The title of this blog entry sounds a bit like that show “Unsolved Mysteries,” when Robert Stack proudly proclaims, “Update: Joe Schmo was caught in Hicksville, Tennessee trying to flee the police. He was immediately arrested and is currently serving eight to ten years for fraud.” That’s probably a bit extreme. But I apologize for being AWOL (to use current jargon). I was in fact in Hong Kong, Shanghai and a little town called Tongli, China. I took my laptop with every intention of occasionally blogging (but not to nerd level). Sadly, there were a lot of problems interfacing with my U.S. servor. That could be taken as symbolic for U.S. China relations. In Shanghai it took five minutes to load a single page (of any U.S. web site). It’s a great way to present democracy, allowing citizens to use the Internet but then making it torturously slow so that no one in their right mind would want to surf (or rather, wade in) the web. I wonder why this dictatorial government hasn’t tried it yet.

In any case, I’m totally jet-lagged and can’t muster up enough energy to write anything remotely intelligent and witty. I can just sum things up by saying that stepping outside of the Western world gave me TREMENDOUS clarity in seeing the world stage versus our tiny, insignificant existence here. Here where excitement is the next reality TV show. Here where we have one paradigm for beauty and it’s about looking as fake as possible. Here where the exotic induces fear or disgust. Don’t get me wrong there is so much to love about the U.S. But in other ways, we are just babes in the woods, still so young and undeveloped still foolish enough to take the keys to our parents car, get drunk on power and drive the vehicle into the nearest lake.

In the midst of the Sun’s occultation by Venus–the rare, once in over a century event is upon us and here I feel the need for global telepathy–otherwise known as blogging. This eclipse (as it is commonly called) wields so much power, it’s unbelievable but that power is soft and feminine. It does not intrude, but rather permeates. It is a gentle breeze rather than a tempest.

It’s heralding a shift from the divisive, physical and brute, to the greater strengths that lie within us. We’ve all heard words like “character” and “spirited” used, but what do they mean? “Values” is another. And then back to “strength.” These are all essences that we use words to describe. Strength, for example might have once been described as physical strength or emotional strength (the ability to hold back the force of one’s emotions). But the light is now being shed on a far more integral and essential yet diffused “definition” of these virtues. Strength is something far more profound than one little word can summon up. It can, for instance, be observed when someone is able to give of themselves even when they are in an emotionally weak or vulnerable period in their lives.

Even my words are painful to utter at this moment when I feel that experience and instinct reign.

How do you describe a shift in consciousness? Maybe it’s as easy as pinpointing a shift in moods. One minute you’re angry as Hell and the next moment you’re laughing and wondering how you could have been so angry? Consciousness must be equally mutable. And now is a time when consciousness is shifting in favor of the right hemisphere of the brain. For so long, our society has been dominated by…well, just dominated…The right hemisphere is not about ownership or doctrination. It’s about instinct and spiritual freedom from allowing the physical world to mandate and dictate who you are. Marriage is a form of indoctrination. We must present ourselves to society–our friends and family–as a loving couple devoted to each other by taking vows in front of them. Yet the bond a couple shares should be existential. It exists because they are, not because they take a blood test, fill in some forms and announce it to everyone. When a couple is in love, their friends and family feel this in their sheer presence. There is no need to set it in stone.

Ok, I’m ranting and words just aren’t fun right now. I want to go back to experiencing that incredible energy of this rare astronomical conscious altering event…a tiny portal into something unfathomable.

This month the true grand cross will loom large in the sky of the sidereal (real) zodiac. That means that there will be a planet in each fixed sign, forming a cross: Pluto in Scorpio, the Moon and Uranus in Aquarius, Venus, the Sun and Mercury in Taurus, and Jupiter in Leo. This all takes place on June 8th-which also happens to be the day of the Venus occultation.

This is a rare, once in over a century astronomical phenomenon-a sort of eclipse of Venus and the Sun-Many herald this as the beginning of a new era when ‘feminine’ values prevail (the arts, nurturing, instinct, etc.). Where this eclipse occurs in your chart will be very important to you personally. Its results may not appear immediately but it is setting the tone for your purpose in life in this very complex, chaotic and amazing epoch of ours.

(January 15th-February 12th)
You may have always thought of yourself as a rather practical creature, grounded firmly in the Earth. All of that is about to change-if you allow it to-as the Venus eclipse puts into question why you have limited your creativity and spontaneity. Your approach to life has been serious, even studious. But you will soon learn that you can be responsible while also accepting total freedom. Paradoxes are what make life interesting. And just wait, in the coming year, it’s about to get real interesting.

(February 13th-March 13th)
Your life has probably been full of surprises in the past couple of years. Uranus, your native sign has been in your first house, causing you to be ingenious, innovative and mutable. For some this would be a nightmare, but for someone like you it’s paradise. The nightmare is being hemmed in, tied down, committed. But the Venus eclipse says that you can never be truly free if you are a prisoner of your own fears and it challenges you to settle down and find a cozy, stable, balanced dwelling and/or domestic partner. Will you rise to the challenge?

(March 14th-April 13th)
Your domestic life has been a challenge in the past year. It seems like people or things are constantly blocking your path to happiness…but you’re not sure why. And Venus is about to help you shed light on the answer. It’s telling you that you must change the way you communicate, embrace a new method of hearing and being heard. But you may have to go down a few rocky roads in that area through the summer. It’s like you’re learning to speak all over again. If you get through the tough part, you’ll be communicating a lot more than “Dada” or “Mama.”

(April 14-May 14)
Wow, this is certainly a year of transformation for you, whether you like it or not. Everything is changing and almost so quickly that you can hardly process it. The changes are deep, penetrative, not something you go through everyday. Something you might go through, perhaps once in a lifetime. The Venus eclipse is a once in a lifetime occurrence and it takes place in your house of values, possessions and finances. That means you will be called upon to reevaluate what you value. What’s important to you and what is vital? What’s just taking up valuable energy? Weed out and usher in new energy. The cosmos says it’s cleanup time.

(May 15-June 14)
Your values, your lifestyle, your identity are about to change, BIG TIME. You’re laying the groundwork for this earth shattering new expedition into the meaning of life and your purpose, throughout the summer. The Venus eclipse ushers in your raison d’etre. You may find that much of this transformation stems from the unusual and soul-awakening partnership(s) in your life. But don’t pack up for the trip just yet. Again, I have to stress that this is a prescient trial period. If you let go of all that you thought you knew and believed, you will blossom tenfold in the coming year.

(June 15-July 15)
This year may not have been easy or at least not as light-hearted and fun as others. Instead of chatting and blabbing, you’ve been discussing and pontificating. Instead of socializing and partying, you’ve been networking and organizing. You’re more sober than usual. But it’s this very sobriety that will allow you to see so clearly that all the fears and issues from your past are actually worthy of one great big Buddha belly laugh. And you’re certainly tired of crying.

(July 16-August 16)
Oh, my poor wounded one, how you’ve been struggling to glue back together the shattered pieces of your psyche. And you’re truly a sensitive creature. Well, help is on the way. Venus and her eclipse team are ready to patch up your wounds. The answer, according to the planets is quite simply to get out there and allow others in. You’ve been in confinement for way too long, inside your own head. You are about to enter a brand new phase of your life during which you can count on the goodness of friends and associates to bring positive vibes into your life. And soon, my delicate flower you’ll be crying tears of joy.

(August 17-September 16)
You’re so strong and you really pack a punch but can you learn to use your soft side in order to attain victory and win people over? You do have a soft side; it just takes the right person or situation to bring it out. This fantastic Venus eclipse will occur in the house that governs your will and your career. It’s telling you that you don’t have to roar from the mountaintops or make stalwart demands. Your true power and success will come from a place of solidarity, calm, quiet, peace and the ability to get along. If you’re open to it, it’s deep inside you…don’t worry, it doesn’t bite.

(September 17-October 17)
Ok, so you’re practical, analytical, logical…all good qualities you say. The cosmos says they’re burdensome flaws. And Venus in particular is coming to your rescue. It’s rescuing you from you and the limitations of your narrow vision. It eclipses the sun in the part of your chart that governs the exotic and extraordinary. It will send you on an adventure whether you like it or not. The truth of the matter is that all the career issues that have been vexing you could also be improved with a change of perspective. You’ve been thinking too small in the past. Loom large, take chances, and the universe will reward you.

(October 18-November 15)
You might think perhaps that you’re a great romantic at heart, that you have a lot of Don Juan in you. But, you’re wrong. And this realization comes at the perfect time, during a period when your faith and your beliefs are being challenged. The Venus eclipse is here to tell you that if you thought you knew true intimacy, you were wrong. You’re about to realize that there is a whole realm of closeness that you never knew existed. You were just scratching the surface. Don’t be afraid of the unknown, says Venus. Shine a light on it and it will no longer be a mystery.

(November 16-December 15)
If there was ever a time when you were virtually guaranteed to experience that fantasy of meeting “the one,” it’s now. If you already have that in a steady partner, be prepared to see another side of this person entirely. Venus will eclipse the sun in your 7th house of relationships. All the push-pull you’ve been feeling will start to neatly balance out-yin-yang–and this will usher in a new period when you can truly be yourself and let it all-including your precious subconscious-hang out.

(December 16th-January 14th)
You’re always off making plans to travel to some distant land or learn something totally obscure and exotic. Your gift is your expansiveness and your wide-eyed ability to see beyond the naked eye, into other realms? Can you then undertake the challenge that the Venus eclipse poses? It’s a tough one. You’ll be able to use your core optimism and wide-eyed curiosity, but you’ll have to bring down your scope a notch. In other words, there’s a whole new world beckoning you this year, but it just so happens that it’s on your front porch.