“He said, ‘My name’s The Teacher. Oh, that is what I call  myself. And I have a lesson that I must impart to you, it’s an old expression but I must insist it’s true.’”- Jethro Tull, Teacher

My music mentor, Michael Morrow!

Hey now, what’s that sound?
Can’t you hear the motion in my mind?
I need time to capture all the minutes.
I don’t have a box to keep them still.
Who can help me? Morrow says he will.

Hey now, when’s the day?
Don’t you know this offer will explode?
There’s no limit to your love inside.
But you need to know how to create.
I can help you unload all the weight.

Learn to Morrow, lift your voice in flight.
Learn to Morrow and you’ll be alright.
Joy or sorrow, you can’t pick and choose.
But Learn to Morrow, beat or play the blues.

Hey now, look around
singing, dancing, shining star delight!
We have got the recipe for you.
You can bake it, fry it, mix it up.
Taste it, lick your lips and drain your cup!

Learn to Morrow, shake it up and down.
Learn to Morrow, coming to your town.
Beg or borrow, there’s no need to steal.
Learn to Morrow and your heart will heal.

Hey now! Hell gone! Damn your worried soul.
Hey now! Hell gone! Music takes control.
Today, play through, you can learn the way.
Morrow, Morrow, teach me how to pray.

Learn to Morrow, sing with us tonight.
Learn to Morrow, turn your wrong aright.
Joy or sorrow, beg or borrow, it’s ok.
Learn to Morrow, Learn Today, anyway.

All aboard the Peace Arrow!

(Note: The horn of the Peace Arrow, a lovely RV, is in the key of F.)

When the Peace Arrow’s coming down the road
Grab a bottle, grab a seat and just a-lighten your load

If you ain’t got papers and you ain’t got cash
You better know how to roll or you better let it pass

Can you hear the highway screaming?
Hear the rumble strips a-blow?
In the howls of the evening flies the Peace Arrow from the bow…

Shooting ‘cross the land!
Soaring fast and free
The arrow don’t slow down
The arrow pierces me

If Peace Arrow drives through your town
Give a smile to the Devil as he’s riding around

If you wanna climb aboard you better roll ‘em up right
Cuz if the devil doesn’t like it you’ll be crawling all night

Can you see the lightning flashing?
Hear the thunder call your name?
In the wind and rain and darkest night, the Peace Arrow is aflame…

Shooting through the streets!
Through the traffic seas
The arrow don’t slow down
The arrow pierces me

There’s a target near the northern coast
There’s a target in the south
Once the arrow sets its sights on you, ain’t a damn thing you can do but

Shoot across the land!
Flying day and night
The arrow can’t be caught
The arrow stays in flight
The arrow stays in flight
The arrow stays in flight

Image source: http://flowertucci1.com

I want to mount you in a field of flowers
and ride you as the wind blows ‘round
Let’s bathe in a sunshine shower
and feel the burn as we both come down

You are the blade in my sunlit sheath
You are the cream in my hand-me-brown
You are the air of my fiery wreath
Come plant your earth in me and drown

Outside riding, where we feel in the light what’s real
There’s no hiding from the steel of our body wheel

I want to wrap around your Maypole
and twirl like a spinning top
Let’s free the horses from the stable
we can ride all day, nonstop

You are the seed in my apple core
You are the stick in my caramel pop
You are the sand on my evening shore
Come, let me lick your salt water drop

Outside riding, where our secret can be told
There’s no hiding in the sunlit fields of gold

Riding long and sliding fast
Racing out into the east
Hold me tighter; grip my soul
Keep me close but let me roll

Outside riding, inside gliding
Outside breaking all the rules
Inside lighting up the night
Outside, inside, it’s alright

Source: About .com, http://classicrock.about.com/od/a1/ig/The-Doors/05-29njwf.htm

Happy Birthday, Ray! I’d like to take a moment to reflect on a chance encounter I had with the legendary keyboardist of The Doors, back on Jan 23, 2002 when I took a trip up to The Bottom Line in NYC.

Ray was doing a tour to promote his book The Poet in Exile and on this particular night he was appearing with Jim Carroll. I found a link of someone who recorded the evening, here.

Anyhow, I managed to take a bus up there and I brought my copies of Ray’s books: Light My Fire and The Poet in Exile. As soon as I walked into the club, I spotted Ray sitting at a table with a few people. My heart jumped and I waited to see if anyone else had noticed he was JUST SITTING THERE LIKE HE WAS A NORMAL GUY AND NOT A ROCK-N-ROLL LEGEND!!!

I finally mustered up the nerve to walk over to his table and ask if I could just shake his magic hands. He smiled at me and let me shake them. YAY! Then, I asked if he could sign my books which he did as well.

Books Autographed by Ray Manzarek on Jan 23, 2002.

As if that wasn’t enough to make my heart fill with extreme joy at the chance to connect with the man who fingered the keys for Light My Fire, Crystal Ship, When the Music’s Over, etc, etc, for the band that began my journey into poetry and rock—during Ray’s piano and storytelling he asked to read an excerpt from MY COPY of The Poet in Exile. Yes. He looked down at me and said, “this young lady has a copy, would you mind if I read from it?”

So, that’s my story. I also saw Ray later that year when he came to the Keswick Theatre, along with Jefferson Starship. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to get backstage to meet him again but, hey, I’m not complaining.

Princess of Wands from the Thoth Tarot Deck. Image source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xF86j3374Ns/TABgObhHTkI/AAAAAAAAEuo/8854yr-6IbU/s1600/Princess_of_Wands.jpg

This song was written as a reminder, as a warning, and because I needed to create something today. The Moon was in Aries, sextile Neptune in Aquarius, trine Mercury in Sagittarius, and opposite Saturn in Libra. I wrote it after thinking about the Princess of Wands.

I never have a plan or a mapped destination
I wait for the signs to reveal my location
And when the compass breaks it’s only to help me
Learn a new route without hesitation

Living this way has its ups and its downs
Sometimes I know where to look to get found
Often I’m lost and believing in fate
To fall down upon me and turn me around

There’s a time and a place to give up control
A time and a place to follow your soul
A time and a place to take up the reigns
And set your own course and make your own name

I conjured a vision to light up my life
It lived in my mind through the bleakest of nights
And one day I dreamed of a way to achieve it
My thoughts were a fume about to ignite

I pushed and I pulled with the fear in my heart
A pressure so deep it could tear me apart
Defeated at first, I began to see through
My victim, my foe, my doubt in the dark

There’s a time and a place to put on the brakes
A time and a place to make your mistakes
A time and a place to face your destruction
And conquer the beast or suffer abduction

A black hole can suck all the wind from your sails
And sometimes there’s no one around when you fail
The world is a cycle of blossom and burn
You have to be ready to play on your turn
You have to be steady to stay on the ground
You have to be open to get closed down

There’s a time and a place to fight or be beaten
A time and a place to fall in with the seasons
A time and a place to believe or to question
And find your own place in this world or the next one

“Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world…”- Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, Eyes of the World

Image source: http://carlprox.theworldrace.org/blogphotos/theworldrace/carlprox/Eye_Of_The_World1.jpg

Have you ever felt like you were being assaulted by someones eyes? Have you been stalked by a gaze that made you blush or made you wonder if the owner of the gaze was plain crazy or utterly oblivious to their overt facial operations? If you know what I’m talking about, then chances are you had captured the attention of an Aries or Scorpio.

Traditionally, the war-god Mars was assigned as the ruler of both Aries and Scorpio, until Pluto was discovered in 1913. While the Mars influence is aggressive and brash, the Pluto influence is smoldering and penetrating. These energies—powerful and all-consuming—are difficult to conceal, which become very apparent in the eyes of Aries and Scorpio individuals.

With Aries, the eyes focus with a desire to engage or challenge you—”Notice me!” they say, “I am here, now!” Sometimes, you may notice that Aries isn’t quite looking at you—their eyes are fixated by a primal urge or thirst for action. It’s quite impersonal—I call it the “crazy eye.”

With Scorpio, the eyes focus with a desire to look into the depths of your being—they say, “What are you hiding? I seek truth. Reveal yourself!” This gaze is quite discomforting if you’re not prepared to stare back. A Scorpio will not flinch if caught staring this way at you. I call it the “knowing eye.”

There are many eyes of the world. How have you felt them?

Hope Rocks!

Many (myself included) are rejoicing in the fact that Mercury the scribe has completed its retrograde period, along with Uranus the rebel—two planets that reign supreme over my countenance of late. All that’s left is the direct motion of Jupiter, coming on Christmas Day! Hooray! Writings in the Sky has a nice rundown of all the exciting planetary activity, as well.

I had commented earlier on Jupiter’s role in lifting spirits, evoking optimism, and providing a foundation of hope. Lord (or whoever you wish to insert in the name of cosmic magnificence) knows, I ride on the pinwheel of positivity whenever I can. And sometimes, I wonder whether I’m mistaking the hopeful influence of Jupiter for the escapist influence of Neptune. I can’t deny the tendency to lose myself in music or daydreams in order to cope with a difficult situation. But then, I realize that there is a distinct difference between the two:

Jupiter = Belief; Neptune = Surrender

When I set forth to achieve something, I believe in its completion. When I listen to music, I surrender to its purpose.

So during these periods of retrograde, it’s not that I lose my beliefs—rather, I need to examine the basis of my beliefs to make sure that they are strong enough and valid enough to support me during a period of testing. Saturn has a nasty way of testing beliefs, especially when they are foolish or outdated. And when I’m ready, I turn to Neptune to lose myself in the Jupiterian safety net I’ve created.

And of course, I can’t forget the gifts of belief and surrender: my “Hope” rock was a gift from a Jupiter-ruled Sagittarian, Zen Ben of the Neptunian Splintered Sunlight family.

“Everybody’s playin’ in the heart of gold band.”- Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Scarlet Begonias

The Circle Turner

“She dances in a ring of fire and throws off the challenge with a shrug.”- Jim Morrison, All the Poems

Every circle has a turn
Everyone!
has a fire to be burned like the sun
Every circle has a turn
Everyday!
has a night to lead the way to the sun

There ain’t a square that can’t fit a circle in its box of rain
There ain’t a moon that can’t shed a light upon your windowpane
There ain’t a song that’ll keep a dancer sitting on the side
There ain’t a dancer like the lady with a twirling in her eyes

Every circle has a turn
Everyone!
has a fire to be burned like the sun
Every circle has a turn
Everyday!
has a night to lead the way to the sun

There is a girl in the midnight floating on a cloud of sound
She is a wispy, waltzy wonder, glowing round and round
She paints a circle with her arms and paints a heart with care
Take your turn upon the dance floor, follow her spinning hair

And if you feel caught up, just get your feet unstuck and let your spirit lead the way
Forget about tomorrow and yesterday, just keep your focus on today
Join the circle dancer among the sparkling notes of the guitar
She’s a jewel-maker, sundrop nightshaker stirring up the stars

Every sunrise has a light
Everyday!
is a fight to keep the darkness away.
Every morning has a sun
Everyday!
is a reason to believe in everyone.

And every circle has a turn…

Image source: theastrologyplace.blogspot.com

Every morning. Every evening. Every Wednesday. Every month. Every year. Every Winter. Every Summer. Every other…

EVERY NEVER.

The Astrofix blog has a great post on the business of The 6th house: You better work it. It’s about skills, practice, routine, repetition, rigor—all things daily.

Now, being a Virgo—the sign of 6th house rulership—I should be disciplined in work routines, right? Pffft! Boring. Predictability is anathema to me. I enjoy twists and turns, wonderment and magic, surprising revelations—all the stuff of Uranus sitting in my 6th house of the mundane.

Now, I shouldn’t blame everything on Uranus—Mercury has its tricky little hands in this as well. The thirst for new ideas and trends; a curiosity that trumps all other considerations; the desire to outsmart and outmaneuver—I can’t possibly concentrate on one thing for too long. I might miss something amazing and be made to look unknowledgeable!

When I think about the things I do every single day, I’m left with only one thing: I READ. I read the news, I read astrology blogs, I analyze charts, I follow directions to learn new technologies, I look things up on google and wikipedia, I read facebook statuses, I scan twitter feeds, I skim emails, I find new websites, I re-read favorite book passages or entire books, I start new books, I read wine labels…and I also discover the synchronicity between subjects when I read. Hello Uranus!

The Challenge: Using Mercury and Uranus to put my 6th house to work while writing this blog and my novel. Urania Zed doesn’t wait!

The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.

Image Source: http://abyss.uoregon.edu

It got me thinking about the current Jupiter retrograde—set to go stationery direct on Christmas Day—and reminded me how strongly faith, hope, and other Jupiterian qualities are the foundation of my life.

My natal Jupiter sits at the base of my chart, conjunct the IC in Leo. It provides me with a wealth of hope, courage, and spirituality. Since its been retrograde, however, I have noticed it’s not as easy to tap into my usual optimism.

How ’bout you? How’s your Jupiter holding up? Have you lost hope? DON’T. It’s just a passing phase…