A Roll in the Universe

There are innumerable quizes to take on the web. "Which color are you?" "Which dragon are you?" "Are you a redneck?" You get the picture. The latest quiz I bothered to take, was the cynic test . One of the questions was, "Do you believe in magic(k)?". I answered "yes". There have been books and articles on the nature of "magic" in our lives. The transcendental writings of, say, Henry David Thoreau, are one example of discovering the magic in our lives, i.e. the wonder that is happening right under your nose, in your own life. There is also the claim that there is no such thing as coincidences. The psychologist Carl Jung went one step further and noted that people would experience "meaningful coincidences", like having been invisibly guided to the right moment or person or thing, a phenomenon he called synchronicity . (The link takes you to the skeptic's take on Jung's idea, so you can draw your own co...

Prologue 1: We have just finished a period with Mercury retrograde (Rx), the time when the planet Mercury seems to move backwards. This happens about three times a year. Since Mercury is the planet of communication and paperwork, all kinds, its condition can influence everything from relaying a simple telephone message to international computer systems. The keywords for a Mercury Rx period are that such matters will experience misunderstandings, glitches, delays, or false starts. Anything done during a Mercury Rx usually requires extra care and even redoing in order to get things right. Mercury was still retrograde Monday evening where I live. Prologue 2: The influence of a void-of-course (VOC) Moon is often compared to Mercury Rx. The hours the Moon is no longer forming an aspect to any other planet, and will not form a new aspect until it changes sign, are considered to be a time during which there is confusion, miscommunication, or lack of action. In horary astrology (the only tru...

Native Americans say that it is bad for the body to travel too fast for the soul can't keep up. And it did take me a whole week, after I got home from my vacation, to truly feel like I had finally come home. I have spent 3 weeks in California, in the Bay area, staying with an old friend about 45 minute's drive from San Franciso. I hadn't seen my friend in 15 years, but it was as if no time had passed when I saw her again. I had a wonderful stay! 3 weeks felt like 3 months, and I thoroughly relaxed. Coming home did not give me the same feeling of joy as I usually get. There were a couple of reasons for me to be struggling with feeling "home": I am not yet done with grieving for my cat. I still wish I could hold her again. Waiting for me in my mail was the pick-up slip for Sammy's ashes. She haunted me when I got back. I saw her walking in the hall, I heard her scratching in her litter box. These "hauntings" disappeared once I got her urn placed ...