Action, reaction, rebirth and rebellion are some of the themes sounded.

But astrology community is perennially guilty of terrorizing itself with prophesies of doom and gloom (and some of the more extreme chatter about Uranus/Pluto has been horrific with talk of breakdown of our financial institutions and the like). Note to general public: astrologers blather among themselves all the time, don’t get unduly alarmed.

Nonetheless, most of us are feeling change in the air and many of us are feeling just a bit edgy. What is an antidote to this anxiety?

By exploring the depths of meaning offered up by relevant symbols at hand we can create new and alternate scenarios to use the powerful energy.

So, here is an exercise I offer up to you:

Tarot scholars going back to the Aleister Crowley days have noted astrological correspondences between Tarot and astrology. While their take comes from references from the Kabbalah as opposed to unadulterated Western astrology, it is worth playing around to see what we get.

Tarotists associate Uranus with The Fool. In the Rider-Waite-Smith version, the image shows a jester-like figure carrying his worldly possessions on a stick over his shoulder. He is trailed by a white dog, yapping at his feet while his attention is preoccupied by wonder and excitement as he blithely prepares to walk off a cliff.

The card describes the spirit of adventure felt when you are about to embark on something completely new, unknown, and exciting. You may not know the pitfalls because you don’t know the questions to ask or you are so excited you don’t care.

In this way, the card picks up on Uranus’ emphasis on breakthrough, innovation and forward-looking thinking. (Did the inventors of the internet ever imagine what would grow and is continuing to evolve out of it?)

Pluto is represented by The Judgement card. Here, the RWS version depicts an angel blowing a trumpet so loud that it literally awakens the dead. The dead, arise out of their coffins. They, too, like The Fool are starting a new chapter. Only in their case, the process of death has shorn them of clothing, they are purified of their earthly possessions, totally superfluous in the world of spirit.

And, in their case, they have totally left the past behind. Hence the association with Pluto, purification and irrevocable transformation.

Play and meditate on these two symbols to see what you get: the spirit of adventure versus purification and transformation. Let me know what you come up with.

It sounds pretty exciting to me.

Leos are charming, fun, magnetic. Until they’re not.

Any sign is hard to live with when taken too far and every sign has a shadow side. But Leo can be a doozy.

If you’ve ever run into a pompous, overly self-important blowhard you know what I mean.

But sometimes Leo’s excesses are more subtle. OK, maybe not so subtle. After all, Leo, by design, is in your face.

I’m thinking of a few Leo/5th house types that I know that have crossed the line.

To protect the guilty I will pull them into one composite character that I will call Mia.

At first glance, Mia is engaging, charismatic, until you notice she has sucked the air out of the room with her depiction of, yet, another endless drama.

It wouldn’t be so bad except you can’t get a word in edgewise and there is no such thing as a short conversation. You get the feeling that she really doesn’t care much about what is going on with you. Unless she has recruited you for a role in her drama and then you are caught in whirl of intrigue that saps your time and energy until you extricate yourself.

The anecdotes are entertaining enough at first, but even the most casual relationship requires a semblance of give and take.

In one breathtaking example, a Leo psychic told me of a vision she had of me that is supposedly to take place several years in the future. Then she confided that she would be there herself playing in a starring role. Huh?

A drama in a theater can be great entertainment. And some are well worth the ticket price.

And from time-to-time every one of us will be caught in a drama of our own.

All I ask is a little consideration for the audience.

After all, Leo is associated with the Sun; with summer.

That’s the time of year we get to play. After all, it is much too hot to do much of anything else except go down the shore. At least if you live north of the equator.

And the sign Leo is all about play, children, self expression… it is about getting in touch with your inner child. And, so it smiles brightly on the arts, all of them. Not to mention games, gambling, and parties.

Yes, it’s party time.

And who doesn’t love people born with Sun in Leo or a heavy Leo emphasis in their chart? At their best, they are cheerful, charming and magnetic, drawing people to them like the light of the Sun draws its planets around it.

No wonder Leo is associated with royalty.

At its best, Leo sends the Sun’s light to those around it, uplifting them and cheering them.

Yesterday, as the moon entered Leo in the wee hours of the morning to join the Sun in that sign later in the day, I awakened with a dream.

I was walking along the beach in Key West. The sun was full and bright, the winds were gentle and turquoise waters were lapping at my bare feet as I walked on the warm sand.

Oftentimes the environment will reflect back the astrological conditions of the sky. A headline, a topic on the radio, a snippet of conversation, and also a dream, will sum up the astrological zeitgeist.

The dream reflected the warm beams of a benevolent sun.

It is the benevolent beautiful beams of the Sun that fill the image of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot card, The Sun. Underneath a child, bare of any pretense, holds his arms out to revel in its warmth.

This child as childlike. Direct and playful.

Last evening I attended an improv performance. There, in a small theatre, improv teams of two were bathed in spotlights as the audience reveled in their shenanigans. Leo at its best and a good time was had by all.

Being a fire sign, Leo is passionate. Its passion is shown by the Tarot card, Strength.

Here, passion is shown by the lion, Leo’s astrological symbol. Passion channeled can be a mighty force. And Leo, a fixed sign, has staying power.

“Pursue your dreams” is the message. Or as the late Joseph Campbell said even more literally, “Follow your passion.”

After all, there is no shortage of self-help authors, coaches and other advisors to beseech you to reconnect to those things that were your passionate pleasures as a child as a means to find happiness in your adult life.

Follow your passion and from there your path to self-actualization.

What do you find to be fun? What comes easily to you? The answers point to your sources of passion.

Comments?

After all, he moves so quickly that when he greets a planet or sensitive point in your chart, you may just notice an uptick of activity that seems part of the normal ebb and flow of ordinary life.

But then, he’ll go retrograde and then even folks that know little more about astrology than their sun sign will rant about him.

Mercury rules functions of the mind–how you take in and process information, how you learn, how you think, how you strategize, how you communicate, talk and write. Your view of the world and your place in it is formed in large part by the way Mercury functions in your chart.

In Greek mythology, Mercury was known as Hermes–it was the Romans who gave him his name ‘Mercury.’ Hermes was known as the messenger. He did not act on his own, but at the behest of the Gods.

He was son of Jupiter, king of the Gods, and Maia, Goddess of clouds. There are many stories of Mercury acting as guide for people traveling through dangerous domains. He is best known as the guide of dead souls to Hades and so is known as the patron of travelers.

But he is also known for his tricks and his reputation as trickster made him a patron of thieves.

In Tarot, Mercury is associated with The Magician. When poorly placed in a spread, the card can indicate someone too glib for his own good or not to be trusted.

Certainly it seems that Mercury is particularly prone to trickster behavior when he is moving retrograde.

The Rider Waite Smith Magician card shows The Magician arm raised in the air, other arm pointing down, using his focus to manifest all four suits: cups, swords, wands and pentacles.

A lesson can be learned. When you take what is envisioned in your mind’s eye, bring it down to earth through focus (and appropriate action), you can manifest your dreams.

Mercury in trickster mode warns us that the tools of communication can be used for deception. Perhaps, as Mercury is wont to act up, as it often does in its retrograde phase, the lesson is to pay attention.

Mercury will turn retrograde form August 2nd through August 26th. It is now slowing so you may already begin to feel its effects. I will be speaking about Mercury retrograde in my astrological overview of August 2011.

Join me on Wednesday evening, August 3rd at 8:30 pm Eastern and get a heads up on August and learn more about Mercury the trickster.

Although this event seemed to come out of nowhere, it had been carefully planned since this past August.

If you remember, this was when a grand cross spanned 0 degrees of the cardinals. Despite the terrible gulf oil spill and record flooding in Pakistan, the summer did not live up to the top billing given to it by many astrologers including myself.

But I did mention that the early degrees of a sign are the places where seeds are planted. Like the early degrees of a suit in a Tarot deck, there is room for ripening and growth of the sign’s influence as the planet progresses through it.

The action to find and eliminate Osama is a case in point. The seed was planted during the time of the cardinal cross only to ripen nine months later when the planet of breakthrough and surprise (Uranus) finds itself again in the sign of action, and the warrior planet (Mars) meets the planet of optimism and luck (Jupiter).

As the month unfolds, there will be a great deal of forward movement and surprise. I will speak more at length tomorrow evening, Wednesday, May 4th at 7 pm. Join me on a 45 minute webcast, free! Visit http://ellensays.com for the link. Can’t make it? Sign up anyway and you can download the recording for a limited time afterwards.

Find a chair where you are sitting upright, feet flat on the floor.

Now take a deep breath. As you breathe in, imagine the life-giving oxygen traveling down through your lungs through your stomach into your abdomen. Hold for a moment then slowly release.

Take another breath. Again, imagine the life-giving oxygen traveling down, down filling your lungs, then your stomach, then your abdomen, like you are a giant balloon. Hold for a moment. Then slowly release.

And once more. And release.

Now imagine you are walking in the sunshine. It is a beautiful day. There are flowers and grass growing. And trees.

You stop before the biggest tree. It is a mighty oak with big spreading branches like huge arms waiting to welcome and embrace you. Its branches are filled with green leaves. Its huge branches provide welcome shade and shelter from the elements and a nesting place for birds and squirrels jumping happily from branch to branch.

You feel happy seeing this mighty oak and he is happy seeing you. You go up to the tree, throw your arms around it and hug the tree.

And now, you are one with the mighty oak. You feel your roots reaching deep into the ground. Your extensive root system extends as deep and wide underground as your branches extend high and wide above the ground.

You are secure and centered because you are well anchored and you cannot be pushed around. When the wind picks up and it begins to storm, you bend your trunk in the direction of the wind. You are strong but you are also flexible. This combination has enabled you to withstand even the fiercest of hurricanes.

But now the breezes are gentle. A small cloud comes towards you. Out of the cloud comes a golden cup. The cup has beautiful designs etched into its surface and it is decorated with glistening precious stones. It is filled with sweet liquid. Sweet water? Cider?

It dips and pours its contents on the ground above your roots and you are nourished by its contents. Other clouds containing similar golden cups come towards you and release their contents.

Their liquid nourishes you and keeps you strong. And likewise hanging from your branches are smaller cups. Golden also. Also filled with sweet liquid. And golden pentacles also hang from your branches like pregnant fruit.

The Universe nourishes and you in turn give back creating a beautiful, life-giving cycle.

A man walks up to you holding a gilt sword in his hand. He cuts one of the pentacles, holds it in his hands, sucks the fruit and buries the remains a few feet from you.

Soon, a tiny wand pushes out from the grass. It is straight and tiny green leaves sprout from it. In time, it, too, will become a mighty oak like you.

And the circle of life continues.

The temptation is to put out fires and deal with pressing everyday matters–who else is going to tend to bill paying (not to mention earning the money that pays those bills), food shopping, or take the car in for inspection…

By the time you are finished, you’re exhausted and you haven’t done anything to nurture your self.

I suggest adding another item to your daily ‘To Do’ list.

End (or begin) the day with a ritual of healing and nurturing to yourself. Consider this sacred time–because caring and honoring yourself is a sacred act. And, yes, you deserve it.

This can take any number of forms and you get to pick and choose. The only criterion is that the activity(s) are totally self indulgent and nurturing.

It can be a physical activity such as a healing bath where you relax and literally let your hair down as the cleansing water washes the day’s cares away.

If you are an artist or just enjoy creative self-expression, then some time at your easel or drawing table will be very nurturing. It is not necessary to do anything more than doodle or play. In fact it is good to let your hands do what they will without the pressure of producing something to a standard.

Same with music or poetry.

Then see what evolves.

Pulling a Tarot Card of the Day gives you a heads up on themes to look for as the day unfolds or concludes (depending on whether you do this in the morning or evening).

If you do this, then I strongly suggest supplementing this with recording the card-pull and your observations in a journal so that you can observe patterns over time. You will also be able to go back and add insights as they come to you. The Tarot often reveals its wisdom over time.

Lastly, consider setting aside some time for meditation. Meditation reconnects you to the stillness within. This is where you find the connection to your Source energy–or as some call it, your ‘higher wisdom’ or intuition.

Your Source energy is what grounds you and centers you. When you are connected to it and feel it flowing through you, you feel powerful and in control.

When you are connected to your source energy, you will not be easily intimidated. Actions taken and decisions made will serve your best interests in the widest and broadest sense.

Doing some or all (or other activities that are healing to you) on a daily basis honors you, and centers, heals and strengthens you.

Journaling has many positive benefits. It provides a handy way of recording your thoughts, perceptions and ideas before they are lost to the demands of everyday living.

But did you know that keeping a journal is a dandy aid to learn both astrology and Tarot.

Both astrology and Tarot speak through symbols. And a symbol expresses itself on many levels. So, when Neptune comes along to conjoin your Moon, does it mean that you are about to be taken to the cleaners emotionally, or that your heart is ready to open to receive? Or some other possibility or combination of all three?

Aside from the obvious that an astrologer would want to see what else was going on in your chart, the reality is that your story will reflect the symbolism of the transit.

If you record the events of your daily life along with your thoughts, you can go back later and see what that transit meant for you. And your understanding of Neptune conjunct the Moon will deepen.

Quick moving, inner planet transits are particularly good for this. The day that the Sun conjoins Mercury may be a day that is particularly busy. You may find yourself seeking others to exchange news or move matters forward.

Next year when Sun conjoins Mercury, you’ll have a better idea of how the energy operates and how it feels so that you can handle it better.

Try it. Choose a time of day that is convenient for you and your Journal. Make it a regular practice. And then tell me how it goes.

Since it is often difficult to bring up the soft voice of the unconscious directly, the images of the Tarot act as a proxy. But then you have to link the Tarot’s images to the message that your unconscious is trying to tell you. Sometimes the messages are very obvious. You have a flash of intuition and there it is.

And sometimes a symbol is very obvious–even literal. Suppose you wanted to know if a person who owed you money really HAD put his check in the mail. Then you draw the Four of Swords to represent that person. You’ve got your answer.

Some messages are more subtle. It is common to do some ‘teasing’ out to get at a card’s meaning in the particular circumstance of your reading.

Sometimes you will see a detail in a card that gives you a significant clue so it is important to take note of what grabs your attention and note its meaning to you. The black cat at the foot of The Queen of Wands may represent your pet or it may refer to the Queen’s instinct.

Because the cards are sets of symbols, they may operate on several levels at once. The Queen of Wands’ black cat can represent both in the same reading. Context is important. The Sun might indicate the attainment of success or it could describe your upcoming vacation in a warm, sunny clime.

If you are choosing to use a spread, meaning that you are using more than one card, take note of the way the cards’ images interact with each other. This powerful technique was taught to me by Tarot scholar Robert M. Place. For example, the Knight of Cups faces the right. He is going towards the people or the issues represented by cards to the right of him. But his back is turned to cards to his left.

How do you know if your interpretation is correct? If it resonates with you then you have the validation you need. It is not necessary that a given interpretation hews to the definition laid down by an authority. While your unconscious absorbs the messages of the culture in which you live, ultimately, it speaks a language individual to you.