Storm Cestavani - Psychic Astrologer

All The News That's Fit to Predict!

Pluto in Capricorn

Tap Into the Power of the New Moon in Virgo

by Leave a Comment

The New Moon is an astrological phenomenon that happens once a month that is often overlooked by many as they live their day to day lives.  Although we see evidence of this through the changes of the seasons in both animal and plant life, many of us – possibly with enormous arrogance – seem to presume that we are too sophisticated to listen to such basic and ordinary rhythms.  However, psychological studies have revealed that our inner world is still strongly influenced by these cyclical changes, and as such it might benefit us to listen to them.

Anytime there is a concern with cyclical changes there is also a concern with astrology.  After all, astrology is the cosmic science that ‘weighs and measures’ how the influence of the planets affect human beings and define our lives.  Since we are conscious beings (hopefully), we do have more control over the manifestation of such influences, yet we still must recognize that on the inner level our relationship with the planetary bodies is important and beneficial.

Every month the New Moon provides us with a seed level for the upcoming month.   It tells us what the basic energy of the month is, and

 how we can work with it.  We can utilize its power to do intention work or simply to understand ourselves and our inner process on a deeper level.  In astrological jargon, the New Moon is actually a conjunction between the Sun and the Moon and every conjunction has a feeling of the sign of Aries attached to it.  Since Aries is the most personal of the personal signs, we can use the energy to plan out the month.

The New Moon which happens on August 28, 2011 occurs in the sign of Virgo.  Virgo is known for its picky and critical nature, but what does this really mean?  On the deepest level, Virgo (since it is Mercury ruled) gives us the ability to see what is wrong with our lives, and begin to work on these issues.   In the tarot, it is connected with the wise Hermit card, who through his illuminating lantern reveals to us things that we cannot see in the dark.   According to Kabbalah, all of our negative characteristics are simply potentials for creating light.   This month we are able to see our self-defeating behaviors in the light of day, and we can begin the process of changing them.

The astrological aspects of this New Moon are powerful and filled with the promise of opportunity if we are willing to take up the task of working with it.   The New Moon will conjoin with Venus, trine Jupiter, and trine Pluto creating what is known as a grand earth trine.  A grand earth trine is known for its ability to create opportunities in the material world, yet there is the responsibility of staying focused to achieve our desires.  If you have ideas or projects that are on the backburner waiting to be born, now is the time to dust them off and give life to them.

Tarot Tune-Up: Get out your tarot or oracle deck.   Shuffle the cards thoroughly.   Ask yourself the following question, “What are the primary blocks that are preventing my success?”   Draw a card out of the deck.   This is your block to work through during the month of Virgo.

If you like this post, hit the like button or the +1 button at the bottom of the page.

If you have a problem in your life, we have a candle for that!

Jupiter Retrograde in Taurus

by Leave a Comment

Just when we thought the retrograde madness was over as Mercury turned direct Friday in Leo, the big kahuna Jupiter will go retrograde this week.  Now before you scream or pull your hair out of your head, Jupiter is always benefic regardless of whether or not it is direct or retrograde.   For those of you that did not listen, I will wait while you super glue your hair roots back into your head.

So, how do we work with Jupiter retrograde?  First, let’s describe what Jupiter does in the horoscope.   Simply put, Jupiter is our enthusiastic faith that although life may be difficult our situation will improve.  When we hear phrases such as, “this too shall pass,” or “the glass is half full,” the words of Jupiter are whispering in our ears leading us to look at life in an optimistic way.  When Jupiter is direct, he is the great explorer leading us towards a vision of life being better, and provides us with concepts and philosophies that allow us to continue to have belief, faith, and enthusiasm about the dreams of a better tomorrow.  When Jupiter is retrograde, he is still beneficial and does not affect us in a personal way as the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) do.   Instead, Jupiter tends to simplify things that we have learned, philosophies we have studied, and education we have received and apply it in an applicable way to our lives.  Our attention moves from a focus on outer expansion and moves us towards inner growth.

Since Jupiter is in Taurus, our finances become an issue that we need to dress on the inner level rather than the outer.   We can use this retrograde period – which lasts until December 25th – to ask ourselves what money really means to us, and are we spending our financial resources in a way that gives us what we need, yet provides the energy of money the respect it deserves.   This could not come at a better time with the world being in a financially turbulent period and much of it involves our belief that “instant gratification” is the name of the game.   Our real values will become important to us during this transit, along with the need to find more useful and beneficial ways to deal with our money and be introspective about the reasons we purchase what we purchase.   For many this will be a great conflict, as we often make purchases based on a momentary need to fill a lack or a void in our lives rather than use our financial resources to build something meaningful and more aligned with our inner philosophies.

In other astrological news, this should be a great week after the havoc caused by Mercury retrograde.   Although Mercury is still in shadow and we are repairing the damage of the last several weeks, we will find that our communication will be easier and our difficulties with electronic devices will lessen.   The astrological aspects for the week are all amazingly positive as the Sun trines Pluto, Venus trines Jupiter, and the Sun trines Jupiter at the end of the week.  This is really a great week for achievements, financial improvement, as well as deeper understanding of what we truly want and desire.

Tarot Tune-Up: Get out your tarot or oracle decks.  Shuffle your cards.   Ask the following question, “What can I do to improve my relationship with money?”   Draw three cards from the deck.  Let me know what you pulled!

Storm Cestavani — August 27, 2011

If you like this post, please hit the like button or +1 button at the bottom of the page.

The Power of Books and How They Can Heal Your Life

by Leave a Comment

How many times have you read something and then read the same thing later only to discover information than what you learned before?  It is a common experience that happens to us all!  In kabbalah, there is a belief that if we have not elevated (fancy word for ‘ready’) to receive information a screen or a curtain is produced that prevents us from fully absorbing what is being read or studied, and as a result we frequently forget the material all together.  So, the next time you are reading something for the second time and realize how much material you missed, it was not because you are mentally deficient it is because you were not ready to receive the material.

This week we read the Kabbalistic portion known as Vaetchanan.   It is one of my favorite portions because it reveals that we should always be absorbed in our spiritual studies.   Why?   When you disconnect from your spiritual studies, you separate yourself from the energy of life and disconnect from mastering mind over matter.   In other words, you begin to live in the physical world only.

Scan the Hebrew Letters from right to left to make a connection

 

According to the Zohar (above), if we continue to focus on spirituality and spiritual studies then it will remove all forms of fear from our lives.  This can be outside fears, inside fears, fear from other people, fear in the stock market, fear of financial failure or any other fear that you can imagine.   Why?  When we are connected to the laws of mind over matter, we realize that our day to day problems are simply there to teach us a lesson.  If we stay connected to the Light and our tools (prayer, meditation, and continued inner work) there is simply nothing to fear.

This week there are two different tools that I want to introduce that are powerful tools to assist with awareness and transformation, but first the astrology…

The Astrology:

The Astrology for this week is rather interesting because it involves the building up of a rather challenging grand cross that will occur next week.  Whenever, we have challenging aspects of this nature it is always good to stay up to date on weather activities especially next week as there is a strong likelihood for a rather intense weather to occur – this could include hurricanes, floods, and tornados.

Venus Sextile Saturn:

On Sunday and Monday we have our first astrological aspect which is a sextile (opportunities) between Venus and Saturn.  Any aspect with Saturn will make us feel a bit more withdrawn than normal, but since this is an easy aspect we will often find it easier to get the support that we need from the people around us.  However, we still may feel very wary of social circumstances.   This is a week for us to begin to focus and concentrate all of our efforts into our work life.  Saturn is the natural ruler of the 10th house of work and Venus is the natural ruler of the 2nd house of money, and with these two in positive aspect it is a time for us to be resolute, reliable, and not swayed by our emotions.  It is a great day to put the nose to the grindstone and complete any projects that have been collecting dust or need to be completed.

Mars square Uranus/Mars oppose Pluto:

On Tuesday and Wednesday, two rather intense aspects occur – Mars will square Uranus, and then Mars will oppose Pluto.   This is a very potent and powerful combination that is the beginning of the grand cross (Saturn joins the fun) next week.  The planet Mars has to do with getting what we want, and has the ability to aggressively go out and get it.   He is the fighter planet!   However, with Uranus (liberation and freedom) and Pluto (survival) Mars becomes a super charged powerhouse that is not concerned with limitations of civilized society.    Needless to say, this will create an enormous amount of friction (especially with others) throughout the week, as everyone attempts to get what they want.   Although it will be very difficult try to remain calm throughout the week, because the smallest provocation could easily raise our Martian spirit which likes to fight.  Furthermore, the likelihood of power battles, unresolved conflicts, and spitefulness could arise.   If you can stay out of the ‘den of iniquity’, then do so!

Full Moon in Aquarius:

At the end of the week, The Full Moon will occur in the sign of Aquarius.   This is a beautiful Full Moon because the Sun will be conjoined with Venus and opens us up to social situations.   This will be a great weekend to go out and spend time with friends and associates.   Moreover, we can use this weekend as a great day to take advantage of the Venusian energy (love and money), and do some intention work to bring in money and love.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast:

The portion of Vaechanan is filled with many secrets.   However, one of its most potent messages involves our need to study spirituality.   As I stated earlier, when we are connected to spiritual issues we are not concerned with outside influences or outside difficulties as we know they are lessons to teach us to grow spiritually.  However, if we are not connected to a spiritual system, then we tend to focus only on the 1% reality that is presented to us.

Of course, we are not connected spiritually (even me) 100% of the time, and there are certain pressing issues that no matter how hard we focus and how hard we try to restrict it takes us over.   According to the Ari (Isaac Luria – the father of modern kabbalah), these areas of difficulty are called ‘husks’ (klipot) that we have to break through and crack, and his own remedy for breaking through difficulties that cause us problems is through study.   We can do this in two different ways – bibliomancy and bibliotherapy.

Bibliomancy is a long standing tradition in many spiritual ideologies about using sacred books to receive messages that are important to you.   You simply grab a book (I did this to write about this week and what you are reading is the message) that you find sacred and lay the book on its spine.  Close your eyes and let the book open to a certain page.   That page will hold a message for you.   If you are using a book such as the bible, once you get your page open then you close your eyes again and place your finger down on the book.   The verse that your finger lands on will have a message for you.  You can also use a random number generator (many are available online) and tell the program how many pages are within the book and it will select a number.  You can then use that page information to get your message. However, if you land on a blank page while doing bibliomancy it is recommended that you do some form of spiritual cleansing before proceeding.

Recently, psychology (as of the 1930’s) has entered into the fray of bibliomancy with a unique form of bibliotherapy (which is not really that unique considered the Ari wrote about it in the 1500’s).  Bibliotherapy is the use of books and our relationship to the books content as a form of therapy or healing.  This has been very successful when treating depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder.   So, whatever issue you are going through you can get a book on the subject matter and you will begin to notice (over time) a healing beginning to occur for you on the subject matter.   According to the Ari repetition (studying the same material over and over to get a breakthrough) is one of the most powerful tools that we can use to break through our self-defeating behaviors that are preventing our spiritual growth. I will state, that I have been playing with bibliotherapy (rather ironic that when I used bibliomancy to find a topic to write about it would be on this subject matter) for a few weeks and have found some amazing personal results with it.

Tarot Tune-Up:

Step 1:   This week we are not really going to use Tarot, but I am still going to call it a Tarot Tune-Up.   Get out a book that you value and you treasure.  Ask the book the following question – what lessons do I need to learn in my life now?  Lay the book on its spine (if you have problems with the pages opening up, just use your fingers to find a page while your eyes are closed) and allow it to open up to a page.   What message did you receive?

Let me know in the comments below what message you received!

Step 2:   Whatever message you received, get yourself a book on the subject matter.  You can get this on amazon, on kindle, or you can even go to webpages that deal with the message.   You will find out tons of information to help you resolve your problems and make lasting change in your life.

If you liked this post, please hit the like button or the +1 button at the bottom of the page.

Is It Over Yet?

by Leave a Comment

“Is it over yet?”   I have answered this question multiple times over the past month, and each time I can hear the horror in people’s voices when I answer, “not anytime soon!”   It’s been a rough road since the beginning of June when the current eclipse cycle began.  Week after week we are being bombarded with very intensive astrological energies with no end in sight.

By the way, you have seen nothing; this week is going to be INTENSE! Buckle your seat belts — hazardous conditions ahead.

The Astrology:

Your major weather player this week is the Sun.  The Sun currently is in emotionally fluid Cancer.   Under normal circumstances, the Sun provides us with the ability to shine, be ourselves, and be individual.   He gives us the ability to know ourselves and remain loyal to the truth that lives within our hearts.   When the Sun has positive outlets from other planets, those planets provide us with a path to express our specialness.  However, when the Sun is afflicted (fancy word for difficult to express itself), our ability to shine can feel stymied, and we may feel pressured to conform to others or the collective consensus.  In fact, the urge to be unique and special can be threatening to others, who in turn may criticize or envy another’s sense of individuality.

As with the last few Cosmic Weather Forecasts, this forecast will continue to be challenging.  The Sun will be highly afflicted as it squares Uranus in Aries, opposes Pluto in Capricorn, and then squares Saturn in Libra.  In the midst of this intensive solar energy will be a Solar Eclipse on July 1 (I will focus exclusively on the Eclipse in a future blog) forming a cardinal grand cross.  If you are dizzy after reading all that, join the club!  I am dizzy thinking about it.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast

Each week, I attempt to look at the current astrological signature and ask, “What is the lesson in this?”  What are the planets trying to tell us, and more importantly how do we understand this energy to make sense of it in a productive manner?  After all, what would be the use of knowing the energies of the planets if we could not use them to our advantage!

What can we learn from a grand cross?  A grand cross is an accumulation of astrological energies that have manifested over a period of time that have a profound influence on the collective.  Since they do not occur with regular frequency, they tend to bring about life altering energies.   Our natural tendency is to attempt to defend ourselves against their (the planets) onslaught, yet this only works for so long till we are forced to make particular changes and decisions that we have little choice in.  In many ways, if we are heavily influenced by these energies (major configurations such as Sun, Moon, or Ascendant in cardinal signs such as Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn) it is going to feel like we are being pulled in many directions until we hit “rock bottom” because there is no easy route out or any quick fix to our problems.  In fact, the intensity of our problems will persist until we make an active decision to change what we are doing, which might ultimately include a different path.

This week you will notice areas of your life that need changing.  What areas do you feel frustrated (Sun square Saturn) in?  Where do you feel obstacles are hindering (Sun square Saturn) your movement?  Are there areas of your life where you are reacting impulsively (Sun square Uranus) with knee jerk reactions?  Where do you feel worried, paranoid, obsessive, or uneasy (Sun oppose Pluto) in your life?   The areas of our lives that become highlight give us a hint about what changes we need to make in our lives to make them free of conflict and less stressful.

In Kabbalah, we are taught that what we see is only a small (very small) part of the big picture.   Often we are so afraid of change that we stay stuck in our current patterns much to our own dismay.   This week we are provided (via the stress of the aspects) an opportunity to see the bigger picture.  Often the scary change is for our better good, and often open doors and opportunities that would not be available to us.  The only condition is that we are brave enough to see.

Tarot Tune-Up:  Shuffle your favorite Tarot or Oracle deck.   Ask the following question, “Despite my current obstacles and frustrations, how can I best let my light shine?”   Pull 3-cards.  Let me know what you pulled!

 

It’s True — I Am Crushing On a Girl!

by Leave a Comment

Yep.   You read that right!  I, the openly gay astrologer/tarotist/psychic/kabbalist am totally smitten with a girl.  How can this even be possible?

When I first came across her, I didn’t really care for her.  Oh, of course, she was cute and sassy (which is always a plus for any red blooded gay man), but a little too gynocentric for me.   However, like a fine wine she has become an acquired taste.

So, who is this mesmerizing lady?  I am not telling you yet!

On with the forecast…

This weekend starts off pretty well, but declines rather quickly.  To begin, we have Venus in Gemini trine Saturn in Libra.   Anytime, Saturn is in aspect to a planet it forces the planet to be rather sober and contained, which social Venus has great disdain for.    Venus loves pleasure, relationships, money, and luxury – being put on a budget and being restricted from being a social diva is not really an experience she prefers.    However, since the aspect is a trine she deals with it rather grudgingly.   Sometimes every girl (even Might Aphrodite) needs a break!  Venus and Saturn instruct us to play it safe this weekend with our friendships and relationships.  Contain emotional reactions, and avoid those that tend towards the dramatic.  In addition, if you do spend time socially confine it to deep friendships that are dependable and reliable.

Now the fun begins – not!  Mercury, the weather maker of the week comes back again with two prickly aspects.   The trickster planet will square Uranus and the on Sunday (Father’s Day) opposes Pluto beginning a rather nasty grand cross (Saturn joins the fun next week).   This is a messy combination, which can lead to stress, disagreements, adversarial communications and downright nastiness.  Mercury in square to Uranus is a highly reactive aspect that involves Mercury’s quicksilver tongue.   This can be especially messy, because of Uranus’ restless and impatient nature.   We could easily find ourselves in situations where our impatience may impede our good social graces.  Mercury opposition to Pluto, on the other hand, is rather tense and compulsive.   Oppositions via their own nature produce conflict, but since Mercury rules communications, arguments and stressful situations are bound to occur.   Mercury oppose Pluto tends to see “what is wrong” with everything, rather than “what is right,” which can easily lead us down the dangerous road of obsession.  This weekend there is a great need to practice strength and self-control to cope with our difficulties.

Now, back to the fun stuff – you still want to know about the lady I am crushing on?   Well, her name is Marie Forleo and she is the webmistress of http://www.marieforleo.com .    She has an amazing amount of content on her website (that is gynocentric), but I have come to find her rather refreshing, innovative, and to be frank – amazing!  The reason that I have saved my “secret crush” until today is that she has a recent video that can help with the difficult energy of the weekend.  It is called, “How to Immediately Stop Stressing Out.”   I love her slogan, “everything is figure-out-able.” With the tense energy of this weekend, this video contains great information to help us through reacting to circumstances around us.

 

Tarot Tune-Up:   Shuffle your tarot deck, and ask the tarot the following question.  How can I better deal with stress?  Pull three cards.  Let me know what you pull.

See you guys on Monday!