Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Amy Herring, author of Astrology of the Moon and the new Essential Astrology. Almost any astrology software or chart calculation website will also include an aspect grid: a table that shows you where all the planetary aspects are in your chart. This can be a handy, thorough guide to keeping track of all the chart aspects, but you can learn to spot the major aspects quickly in a chart just by eyeballing it. Here's how to do it. Pick any planet in a chart and note its sign and degree. For example, let's use the Sun at 19° Sagittarius. Now, add and subtract your preferred orb amount to that degree number to get a range. Let's use a 5°

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jessica Shepherd, author of The Love Alchemist's Notebook and the new Venus Signs. Many of us are familiar with our Sun sign. Astrologically, our Sun represents our ego, and much like central command guiding the starship through the galaxy, our Sun generally thinks it knows exactly what we want. Unfortunately, our able leader sometimes fails to consult the other celestial crew members for their opinions, needs, and desires. When we ignore Venus—Goddess of Laughter and Pleasure, Queen of our Secret Desires and Erotic Pleasures—our world loses its sensual and aesthetic luster. Food loses its flavor, laughter rings hollow. We no longer get a

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="561"] Image via www.washingtontimes.com[/caption] Winter hasn't even begun, and already Mother Nature has been pummeling most of the United States with unseasonable cold and early snow storms. As of this morning, the giant storm that brought lake-effect snow to the Buffalo, New York area had left at least 6 feet (!!) of snow in its wake, and is being blamed for five deaths already. To add insult to injury, another storm is on the way, expected to bring an additional 2-3 feet of snow. I'm strictly a Midwest girl, having lived part of my life in Wisconsin and part in Minnesota. I'm hardened to the cold and—having gone from house to house in a

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Bernie Ashman, author of Sun Signs and Past Lives, SignMates, and the new Intuition and Your Sun Sign. I have been intrigued by the Neptune in Pisces cycle that started April 4th, 2011, and which will be with us into 2026. Neptune spends about fourteen years in an astrological sign, and it happens to also be the ruler of Pisces. Both the planet Neptune and the sign Pisces are part of the water element, which is directly connected to intuition. I have noticed in astrological charts that Neptune has been a key player for artists, healers, and those practicing the metaphysical arts. The last time Neptune was in Pisces was in the 19th century