..."  Pete and I have been sharing our world of building and living from a tiny safe-for-us home for more than two years.  In so many ways it's been a naked to the world sort of expose (Scorpio depth coupled with lots of Capricorn/Saturn character-building on my part). 

If we've been giving more than taking, or taking more than giving, in an existing partnership, Saturn's transit through Libra will point out the flaws in that type of arrangement. It's all about responsibility and doing our share. If we've been unhappy with a partner's contribution to the relationship, Saturn's transit might magnify that problem in our minds.

NOTES FROM MOKIHANA:

Sharing information is one thing. At some point (and we believe the point is now) we will put out THE POI BOWL and ask for a bit of nourishment in return. That's what the bowl is doing over there on the side-bar.
We notice how our journey has inspired others to amplify their dreams, and recently saw a vardo so similar to VardoForTwo.  The internet allows all manner of virtual gleaning, and 'stealing our ponies' is easy. 

We have invested nearly every resource we have to build our life from VardoForTwo.  We have shared uncompromisingly every step of the way, and will continue to blog and blather in our unique and quirky style.
What we can't do is share without contribution. 

So ... in the future as Saturn remains in the sign of the Scales, and goes back-ward (retrogrades) just to make sure we're learning the lessons, we will be mindful of what the stars are shouting and attend to character-building in the best possible ways.

Any questions?

Astrology and MCS: more about boundaries

Personality

personal beliefs, expectations, desires, values, and behaviors that derive from the interaction between culture and the individual. Personality is the behaviors and techniques for solving problems that are used by an individual. Personality is to the individual as culture is to the group.

Source:  oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth370/gloss.html

The building crew next door -- three guys, have dug out a deep hole for a new basement, created a french-drain of sorts that channels the persistent appearance of the old stream beds that retain the character of Everett's wetland history; and now as I peak through the slated window blinds, I see those guys walking on stout beams at a height way above my head.  There is progress going on and the noise to boot.  Tucked as we are on the other side of D and L's home, most of the noise and an option to avoid the potential toxicity of treated material are mine.  In a similar way my progress has risen like the framing next door.  Two years ago, any construction would have catapulted me into flight, mattering not the reality that I had no other place to be.  Things in my life are progressing at turtle like speed ... plodding would be accurate.  Three months now, we are parked here in the Mill Town of Everett, Washington a place I had placed on my "I'll never live there again list."  Here I be, in a basement living space within a weak stone's throw from a major building project and we're living here.

Two years of progress shows itself in subtle ways, invisible to the others bloggers like me and scores of others now, mark the progress of life with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Environmental Illness and associated maladies that either came before or after diagnosis.  Having access to the internet opens up the community of Sensitives or Canaries to the diverse ways we live with the illnesses.  Earlier this week Pete and I joined more than a dozen friends who live with MCS at our annual Holiday party.  This is an event of great significance to people who have MCS in its varied states of severity or ease.  It is not easy to find one place that is comfortable for a dozen humans with multiple chemical sensitivities.  Fortunately, our friend G has a home that fits that description, and so the party was wonderful.  More at ease and relaxed with folks who not only 'get' the issue ... we all have 'it'... the practice of social interaction becomes one more source of evidence that life is progressing in the right direction.  Each of our friends comes with his or her unique personality and circumstances.  A hand-ful of these folks are still part of the working class.  Funny, I find that phrase strange.  It means there are people with MCS, that I know, who function, either as a result of improved and recovered health, or have a different level of sensitivities and can go to a job/maintain an in-home business.  Nearly all the friends in this group live and own their homes or apartments. One friend rents a very long time rental.  Pete and I are the only wandering wheelie home folks.  We gather to share food, enjoy each others company and share in a circle of telling, one of the highlights (a positive) from the year just finished.  This time, the sharing included examples of many different sorts of plodding positive work:  a longer walk this year than last, excellent results with monthly EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) treatments, time spent during the final days of a loved ones life, a first time plane ride in 12 years, a poet grows stronger in voice and on the page, another witnesses things just working out, a storyteller reads her fairy tale aloud.  The night was special and though tiring, the effort was rewarded in spades.

In another life, groups were a regular part of my experience.  I facilitated groups for a living, organized them for all sorts of reasons and joined a couple when it was necessary to have the support of others who could understand what it was like to believe you could stop someone from drinking themselves to death.  I reflect on those decades and see how my social network worked for me then.  Now, that network needs to be rebuilt.  In the most positive of ways I am learning to recreate my network of support with healthier boundaries.  The demanding limits of a life which will stop you short with a whiff of someone else's heavily scented laundry soap or perfume switches up the way you care for yourself.  When you can no longer live/rent/own the cute house down the block because it makes you sick, something very primal kicks in and that's where the personality after diagnosis becomes important.  I am learning to stick up for me in all the right ways; and in big and small ways.

Astrology and Navigation from the Vardo

The four nights and days of the 'Ole cycle according the Hawaiian Moon Calendar are pau, and they have been a very important time of review, restoration, rest and weeding our symbolic and real lives. Astrologically, things are happening for all (the collective) on the planet; and personally Pete and I have important issues to review and access from our physical place on the earth ... specifically, our position here in the field with Rescue Horses, barbed wire and our micro-home called VardoForTwo. Our choices, our relationships and the process of creating the life (individually and as a couple) we have is based on the years of choosing, the years of our interactions, and the process of getting ourselves into a very tiny home now parked in a field in Central Oregon. What we are doing is hard stuff, there is nothing (nothing!) easy about it. The four nights and days of the 'Ole cycle have been perfect times to do two important pieces of homework. The reasons for doing them boil down to this:

At the end of October (in two and a half days) Saturn (the planet of discipline, and control) will move into the Cardinal (down to basics) sign of Libra (balance, partnerships) from Virgo. Pluto (planet of birth and re-birth) is already in Capricorn (a cardinal sign). Uranus will shift into Aries (another cardinal sign). Cardinal signs mean we must focus on the things that the cardinal signs mean to humans and human "success" (in whatever form).

Four important questions need to be answered during this time between Saturn's move into Libra:

• WHO ARE YOU? (How do you present yourself to the world?) Astrologically 1st House
  
• WHO IS YOUR TRIBE/CLAN? (How do you define your tribe/family/clan?) Astrologically 4th House
  
• WHO IS YOUR PARTNER(S)? (Who is your romantic partners and who is your solid partner as it relates to the foundations of your life?) Astrologically 7th House
  
• WHAT IS YOUR JOB? Astrologically 10th House

Link: Click below to watch and listen to the video by Elsa P. that explains this 4 question process.

http://www.elsaelsa.com/archives/2009/10/24/1-minute-astrology-how-to-thrive-2009-2010-2011/

Personally, the answers I have come up with to the 4 questions are (The short version):

Who am I? I am an old woman.

Who is my tribe/family/clan? My clan is my son, my husband Pete and my Island heritage and roots.

Who is my partner/partners? Pete is my partner and outside of him my solid partners are those friends who value me and my husband and will support us emotionally and physically with our needs as we age and require specific accommodations relating to the disease of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. My partners must be people who see healthy boundaries and boundary making as an important value; and we work together to set boundaries and respect them in ourselves and in our relationships.

What is my job? I am a storyteller, a publisher and blog author of life-lessons learned the hard way -- through real life. I am a digger and I will probably make you uncomfortable, confused or inspired with the cracks I discover.


The second piece of homework that I committed to during the past four days was a review and reflection on the past 7 years. Again, Elsa P. is the expert and astrologer who has much more convincing reasons for doing this 7 year review.

Link to the posts below for that information:

http://www.elsaelsa.com/archives/2009/10/27/saturn-leaving-virgo-for-libra-and-thinking-in-terms-of-7-years/
http://www.elsaelsa.com/archives/2009/10/27/trends-in-the-collective-saturn-and-pluto-changing-signs-the-natural-zodiac-vs-the-personal-experience/#more-10601


Pete and I are parked in a field with a dream of building community (11th house stuff astrologically) seriously dissolving into a reality check. Specifically, the check is ... can that dream be done from this field and with this arrangement? Also, before we get any further along (time wise ... winter is here, the passes are more difficult to cross or criss-cross) we need to look at what we have done and how we have done it and with whom have we done these things.

Before we can make progress, we have got to re-check our climbing equipment and look for any cracks in the foundations. There are cracks, so we needed to do the review with careful attention to details. (Virgo things). I spent the entire day yesterday, some of the evening last night reviewing the gains and details of our life(lives) over the past 7 years. The process and the patterns were revealing and then Pete and I went through it together ... more and more was revealed.

We are taking a break from the review as I write. Pete is playing a little solitaire, and then we'll pick up the review again. As I wrote in the beginning of this post, what we are doing is not easy. The past 7 years have been gut-wrenching and the losses have been heavy. Individually and as a couple these two old people have been through hell and back many times. I come to these blog pages and put (some) of these stories on the page. Two people who believe the best option for there life is to build and live in the world from a two-wheeled wagon and ask for 1) clean air 2) chemical free and fragrance free surroundings/and empathetic partnerships 3) physical accommodations that allow and embrace our life(style) require a lot from the world as it exists today.

This 7 year history review has revealed the cracks in our foundations. Like this:

1. Where have I been self-serving in my relationships (selfish and mean) over and over again? If that is a pattern and continues to escalate because now I am sick with this environmental illness, I see it as a crack in my foundation. I have got to do some changing with my relationships. The disease is difficult; but I am seeing that my ability to communicate through the difficulties of the disease/exposures are a vital shoring up process for me going forward.

Saturn is my chart ruler. With Saturn moving into Libra my relationships will be a key work, and it's my job, or Saturn will simply make it more difficult and the struggles will be even more.

Throughout the homework I did I reviewed and reflected on the 7 years with a focus on the areas of life as depicted in Elsa's suggestion to break down the 28 year cycle of Saturn into quadrants (7 years at a time). Link to that post for a visual of the quadrants.

In a nutshell, I reviewed the 7 years with the idea of looking for patterns of
1) effort relative to my family
2) creativity
3) hard work and service

I coupled it with the 4 questions from above. The research and review was legend and like I say Pete and I will pick it up again after I finish this post. Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is gaining in attention especially during the past two years. Bloggers and social networks provide incredible service to those of us who live with this disease. Diagnosing the disease is difficult and yet that is becoming more and more the 'norm' for more and more people who have not understood their experiences of loss/mental debilitation and emotional-social loss. Supportive community through the internet is now providing a different and new level of knowing and care. That is critical because any who live with this illness know, face-to-face support comes with its inherent risks ... even when a person has the best of intentions to support you, an exposure and a set-back is always probable.

What I attempt to do here with VardoForTwo is to offer a different sort of support through our experiences and include the navigational tools I find useful on our journey. Astrology is a concrete cosmic science, and for me, I use it because it offers a broad view. I am grateful to know that at this stage and age, I am able to use astrology as a tool. It is not simple, yet I have found a teacher and a community where I can hybrid my experiences and come up with something useful. All through the years (7 years in particular) of history-making, our personalities have been hard at work for good or ill. That's the thing about living with disease-illness that is chronic and not cured with pill-injection-surgery ... my personality is always part of the recovery, discovery and my choices are affected by the illness and my native personality.

Creating a safe haven community for people with MCS is a difficult goal. Who would know (for sure) until you try. At this point, Pete and I need to reevaluate and try to keep the communication process open while maintaining flexible and real boundaries. Navigation is difficult when the charts don't exist ... and so, I look to the stars and planets for charts that do exist. We made this expedition to Bend, site unseen. It's not the first time, but maybe we have learned something new this time and can look to our history to shore us with the confidence we need to keep believing in the journey. The goals may need changing but that is not a bad thing, especially if the goal has a crack in it.

Saturn moves into Libra at the end of the month. Do you know where the cracks are in your foundation?

Astrology from the Vardo: LIBRA MATTERS ... MANNERS MATTER

The sun is in the sign of Libra and has been since September 22, just after the Equinox when the Earth has equal exposure to the sun and moon ... equal parts dark and light. I have just spent time visiting some of my other ether-spots thanks to my trusty laptop. I've opened up my email and found a sweet communication from a nearly-lost connection with a treasured daughter, linked yesterday's MOON, MOON HARVEST MOON post to The Canary Report Group 'Eyes on the Sky' and got my first dose of ElsaElsa astrological heads-up for the day.

Late last night before climbing under the covers I was hit with one of those toxic influences that is sometimes impossible to avoid. Rather than a chemical hit from a caustic drain opener or the neighbor's BBQ or drier sheet, toxic influences can come from words or images of threat or maligning. The issue of the insensitive and ignorant commentary about our outside kitchen living came up, again, just before I was pulling the sheets over my head. That's the risk of sharing the laptop in the confines of a micro space. Pete was net surfing and hit that submerged rock (surfers will know the anology ... know where the rocks are before you catch the wave)Short story ... the toxic hit affected both of us, again and opened a wound.

To defend and calm myself so I could open to the peace of a healing night of sleep, I asked Pete to please leave the issue for the night, let us sleep on it and take no action. Grace did come to us, I slept and was granted a gentle and healing dream. There's no need to be explicit, for those who read here, you know that I am a Hawaiian dreamer with the ability to receive deep insight through the dream. I am thankful the gods bless me with that vehicle.

After my first cup of three-leaf tea (three fresh sprigs of our pepppermint) and sunflower nut butter on toast I began my morning rounds of the net ... , I went to work. Or more astrologically, Libra had found a way to work within me. The sun is in the sky of Libra the balance-maker. I am blessed with a Libra Sun son and Pete the Cancer Moon Man is also a Moon in Libra Native. When Pete and I went to sleep our sense of security was thin: we have no next place to be for the winter, our welcome is wearing thin, and the toxic commentary from that other blog was weighing too heavily on the scale. The dream of balance that came for me, and the Libra Moon that is Pete's native moon of birth have blessed us with the grace of knowing this today: MANNERS MATTER.

An old article reposted on ElsaElsa.com today was the astrology that offers this old goat (Capricorn moon) the next ledge to leap upon. Living with MCS makes us angry a lot. There are so many incidents that can easily goad the goat in me or amp up the Scorpio Sun energy of distrust and amputation. Normally, Pete and I will find a balance and the courage to transcend adverse situations. But the thing is 'what is normal'? And, new normal changes regularly. Elsa's blog and the commentary that began a while ago, continued today and it was about LIBRA: quotes from Libra notables and celebs and thoughts from the collective who visit Elsa's place.

This clip from that article and commentary thread includes a few quotes from Oscar Wilde, a fine Libra Native. These made me laugh at my self, and I share them here (thanks Spidermoon)

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.
I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.
I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious...

So what do I get from the Libra energy that is present in the sky and here for all to draw on?

1. Manners matter. I will need friends and allies, and will need to learn to play fair.
2. I can't afford to burn bridges at my age. My life is full enough as it is, and the energy I do have must be directed with aloha.
3. Choose my battles. Period.
   
4. Saturn will move into Saturn at the end of October, and if I haven't learned manners, I'll get more chances for a good long while. Saturn will be in Libra for weeks or months. Yikes! Saturn plays heavily in my chart so I will be watched.

Do manners matter in your world?





Photo: The Golden Scales from Wiki Public Domain

More Astrology & MCS from the Vardo: Pairing Up and Pairing Down

Aloha,

If you've been visiting our place in the while, you may be getting the drift of things changing up here at Vardo For Two and if you're new here (welcome~welina) hope you choose to stay awhile. As Pete and I shuffle and deal out the cards of our life, learning to play this new ECONOMY OF WEE, the rules are difficult to follow ... because in so many ways the rules that have worked in Earth's collective past aren't working now. When you live full-time from a paired-down version of home with an illness that challenges 99% of the collective norm there is bound to be a whole lot of shaking going on even with the best of intentions.

I've begun to fill more and more blog space with navigational tools that are working for me because I think a combination of tools are going to be necessary for all of us mortals as old systems of 'stability'(stock markets, banking systems, money, real estate... all the large and bigger the betters beliefs) fragment. Astrology is one of those navigational tools that has served me very, very well over the span of my forty plus adult years (the twenty years before ... what were those pre-adult?) Perched on the futon-punee of our micro-home, I'm pouring down a few lessons from the sky that seem important as we navigate from KEIA (this place) to KELA (that place). Old friends (that would be you JT) will notice this recurring theme of getting from here to there. This hasn't changed in more than twenty years. I have wandered Earth seeking understanding. Living with MCS isn't so much different as it is more intense and there is less room for creative denial. Facts are facts: I wander and I wonder.

Late yesterday... Mercury (the planet of communication, technology, interactions) is now direct. From the view here on Earth that celestial body is tracking in the same direction, no longer appearing to be traveling in the reverse direction. This happened yesterday, so communications are more direct and what you see/hear is more real than not. Examples of this Mercury going direct, for these two Water Sun Signs are showing up in the communications with people who could become our partners and allies or our 'Pair Up'; and as we prepare to leave the Ledge, the communication shift is showing up between the friends who have shared their space with us for the past six months.

I'm new at putting down my astrological translation onto the blog ... so stay with me, or dog paddle. I hope our experiences will be valuable (and I know it helps for me to see the process in print). I mentioned in a post just a few days ago the fact that we had a couple options for winter space in our IN BOX, and we were sitting on the offer waiting for a bit more energy and clarity to refuel us from the scouting already done. Well, yesterday we kicked in the next exchanges of communication (with Mercury direct now!) and here is what we found. Our newest potential for space is on the drier side of the Pacific Northwest, Central Oregon. After our recent whirlwind trip to the Central Oregon coastline where mold settles into your clothes in the summer, and lingers in your hair just any ole time we decided it wouldn't work for us or the vardo. Moldy folk and a moldy vardo = Swamp City and we can not live that! Okay, with a couple pretty good nights of sleep I woke early yesterday and composed a reply to our potential ally living in Central Oregon.

I write this (paraphased),

"We'd like to come for a scouting trip. If that works for you, and the double doozie of a forrest fire blazing just south of you is contained, we'd like to check out the possibilities."

Do you track the big natural phenomenon that is making its presence known in the area we're thinking might be a good winter space? Yup, fire (Leo) is making his presence very direct as I write, with forrest fires south of Eugene Oregon with EPA readings the other day of double what is considered 'dangerous.'

Our ally responds later that day,

"Great. I think we'd best talk about things that have come up that I think we'd best talk about rather than email. If it's not too much to ask can we talk tonight or tomorrow."

Hmmm. My Capricorn Moon says to my Scorpio Sun who is already on near red alert. I paused, didn't reply right away and sought out my Cancer Sun-Libra Moon Man.

When I told him about the email sitting on the laptop he said,

"Sure, tonight would be great. We can drive into town, go find a place to get cellphone connection."

I'm glad to have a partner who can see a different view, and his Libra Moon calms the love-hate relationship my Capricorn Moon has with power. I don't let my red-light emotions out to him yet. There are often too extreme, so I accept the option for a phone conversation later in the evening and email that decision to our ally.

There's one clue here in the communication that needs to be added to the process. "We can drive into town." Our regular readers know our cellphones don't work on the Ledge, cellphones work if we drive into town or hunt for a clear spot. The clue here is ... it will be dark when we leave the ledge, the park in town is gated off at dusk. Why couldn't we just use the lan-line in the big house across the driveway? Answer: the drain plugged up and the decision to buy and use DRANO to clear the bath-tub happened while we were food shopping yesterday afternoon surprised us.

Communication is more direct now, and if a person's nature style is passive and aggressive it will show up VERY DIRECT. Caustic chemicals are death for me. Refraining from using chemicals and fragrances and wood smoke were changes that our friends who share their land were willing to implement while we lived here on the Ledge. What's become very clear is it's time of us to move on. Old patterns are entrenched and pouring DRANO into the plumbing ... a chemical to clear the lines, was our latest clue. Fortunately, Pete and I were warned that the chemical had been used and stayed away from the house over night.

Back to the potential ally conversation. Pete headed out with me in the co-pilot seat. It was dark, fortunately it wasn't raining and we found a stretch of road where the cellphone worked pulled over and dialed. Within thirty minutes we got the direct scoop.

SURPRISE ONE

• Space #1 with plenty of acreage has a second pair of folks who were 'surprised and not overly thrilled' with the possibility of having two pair of strangers living in the big house through the winter.

SURPRISE TWO

• 'a second pair of folks' burns wood for winter heat

REALITY ONE

• We would not have a bathroom or kitchen at either of the space options in Central Oregon

REALITY TWO

• We will wait to visit Central Oregon until after the forest fires are under control(and that is maybe mid-October)
  

REALITY THREE

• Here on the Ledge our welcome is wearing thin. The Taurus Native is digging in to his turf and doesn't talk about things, he just does things now. It's a harsh reality and a reality I have been learning time and time again as I relate to the Bulls in my life. Winter brings the harshness of hunkering down in your place. I think everybody and all signs feel that. What is clear with Mercury going direct again is the willingness to make changes can only go so far -->. Our needs and boundaries intensified with MCS, test friendships and test native instinct. I'm perched on the punee using the navigational tool of writing and astrology because they are my allies ... internal allies that serve me. Once I step out into the whirl, there will be more to know, more cards to play, a new deal.

Pairing Up is a mantra that will serve me, Pete and the mortal collective in small and huge ways during the time the Pluto is in Capricorn and Saturn is in Libra. There are lots of articles and info on the net to read for all who are open to those ideas and practical tools. For now, the story posted here is a way for me to nourish my own Capricorn Moon who is scared shi=**less that I will be without a safe home. I put the story down here so I don't carry it around while I scale the mountain that fragments beneath me. Pairing up with allies is important because no one will make it through the fragments with some one (s) to watch your back, help pay the bills, comfort you when you're broken or off-balance when the swirl is over.

We keep keeping on doing and being what we know we can and believe our best is enough. Where it isn't enough we will truly need to call on Grace, Faith, Ke Akua, Na Aumakua(our Fairy Godmothers and Godfathers) and the ancestors to help us out.