Astrolojew in J -The Jewish Weekly of Northern California

I'm very excited to announce the debut of my new Astrolojew column in J - The Jewish Weekly of Northern California! I'll be writing a monthly column featuring Jewish astrological insights for the "J", which traces its history back to 1895, when it began publication in San Francisco as the Emanu-El. Today the J's website reaches more than a million people each year; and their biweekly print edition serves nearly 20,000 homes throughout Northern California. 

Here's a link to the online version of the debut article - look for it online and in print in the next issue (May 18)!

Iyar 5778 Forecast

"Iyar" by artist Toby Davis

Chodesh Iyar, the second month on the Jewish civil calendar, began on April 15 and runs through May 14^th. The Sefer Yetzirah tells us that Iyar is associated with the constellation of Taurus, the planet Venus, the gallbladder in the human body, the left nostril of the human head, and the Hebrew letter vav. 

The Midrash in BaMidbar Rabba 2:7 relates that the stone in the High Priest’s breastplate representing Issachar, the Tribe associated with Iyar, was sappir (sapphire), and his flag dark blue, “and a sun and a moon were drawn on it, as it is written [I Chronicles 12:33]: “And from the sons of Issachar were those who knew the wisdom of the times [i.e. astronomy and calendars].” 

Iyar is the only month of the Jewish year to be completely incepted by a mitzvah: Sefirot haOmer, the seven-week ritual counting of the Omer, which begins the second night of Passover (the fifteenth of the month of Nissan) and continues until the night before Shavuot (the 5^th/6^th of the month of Sivan). Every single day of the month of Iyar is contained within the period of the Omer count. It is fitting that “The sons of Issachar who have the knowledge to understand the times, to know what Yiarael should do” (Chronicles I 12:32). should be the tribe associated with the counting month of Iyar.  Lag B’Omer, the 33^rd day of the Omer, falls on May 3^rd, during which the Moon will be in Sagittarius, sign of the Archer – fitting for a holiday long known for bow-and-arrow play among youth.

Noteworthy planetary activity during Chodesh Iyar include:

Venus (Noga) in her home sign of Taurus from March 30^th through April 24^th reminds us of the adage: when momma’s happy, everybody’s happy. When momma’s not happy: watch out! Venus in the Fixed Earth sign of Taurus is sensual, earthy, beauty-loving, bucolic bliss. Give her the work of her hands or watch her snatch it away and slap you for trying to hold on to what’s hers. Noga is a lustrous shine, and Venus in Taurus wants to adorn surroundings, indulge in sensual pleasures, roll in the grass and smell the flowers – this is the time to say yes to beauty.

Energetic Mars (Ma’adim) in steady Capricorn from March 17 through May 19^th keeps things focused, forward-moving and driven desire for success. Mars in Capricorn has a strong, straight-arrow kind of work ethic and can’t abide cheating, cheap short-cuts or shoddy performance from themselves or others. This is a good time to push yourself to achieve your highest and best at workplace and cultivate the ability to ignore the (sure to be temporary) successes of those who may overshadow you or seem to be sliding by on their superficial charm rather than the quality of their work. 

Communicative Mercury (Kochav) stations retrograde on March 22^nd at 17 degrees Aries and goes Direct again on April 15^th at 5 degrees Aries. Tempers flare and communication misunderstandings are probable for those who don’t preemptively forbid themselves from engaging in conflict: verbal or digital. This is a good time to develop mindful and not mindless communication skills. Protect your head in every way: metaphorically (stay away from images of violence) and literally: head injuries during any Aries-related retrograde are known to happen (don't go biking without a helmet). If you're already a "yeller" you'll be inclined to yell louder - maybe you should rethink that. Yelling louder won't drive the point you're trying to make home any better than a normal tone of voice.

            The New Moon at 26 Aries on April 15^th is especially powerful. Conjunct Uranus (Oron) at the final degrees of Aries, where the planet of individuality, uniqueness, restless erratic energy which produces both lightening-flash bursts of enlightenment and, when impeded, sporadic, unpredictable violence. Mercury stations Direct in Aries at the New Moon, which is also energized by the “Great American Eclipse” of August 2017, which occurred at 26 Leo, an exact Trine to the New Moon / Uranus / Mercury conjunction on April 15^th. This kind of energies are scalable from personal to global, but anyone who has a natal Moon in the final degrees of Aries (or any other planet in those degrees for that matter) may experience abrupt changes in their relations with women (Moon). Women’s voices (Mercury) may rise from a whisper to a shout, while voices raised against women might try to drown them out. 

We’ll experience some energetic whiplash as structured Saturn (Shabbtai) stations retrograde at 9 degrees Capricorn on April 17, and intense Pluto stations retrograde at 21 degrees Capricorn on April 22. There’s something entire not fun about retrograde Capricorn with any planet, especially so as Saturn and Pluto press hard against each other for power and control, producing frustration and a sense of hemmed-in energy, triggering issues of power and powerlessness. Control and chaos loom in the collective unconscious as Uranus, planet of erratic instability and unpredictable behavior, moves from Mars-ruled Aries into Venus-ruled Taurus on May 15^th.  

Uranus has been in Aries since March of 2011. The transit of Uranus into Taurus, where it will be until 2026, moves all that unstable, erratic energy into the grounded, Fixed Earth sign of Taurus. The result may be earthquakes: both literal and metaphorical.

Yallah, Taurus!

Chodesh Iyar began on Sunday, but tonight the Sun moves into Taurus. The lag/overlap between the Hebrew and Gregorian months is why there are actually 36 possible permutations of the Zodiac. For instance, anyone born between Sunday at this evening would be an Iyar Aries. Anyone born between tonight and May 15th will be an Iyar Taurus. Those born between May 15th and May 22nd will be a Sivan Taurus...etc., etc.

("The 36 Signs" - Just another fun fact detailed in my upcoming Astrolojew: The Big Book of Jewish Astrology. Watch for it in 2019! :) )

Pictured: Iyar (Taurus), by American artist Mark Podwal. You can see this at the Met.

Happy 70th Birthday, Modern State of Israel! Let's Look at Your Natal Chart!

The natal chart of the Modern State of Israel. Born on 14 May, 1948 at 4pm in Tel Aviv, on Day 20 of Sefirot HaOmer: Yesod Sh'b'Tiferet (5 Iyar 5708). 

Venus-ruled Sun in Taurus, Venus-Ruled Libra Rising, making Venus the "Chart Ruler" of the State. Venus in Cancer (home and family) in the 9th House (religion, philosophy, higher education and also rules "foreign" (exotic and/or "different") people and places). Jupiter at 27 degrees Sagittarius (the Galactic Center) in the 3rd House (communications, immediate environment, "siblings"), opposite Uranus in Gemini in the 9th House: Kibbutz Galuyot, the ingathering of the exiles from the four corners of the earth.

Neptune in Libra in the 12th House - the highest dreams and ideals (and also extremely vulnerable to the highest delusions/illusions based on untethered idealism). 

Chiron in Scorpio in the 1st House. Will always wear her wound visibly, front-and-center. 

Warmly emotional, embracing and enchanting 10th House Moon in Leo - "disproportionately famous". Pluto and Saturn conjunct in 10th House Leo: Publicly visible power struggles. Phoenix rising from the ashes to create structures, periodically destroying them just to start over again.

Mars in Leo, 11th House of community, claal, affinity groups, friendships. Everyone is a soldier defending their "group", whether they wear a uniform or not. Mars in 11th House Leo square Sun in 8th House Taurus: Struggle for power-sharing and equity between the elites and the non-elites. Venusian (peace, love, art, beauty, music, culture) shared values (8th House) in conflict with ego/status/power-motivations. 

North Node in Taurus, 7th House. Destiny is rooted in "We", not "me". 

Happy 70th Birthday, Modern State of Israel!