Micro-Forecast: November 11 to 17, 2024

Today is Veteran’s Day. For many this is a day off from work and since it falls on a three-day weekend, even better. But Veterans Day means a lot more than a holiday or time off with friends. The word ‘veteran’ derives from the Latin word, ‘vetus,’ meaning old, kind of how I am feeling these days, with so much happening and nothing getting done😊. Seriously though, it is Veterans Day, the day we honor those who serve or served this country in the armed forces, often giving up their lives for what we term freedom. Whether we’ve believed in various conflicts or not (remember Vietnam?), there are men and women who’ve stepped up, many of whom have given up their lives and, subsequently, the destiny of their families, for whom it is important to take a pause and be grateful for what they gave for us to have this thing called freedom and democracy.

There is also another type of veteran. They are those who have experience in their fields, and whose chosen professions require years and years of study and research, exploring, and learning from the history of their chosen field. They too had to sacrifice something to get there. These are the people we hire or bring on to our boards or into our inner circles so we have a cross section of expertise – for positive input based on their experience. They are educated in their specific field (either academically or learned on the job). To succeed and stay at the forefront of their field while maintaining a positive reputation, they also have strong backbones which isn’t easy to build. That inner strength accompanied by intelligence always moved them past obstacles they faced during their veteran journey. Anyone can be a veteran – they can be people who are doctors, attorneys, or CEOs as well as people who know how to care for animals, who are nutritionists, body workers or contractors like those knowing how to build solid and beautiful homes, the best patios, and beautiful gardens or cook a great meal. All kinds of veterans.

Becoming a veteran requires fortitude while consistently paying attention to that fire in your belly that got you started in the first place. In other words, passion. Yes, passion, is indeed an element we often ignore. Sometimes when we get more and comfortable in what we do, we leave that passion aside and don’t notice how tired we feel or bored, but we are comfortable while being stuck at the same time. As we move closer and closer to Pluto finishing its run in Capricorn (ending on November 19), you look at what you’ve built or achieved over the course of the years since 2007, including the hurdles that had to be overcome, to get to where you are now. Pluto requires a hard look at many things, one of which is asking if you still want to keep doing what you’ve been doing? Or is it time to let go without regret? Or finding that place somewhere in the middle where you let go of parts of what you’ve built while keeping the solid part upon which to build new structures?

One of the most difficult elements of transformative change is that that part of the ego pushing you to keep doing something for which you no longer have passion gets in the way of making a change. This is a tricky thing to maneuver because to keep going in a direction that works for you, the other part of your ego connected to what your soul needs, is saying stay the course. The ego is the mediator between the conscious and the unconscious mind. The ego tells us a lot about ourself.

I have been putting together a grid of many of the outer (slower and life changing) planets when they were finishing their cycle in a sign for an upcoming workshop*. Pluto started in Capricorn in 2007 and ends in 2024. Neptune, started in Pisces in 2011 and is now at the last degrees of Pisces, not finishing in Pisces until November 2026, with a little respite between March and October 2025. Uranus which started in Taurus around 2018 doesn’t really leave Taurus (except for July through November 2025 ) until late April, 2026. All these starts, stops, and sidesteps say change is coming – but not as fast as we’d like. It isn’t going to happen overnight but we are on that path by late November 2024. I discuss these sidesteps for all the signs in my new 2025 Starcycles Cheat Sheet available now.

As Westerners we often want things to change and now – we are a task-oriented society. With all these planets at the last degrees of their long-term cycles, baby steps of change are suggested. What you think you want to do today may not be the whole story once these cycles complete. Trying things on, working with concepts for a while, then setting aside what isn’t right, is key.

If you love what you’ve been doing professionally and a ‘senior/veteran’ like myself – do you want to chuck the whole thing or let go of the parts that you’ve outgrown while allowing others coming up to pick up the mantle? This is important to do – to know when to let go. By doing that, you open your mind to new options and possibilities, thereby sustaining that ‘fire in the belly’ that got you started in the first place (for me the fire started in the early 1970s). Fanning the flames of the fire inside of you, moves you in a new direction, but you must burn something on its altar first – give an offering or what is no longer relevant.

If you are younger and loving what you’ve been building while becoming one of those veterans, what part of what you’ve been doing is running its course? What can you discard that doesn’t work and what can you add that works towards your new direction? For either young or old, remember to check your ego while making the decisions. Is it the part of the ego that keeps you going and surviving or is it the part of the ego that is too prideful to make a change? There is a difference. Veterans—old ones especially- learn a lot of things, and are open to when change comes, incorporating new systems while setting aside what is archaic and no longer working. Identifying the differences during that process is key. I think that the word veteran (Latin means ‘old’) but also suggests a growing consciousness that comes from gathered experience. This is what Pluto really wants as it leaves or enters a sign as it is now.

As for me: I am thinking – haven’t decided yet – about doing weekly short five-to-ten-minute podcast – on our site replacing some of the written forecasts– something we started doing – when we began this site back in 1992 (32 years ago)! At the time, they weren’t even called podcasts but audio recordings. You may see me planting a few of these instead of the written forecasts over these next months. I am aware that a lot of people don’t read as much because of time limitations and this is something I may attempt in the next few weeks. Like my recordings (available in the Shop), you can listen while doing other things – I’m aware that as an older veteran, still having lots of fire in my belly – need to fan those flames by shifting and changing – while keeping myself solidly planted in this world of cycles beautifully explained by astrology. This is a field I’ve deeply loved and which has been good to me and is the least boring vocation I ever had😊 I am changing but still don’t know the next path while trying some new ones. Be patient with me – I am working on it and open.

Upcoming Events

The Washington State Astrological Association invited me to speak on the 29th degree on November 14 (online) and do a full day workshop on Saturday November 16 on ‘Moments of Opportunity’.

More events coming in 2025, just check the Lectures & Events page!