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Saturn Cycles (Redux)

May 6

Posted by Ellen in Long-term Planning, Philosophy, The Planets | No Comments

Dear Readers – this is a reprint of an earlier article published on this site. As I’m travelling this week, and in keeping with Mercury Retrograde, I’ll be posting articles of interest from the archives each day this week.

Saturn (Source: NOAA)

Saturn (Source: NOAA)

Let’s talk a little more about cycles. What exactly do we mean by a cycle, especially in the context of astrology and business? Let’s define a cycle as a rhythmic pattern through time that has a beginning phase, a phase of building toward a vision or goal, a culminating phase where the fruit of the prior effort is evident, a waning phase when the accomplishment starts to wither or lose its glow, and an ending phase when the achievement disintegrates and creates the conditions for the next cycle.

Cycles like this are obvious; we’ve all experienced them. The seasons are an example of course but there are many more experiences that can go this way: love affairs, interests, exercise regimes, economics, political ideas, empires.

I was thinking about cycles because a client called the other day hoping astrology could shed light on a difficult period she is having in her career. Bethany is in her mid-fifties. She built a successful career in business for herself. With a background in marketing, she spent many years freelancing, developing marketing plans for small and mid-size businesses. She was successful financially and she liked the work a lot. She eventually went to work for a large organization running their marketing department. After several years she cut back to half-time; her heart just wasn’t in it anymore.

After spending a couple of years gardening, cooking, and generally laying low, Bethany hit upon an idea she thinks could make a splash on the internet. She’s been working diligently for about a year now and the project just isn’t coming together like she wishes it would. She asks, “Is it just not the right idea?” She beginning to feel filled with self-doubt and a sense of wasted time. Her outlook is bleak.

Can astrology help? Yes! Just listening to her, I could sense a Saturn cycle in play and checking her chart, it was true. Saturn’s cycle around the sun is twenty-nine years and it’s one of the best indicators for the progress of business and career development. Saturn’s influence has a natural affinity with business, especially with the disciplined effort it takes to really make a business take off. There’s a fascinating progression of Saturn through a person’s or business’s natal chart that outlines

  • the beginning point of a business endeavor when the idea is just a kernel taking shape,
  • the building phase when nothing but hard work is apparent,
  • the culmination phase when the endeavor receives public acclaim and financial rewards,
  • the waning phase when it’s still happening but the thrill of success is starting to fade,
  • the ending phase when the person sells or otherwise ends the business and begins looking for something new.

In this almost thirty year cycle, Bethany is in the first couple of years of something new. She is old enough to have been through it once before and she wonders why her previous success can’t be replicated. It will be; it is just too soon. Bethany is in the phase where she can build her business brick by brick: slowly build a client base, test and codify her ideas, get some education if she needs to. She has planted the seed, it has germinated, but it will be some years before it looks as dazzling as her previous success. It’s not that there won’t be small victories along the way. With Bethany’s talents there are certain to be, but Saturn’s message is patience, keep at it, build a strong foundation.

As we spoke about this cycle and discussed the last time she’d been through it, she remembered clearly those early lean years, the times she only had one or two steady clients, when she was working out of her home because she couldn’t afford an office yet. She was able to connect the dots from that time to her very profitable years later in the cycle, and she remembered why she had lost interest in the prior work. Her new work expresses the businesswoman she has become and takes advantage of today’s trends.

With the help of astrology, she could clearly see the cycle she was part of, and she left determined to continue the effort and keep laying the groundwork for her future.

For another example of this cycle, see this post on Julia Child:

Julia Child and Saturn

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Neptune transits – Mermaid Calls

Apr 9

Posted by Ellen in Client case studies, The Planets, Your Questions | 2 Comments

Hello, everyone.

I received a letter today from a reader who has become a client.  We’ve been working together lately as she goes through some business uncertainty and transitions.  Of course these transitions are reflected in the transits of planets affecting her natal chart.

"A Mermaid" by John William Waterhouse, 1905. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

When a person is facing a major issue in their life, reflected by a transit of the outer planets to one or more of the inner planets, it will affect several areas of their life at the same time.  And even if not specifically transiting an area of the chart related to business, a major reconfiguration of your personal life is bound to affect how you conduct your business during the transit.

The Set-up

As it turns out this client’s current transit couldn’t be more impactful on her business life.  Natally, she has Saturn in the 10th house and it is squaring her Ascendant.  Remember, Saturn is the principle of contraction, of bringing visions and inspiration into the material realm, of making it real.  The 10th house is the house of your most public self, which for most people is their career and reputation.  Saturn is very comfortable in the 10th house and generally speaking a person with Saturn in the 10th is focused on making a name for themselves through their own hard work.  They invest time and energy into building their reputation step by step.

When this dedication to career and business success shown by Saturn is natally squaring the Ascendant, as this person’s is, this march toward success in the outer realm is part and parcel of the person’s self-image.  It is completely inseparable from how they feel about themselves and how other people perceive them.  And yet with the square the fit is not a comfortable one.  With Saturn squaring the Ascendant, it’s almost like they have a military general inside calling their marching orders and that officer will brook no opposition from the contented or fanciful.

So this is a tough set-up and one that my client has grappled with and made the most of.  She runs a small creative business with about 10 employees and is used to the cycle of work hard and win; work harder and win more; work harder still and win still more.

The Mermaid calls

And along comes Neptune.  Neptune is crossing that Saturn point in her chart in the 10th house.  Whenever Neptune makes a strong appearance in a chart, it is time for a change.  Not a sudden change brought on by technological progress (Uranus) or crisis (Pluto) but more from a lingering sense of disillusion or confusion. 

Neptune transiting Saturn is like our military general has been assigned a mentor by the powers that be and the mentor turns out to be a hippie artist mermaid who whispers to him to take off his uniform and join her in the warm sea.  Do you think he just says, OK, let’s go?  No.  The seductress’ song is the enemy of everything he has built to this point, every structure and accomplishment that has made his life respectable, safe, and stable. 

But the forces of the outer planets are strong, and since they are ultimately about the evolution of humanity as a whole rather than upholding our idea of personal success, they eventually engulf us.  There are really only two choices: to consciously invite Neptune’s long visit or to resist and be overwhelmed by seemingly external forces that dissolves the structures of our life.

Sacrificing Doing for Being

Neptune requires us to sacrifice some part of ourselves, something we think defines us, in order to grow in our understanding of our place within the larger coursing life.  Saturn is about doing; Neptune is about being.  If we are normally the type who sets one goal after another, always reaching to improve and perfect, then taking our hands off the wheel and letting life drive feels completely foreign.  Adrift within confusion, lack of clarity, and doubt about future direction, we grab at one “solution” after another, only to have it melt away in our hands.  Neptune’s transits are long and it takes a while to recognize that our old methods don’t serve anymore.  Each time we think we’ve found our direction, the destination becomes unavailable or we realize it’s illusory.

So what do we do during a Neptune transit?  We keep it simple.  We journal or paint or pray.  We develop a receptive state of mind.  In our business, we do what’s in front of us.  We explore the opportunities that come our way without investing too much.  We take notice of our community.  We look for ways to serve others.  We recognize we are adjusting our intuition to a new beam; we don’t trust too easily or too soon.  We use our lawyer and accountant to review the paperwork.

And we listen for the muse.  Remember that general?  You know that once he enters that mermaid’s warm embrace he’ll be most happy he did.

Are you feeling dazed and confused in your business?  Are you having a Neptune transit?  Share your experiences in the comments.  And if you’re not sure, see the box at right to send me an email and I’ll let you know if Neptune is visiting you.

For the basics of Saturn and Neptune, see these posts:

Saturn

Neptune

Don’t forget. If you have an astrology-related business question (or a business-related astrology question) send it to me at ellen@astro4business.com. I’ll answer it in these posts, anonymously of course, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences. I look forward to it! Have a question now? Email it and let’s get started!

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Blending without Drowning: How Saturn saved a Neptune Type

Apr 2

Posted by Ellen in Just for fun, The Planets | 4 Comments

Hello everyone.

This post is not about business, although I’m sure there are points for business in it.  If you are strongly influenced by Neptune you will relate to it; if not, why not come along for the ride anyway?  (If you don’t know how strongly you are influenced by Neptune, check out “How Strong is Your Neptune?  Here’s the Score!”)

First, some context 

Last week on Donna Cunningham’s blog a discussion developed among people with a strong Neptune influence in their chart.  Many people were sharing that they are so sensitive to other people’s energy that they find it hard to be in groups of people and many generally prefer to be alone. 

I made a comment on Donna’s blog and when she read it she asked me to say more about how I learned to blend my energies with other people.  This post is my reply to Donna and the whole group.  My comment was:

I used to hate being in groups but now I’ve learned to blend my energy with others when I want to and actually love being around compatible people. Even events like ball games are fun now, because I can “become” the people around me and have a blast.

And some background

As a child I was raised with very strict, in fact, military, discipline.  In astrological terms you would say with a very strong Saturn influence.  The atmosphere in my home produced three results, all related to Neptune: 

  1. I tended to withdraw into spiritual and romantic fantasies because it was the only place I had any power;
  2. I had no sense of personal boundaries as they were infringed upon daily by an overbearing authority figure;
  3. I didn’t develop a sense of self-discipline because there was so much external discipline imposed upon me.

I entered young adulthood drifting from place to place and person to person with very little sense of or appetite for “real life.”  I was very open to the underlying currents of situations but had only a minimal sense of self-protection.  I was uncomfortable in almost all social situations, from the smallest dinner party to the largest stadium event.  I wanted nothing to do with rules or structure of any kind.  My Neptune energy was very active but my Saturn energy was completely undeveloped.

So how did all this change?  After thinking about this for a few days, I have to say it has to do with boundaries.  In astrological terms you would say I developed my inner Saturn. 

A Line in the Sand

My awareness of my own Saturn began with a situation when the current authority figure in my life asked me to do something I just couldn’t do, to cross a line I just couldn’t cross.  It was the first time I stood up and said NO to someone; to put what I felt and cared about in front of my fear of losing someone I loved.

This situation brought my first sense of my own authority; before that I was unaware that I had any.  And it felt so good to protect myself and be willing to risk everything for it.  I did lose everything from that decision, but that loss turned into self-reliance, education, my own business, building a house, and raising a child.  Of course, the unfolding of this inner authority took many years, but little by little I learned about a rock solid place inside myself that was my safe haven, and I learned to honor it.

A Tiny Incident, A Major Shift

In some people, once they find the self-protective instinct of Saturn it becomes an enclosure that they can’t find their way out of.  Other more Neptunian types are so prone to giving their power to others that they can never stand up for themselves.  Neither of these lasted long for me and for this I credit my spiritual teacher.  It’s funny how a tiny incident can lead to a major life change. 

One day I was in a large room with my teacher and several hundred other people.  A woman came up to the teacher and the teacher noticed that the woman was wearing a locket around her neck in the shape of a heart, and the locket was open.  She said to the woman, “Your locket is open.”  And the woman looked down and said, “That’s because my heart is always open.”  And the teacher said, “Ah, but you have to learn to open it and to close it.”

This incident sparked a whole new understanding of boundaries for me.  Until that time I thought a “spiritual” person had to have their heart constantly splayed out in order to be truly open.  I learned that my boundaries are my own and they are malleable according to my discrimination and my will.  My circle can expand to encompass the whole of the universe; or I can contract that circle to the smallest sphere so that only my family is invited inside.  That’s the key:  I’ve learned that I am the gatekeeper.  What I invite inside is welcome inside.  What I don’t invite doesn’t come in.

Now for the fun part

This has completely freed my life.  Now I can go to the most raucous ballgame and whole-heartedly join the crowd and have a blast.  Nothing is more fun than to lose myself in the glee of a shared victory.  But when I leave the stadium and step into the streets of New York I draw my shield of self-protection closer.

I can go to a park and meld into nature, but then I sit at my desk and focus on accounting or tax work.  I expand or contract as the situation requires.  I can close my heart and move right through a dangerous minefield of negativity and then open it again to relax into the vibrations of a loving friend.

So my story comes down to learning self-authority, boundaries, and discrimination, all Saturn qualities.  Once I learned to internalize the authoritarian face of Saturn, it turned into self-protection.  And once I learned self-protection, I learned I can blend as much or as little as I will – it’s my choice.

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Need inspiration? Enlist your Saturn!

Mar 30

Posted by Ellen in The Planets | 2 Comments

Hello, everyone.

Uranus is the topic these days, as it’s ending its seven year sojourn through Pisces and is about to enter a new sign, Aries, in May.  As I was thinking about Uranus this morning I ended up thinking about Saturn.  Saturn is the furthest planet that can be seen with our naked eye and Uranus is the next one out, the first planet discovered with a telescope.  In order to meet Uranus you have to pass the gatekeeper, Saturn.

Saturn needs Uranus

Solar_system

Since Saturn has been known since ancient times as it travelled through the skies, astrologers usually talk about Saturn forming a boundary between what is known and what is unknown, between the traditional and the new, between the personal and the collective.  If Saturn is very strong in your chart or the chart of your business then it brings a disciplined focus and relentless pursuit of your goals.  It also brings patience and the understanding that some things take time in order to manifest. 

But in order to succeed we also need access to the flow of innovation and inspiration, the creative new ideas that spring from our deeper self and form our next business strategies.  Saturn can be an ally in both directions, with one face guarding our personal lives from being overwhelmed by unconscious eruptions and one face guarding our more enlightened selves from constantly being buried in mundane life.

And Uranus needs Saturn

To explain let’s return to Uranus.  Uranus brings lightning fast flashes of insight.  It represents the part of your mind that works light years faster than your normal thinking processes.  But if your mind is undisciplined, endlessly chattering, and cannot become still, then you can’t catch these flashes of insight, flashes that can change your life and take your business in startling new directions.

What is all this chatter?  If you think about it, the constant activity in your mind is generated by all of the personal factors in your life, symbolized by the personal planets:  your feelings, ambitions, desires, activities, body aches, to-do lists, obligations, things you need to remember, etc., etc., etc.  These currents can easily drown out the subtleties communicated from our more transcendent selves. 

All this noise has to somehow be contained, at least temporarily, in order to “hear” the whisperings of our own brilliance.  Saturn can function as this container.  Just as Saturn sometimes blocks input from the your more spiritually attuned side, this energy can also help to block the clutter from your daily life from pouring into and filling up the empty space, the space necessary for inspiration.

De-cluttering your mind

Saturn, with its propensity for systems and processes, functions as the gatekeeper in both directions.  If we are constantly overwhelmed by daily life, how can we step into the stream of consciousness where our best and most original ideas are born?  Some might say meditation is the cure, but meditation becomes possible only when we’ve learned to drop our fascination with our personal activities.  Since the gifts of clarity, invention, and innovation are fundamental to business success, let’s explore how we all stay open.  How do you de-clutter your mind? 

One system I’ve learned is from Julia Cameron’s work called Morning Pages.  Morning Pages are three pages of freehand and free-mind writing each morning, a totally uncensored download, just keeping the hand moving over the paper.  This writing provides a sort of meeting place where daily concerns get aired which opens space for insight.  It frees my mind from stickiness, and also often lures original business ideas onto the page.

What do you do?  Do you have a system that creates a space empty enough to receive inspiration?  How do you do it?  Let us all know in the comments section.

Don’t forget. If you have an astrology-related business question (or a business-related astrology question) send it to me at ellen@astro4business.com. I’ll answer it in these posts, anonymously of course, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences. I look forward to it! Have a question now? Email it and let’s get started!

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Jumping into Uranus in Aries

Mar 27

Posted by Ellen in Current Events, Long-term Planning, The Planets, Uranus in Aries | No Comments

Hi, everyone.

Floor mosaic, ca. 200–250 CE. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Are you ready for change?  This post initiates our deep exploration into Uranus in Aries.  This transit signals the beginning of a long season of change for several reasons.

First, Uranus itself embodies the principle of change, especially the kind of transitions that occur in our businesses and our lives because of sudden breakthroughs and technological innovations.  Society is constantly moving forward and when the time comes when the traditional is just too safe and stale, the energy of Uranus bursts through the barriers and ushers in the new.

The second reason Uranus is so “front-and-center,” a military expression, is its coming ingress into Aries on May  28th.  This transition is noteworthy enough because there is always a shift when Uranus changes signs.  Innovation is seeded from different areas and when Uranus was in Pisces it was seeded in collaboration and cooperation.  When Uranus moves into Aries, there will be a shift.  What is that shift?  We will be examining that in this series of posts.

But the transition into Aries is even bigger than the usual 7-year movement from sign to sign.  Since Pisces is the last sign in the natural zodiac, and Aries is the first, we are looking at a seismic shift, the ending and beginning of an 84-year cycle.  Uranus has not been at this beginning point in the zodiac since 1928.  The whole period from 1928 to 2010 has been one long cycle of creative innovation which is now giving birth to a whole new cycle.

And then the third reason to focus on Uranus is with its ingress into Aries, it completes the Cardinal T-square formation.  We’ve been adjusting to the energy of Saturn squaring Pluto since last fall; Uranus is the new kid on the block with his own point of view to bring to the conflict.

Let’s Jump In

So we’ll be exploring all of these issues.  To begin my research, I visited all of the articles on Uranus that were written for last weekend’s International Astrology Blog Carnival.  I found several that lay down a good foundation, even though not strictly written for business entrepreneurs.  Here is a list to get you started with a short explanation.  Read the ones that interest you and we’ll continue this conversation over the next few weeks.

Ellen says – This is a great explanation of the interplay of the energies and suggestions for how to cope.  Not business, but good.

http://www.astrogirl7.com/2009/12/2010-survival-guide-coping-with-brunt.html

Ellen says – A great astrologer, Steven Forrest looks at Uranus in each of the houses of the natal chart.  Not business oriented but that doesn’t stop us from making the correlations.  Remember, if you don’t know where Uranus is transiting in your chart, see the sidebar.  I’ll send you your chart and let you know where Uranus is.

http://www.forrestastrology.com/General-Astrology/transiting-uranus-through-the-twelve-houses

Ellen says – Molly Hall explains Uranus in Aries to teens or to anyone who’s ever been a teen.  A great read based on The Fool card of the Tarot, she gives a series of tips about how to walk into the coming trend.

http://astrology.about.com/od/transitsandaspects/a/UranusAriesTeens.htm

Ellen says – CJ Wright gives us insight into Uranus by sharing her reader’s stories of their Uranus transits.  The first-hand stories really give you a sense of how Uranus operates.  In the comments she responds to a reader saying she thinks Uranus in Aries may be a catalyst for entrepreneurs, and I agree. 

http://auntiemoon.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/uranus-in-aries-the-change-is-gonna-do-you-good/

Ellen says – This one’s really great, especially if you’re interested in Second Life, as I am.  I never thought of SL as connected to Uranus before, and I wonder how it will change when Uranus moves into Aries.  It’s a great read.

http://virtuallivingasecondlife.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/how-second-life-emodies-uranus-symobolism/

Ellen says – This article, by revered astrological writer Donna Cunningham, examines the stress of relocating, which has become common and will continue.  She recommends various Flower Essences that can help calm the spirit when under this kind of challenge.

http://skywriter.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/relocating-under-fire-help-from-astrology-and-essences/

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Too much of a good thing?

Mar 24

Posted by Ellen in Astro4Business Management Tips, Philosophy, The Planets | 1 Comment

Hello, everyone.

I’ve often noticed that as I begin exploring a subject I start running into information that helps me to continue my learning.  Call it synchronicity or simply noticing what I would have missed before for lack of attention, but this has happened time and time again.  And it just happened again.

I’ve begun exploring in these pages my theory that when a business owner finds him/herself in crisis, we can explore the transits of the five outer planets to both define the crisis and to design the solution out of the crisis.  In my post “What flavor your Crisis?” I began to outline the types of crises you are likely to experience when under the influence of each planetary energy.

The Trap

This morning an article came through from Harvard Business Review called “The Acceleration Trap.”  This article insightfully describes a situation when a business takes on more than it can handle.  Often sparked by an exceptional burst of opportunities, the company increases activities and exceeds prior performance but doesn’t know when to stop.  If the activity level turns into chronic overloading, employees’ motivation will flag and the company’s focus will be scattered in various directions.  This can confuse customers, threaten your brand, and lead to burn-out, exhaustion, and resignation (maybe even yours.)

Sounds like a Jupiter crisis!  In my previous post, I described a Jupiter crisis this way:  a Jupiter transit indicates a business crisis caused by too many opportunities.  Risk-taking could be leading to overexpansion.  The focus has become too scattered and lack of follow-through causes projects to be invested in and then dropped before completion.  There can be lack of judgment on the part of the owners and extravagance and dissipation of resources.

The HBR article adds to my research by describing three patterns that can emerge from this situation:

  1. Employees are overloaded with too many activities.  This is when workers don’t have the time or the resources required to do their jobs.
  2. Companies ask employees to do too many kinds of activities, what the authors call “multiloading.”  This leads to workers being unfocused and activities misaligned.
  3. Companies get into the habit of constant change, or perpetual loading.  This deprives workers of any hope of recharging their energy. 

Of course in a micro-business with only the owner, or the owner with one or two employees, these patterns can certainly emerge too.

The Solution

How does a company break out of the acceleration trap? 

Another part of my theory is that you have to fight fire with fire.  If, due to the natal chart of the company or the owner, there have been and continue to be a string of Jupiter transits, then the energy that led to the situation must be called upon for the solution.

Here are some suggestions, culled from the HBR article, and modified according to what we know about Jupiter:

  1. Ask your employees for ideas about what to stop.  As employees bring their wisdom to the situation and enjoy the trust you place in them to resolve the crisis, it brings the best of Jupiter to bear.
  2. Make sure you have defined a long-term strategy, that everyone in the organization knows what it is, and that every project supports that strategy.  Jupiter is the king of looking ahead and planning for the future.
  3. Have a way to make hard choices.  Ask each manager (or yourself), what is the single project you want to complete above all others?  Setting one supreme goal brings out the Jupiter spirit in people.
  4. Call an end to ceaseless turmoil.  Declare it over.  Jupiter understands the power of words and proclamations to shape the present moment and the future.
  5. Create a ceremony to acknowledge what is stopping.  The HBR article highlighted the need for a “burying” culture.  People have invested time and energy into projects you may be halting.  Gather people together to formally acknowledge the end of a project so that everyone can grieve and let it go. 
  6. Work to change the company culture.  Slow down.  Relax.  Indulge.  Institute regular time-outs and be sure to stick to them.  No one likes fun more than Jupiter.

 

To read the initial article in this series see:

What Flavor your Crisis?

For more articles on Jupiter see:

Astro4Business Basics – Jupiter

Ready for Opportunity?  Jupiter Direct

Don’t forget. If you have an astrology-related business question (or a business-related astrology question) send it to me at ellen@astro4business.com. I’ll answer it in these posts, anonymously of course, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences. I look forward to it! Have a question now? Email it and let’s get started!

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Uranus Day at the International Astrology Blog Carnival

Mar 21

Posted by Ellen in The Planets, Uranus in Pisces | No Comments

Hello, everyone.

Uranus Symbol

Uranus Symbol

It’s Uranus Day at the International Astrology Day Blog Carnival.  Uranus is the energy that urges us to branch out, experiment, try something new.  In business it brings innovation and since it’s about to leave Pisces and enter Aries in May, it’s a good time to look ahead and anticipate the changes it will usher in.  

CJ Wright at Auntie Moon is hosting today’s carnival.  She shares, “The articles and media presentations in the Uranus collection are as erratic as Uranus himself. You will discover some of the disruptive changes Uranus loves to spring on us ~ undertaking major moves, suddenly changing stable relationships, and the demand to be a more authentic ME. You’ll find ways to rediscover your inner-teenager, be introduced to some new technology, and receive suggestions on how to work with rather than against yourself as you evolve and grow. Healing therapies are suggested to calm the lightning-fast physical energy and emotional overload that can overwhelm. In the media section, you’ll gain access to online astrological education through videos and podcasts by some of our finest astrologers who freely share their skills and insights with the astrological community.”  

Sounds exciting!  So have fun and if you find articles particularly applicable to business life, let us all know in the comments.

To review my posts on some of the business faces of Uranus, see the articles in the sidebar at the right.  Here’s one to get you started.

Uranus – Change Agent

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What flavor your crisis?

Mar 17

Posted by Ellen in Long-term Planning, The Planets | 1 Comment

Hello, everyone.

My work lately has brought me into contact with many people undergoing crises in their business lives.  It’s no surprise, really, with the Saturn/Pluto square in place most of 2010, plus the approaching Uranus entry into the confrontation beginning in May.  These are intense times and problems are bubbling to the surface and boiling over. 

In the past, I have designed business processes to help identify the root of a business problem and how to address correcting it.  It’s interesting that often a business owner will think there is one obstacle when actually it is another causing the problem.

What kind of crisis is it?

VolcanoI’ve begun looking at the transits of the five outer planets in terms of business crises and how to resolve each type of situation.  When I refer to crises I’m referring to those turning points when a business owner needs to fully understand a situation and make a crucial decision.  The particular crisis a business is experiencing has a different root and a different solution depending on the planet that is affecting the chart at a certain point in time.

A brief look at the outer planets one by one will give you a sense of what I’m saying.  In a nutshell:

Pluto – a Pluto transit indicates a business crisis in which old forms of the business are being destroyed, probably very dramatically.  There may be firings of key management, criminal activity, cover-ups, and almost certainly difficulties with finances, banking, and other owners.  Lack of trust and betrayal is probably at the root of the problem.

Neptune – a Neptune transit indicates a business crisis in which trends in the marketplace have swept over the business and caused it to lose its footing.  The owners are probably confused as to how to react because they can’t clearly define what is happening.  There may be deception, uncertainty, unhealthy dependency, and inefficiency.

Uranus – a Uranus transit indicates a business crisis caused by sudden technological breakthroughs rendering the business out-of-date or the product line obsolete.  The traditional ways of dealing with challenge have broken down and there is no centralized structure in place to address the problem.

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927Saturn – a Saturn transit indicates a business crisis based on scarcity of resources such as money, employees, or talent.  There may be quality issues or rigid systems of control.  The management structure is unyielding or overly bureaucratic.

Jupiter – a Jupiter transit indicates a business crisis caused by too many opportunities.  Risk-taking could be leading to overexpansion.  The focus has become too scattered and lack of follow-through causes projects to be invested in and then dropped before completion.  There can be lack of judgment on the part of the owners and extravagance and dissipation of resources.

The problem and the solution

When addressing each kind of business crisis, it’s important to remember that the same energies are at play in the problem and the solution.  Resolving a Uranus type crisis by implementing a strict hierarchical structure is fighting the energy rather than aligning with it.  For a Uranus crisis, the solution would need to be from the bottom-up, with lots of participation from employees and customers. 

It’s also often the case that more than one type of energy is in play at the same time.  For instance, if a business is experiencing a Pluto-type crisis now, they are also experiencing a Saturn crisis since Pluto and Saturn are so related in the skies right now.  That’s why this coming period is so tough.  If any one of the planets Pluto, Saturn, or Uranus is affecting your business, then they all are:  old forms toppling, scarcity, and obsolescence all at once.

Is your business life in crisis?

We’ll discuss this at further length in later posts, especially the process of working with the energy to resolve the crisis, but can you identify with one or more of the situations above?  If your business life is in crisis, try to identify which kind from the thumbnail sketches above.  Then check your own chart or the chart of your business to see if what you picked corresponds to the current transits of these five outer planets.

If you don’t have a chart, see the sidebar to contact me to send your chart.  I’ll also take a quick look and let you know which energy is affecting you most.  Then you can follow along as we look at solutions.

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Letter to Mars – Welcome Back

Mar 10

Posted by Ellen in Introduction to Astrology for Business, Mars in Leo, Retrograde Motion, The Planets | 6 Comments

Dear Mars, 

I sat down 10 minutes ago to write you this letter and was interrupted once again!  I’ve been trying to write this post all morning.   You are turning direct in exactly three minutes, and I’m waiting, counting down the seconds. 

Fireworks 4Everything is on hold!  I can’t even write my blog post welcoming you back because there is no activity:  no brain wave activity, no ideas, no momentum.  This isn’t like me.  I miss your razzmatazz.  Are you sleeping, like my friend who said they slept all night last night and then continued to sleep all day today? 

I wanted to let people know you are moving into direct motion a couple of hours before you turned so they could be prepared.  I wanted to help them be ready.  And although I awoke this morning with a great idea about comparing the moment to just before a race flag is lowered, it fizzled out when I couldn’t find any good photos to go with the post. 

I thought it was a good analogy:  engines revved, the flag comes down, the initiating force of acceleration and gear-shifting, the gathering of momentum until we reach full speed in the next few weeks.  Good, right?  Then full-stop.  There I was, wheels spinning, rubber burning, but no traction. 

Fireworks 2So I thought, I’ll check the Harvard Business Review Management Tips and find one related to Mars to clarify this moment with a good case study.  But there were no Mars related entries, only “Retaining Talent” and “Enduring the Trials of Entrepreneurship”.  Good for a Venus day, or maybe a Saturn day, but not for you, Mars. 

I successfully ran a project meeting this morning, your province, but that’s not to say things are moving along in the project.  Yes, it was a lovely meeting, but outcomes? 

And it’s not only me.  My clients have reported stalled real estate deals, job offers going nowhere, tax information blocked, project plans averted, publishers dragging their feet, and general feelings of overwhelm and overload, with no energy to make any progress.  We need you back! 

Okay, it’s 12:20 PM EST.  You resumed direct motion 11 minutes ago.  Welcome back.  These fireworks are for you.  I’ll try to be patient while you come up to speed, but sooner rather than later would work for me.  I’ve got a lot to get done! 

Yours always,

Ellen

For other posts on the current Mars in Leo cycle, see these links:

Mars in Leo

Let Your Light Shine

The Creativity of Business

Don’t forget. If you have an astrology-related business question (or a business-related astrology question) send it to me at ellen@astro4business.com. I’ll answer it in these posts, anonymously of course, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences. I look forward to it! Have a question now? Email it and let’s get started!

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Eat the Sweets

Feb 25

Posted by Ellen in Client case studies, The Planets | 10 Comments

Hello, everyone.

The other day a client told me this story.

She had recently taken a new position in management at a large local institution.  This company has been battered by recent changes in government funding and the managers are scrambling to make ends meet.  In fact, my client was hired to bring her considerable expertise into bringing financial stability to the company again.  

"Venus, Amor die Flügel beschneidend" von Theodor Heinrich Bäumer, 1886

"Venus, Amor die Flügel beschneidend" von Theodor Heinrich Bäumer, 1886

When she went to her first few management meetings, the mood was sour and dour; there was no cross-talking, no cutting up, no spark.  She noticed that even in a three-hour meeting, there was no water, no treats, and no bathroom breaks. 

This is no fun at all, she thought.  So when the next meeting was scheduled she brought in a big bowl of chocolates.  Even though the meeting was directly after lunch, not one person acknowledged the sweets, let alone reached for any.  The entire meeting passed in the manner of the others, subdued, discouraged, and unengaged.  No one could receive the gift she brought to the meeting.

What’s missing here?

When she told me this story I thought, this is a Venus issue.  Venus rules love, sweetness, happiness, pleasure, giving and receiving, and MONEY.  I’m not saying that a company’s financial difficulties can be mended by eating a few chocolates.  But I am saying that when the energy of Venus, of pleasure, of enjoyment, of camaraderie is missing, then it’s likely that MONEY will be missing too.

There is an alchemy among happiness, giving and receiving, and money.  The flow of giving and receiving underpins all of our interactions, and that same flow fuels the economy as a whole.  I wouldn’t be so concerned if just one of the managers passed up the sweets, due to a diet, or Lent, or sugar intolerance.  But when the entire team cannot receive, then there is a barrier to inflowing energy, which leads to barriers to sales, which leads to barriers to profits.

Receiving equals profits

Every salesperson knows that relationships must be developed before sales can be realized.  Relationships, sweets, money, success:  it’s all the same river, the river Venus.  If your managers can’t even look at each other in a meeting, then this is going to be reflected in your bottom line.  If there’s no laughter, no fun, no interrelationships, there’s no fuel for problem-solving or creativity.

If you are the only person in your business, this applies to you as well.  When I was first in business and struggling to make ends meet, my mentor told me to give myself a gift every day.  It could be a small thing, some post-its, a nice eraser, a piece of pie, but I had to report to her every day what I had done.  She was teaching me to receive, to open the door to the incoming flow.

Singing, playing, celebrating

The manager that told me this story has a very strong placement of Venus and is a natural at bringing people together.  I asked her for some tips on how she is going to overcome this problem.  She’s going to bring songs to the meeting for everyone to sing together.  She’s going to start a softball league so people can build relationships outside of work.  She’s going to make sure birthdays are celebrated and that there’s good coffee in the cafeteria.  In these ways, she’s going to break down the barriers to the incoming flow.

If your business is not as profitable as you wish, try appeasing the Venus energy.  If you respect and honor her, she will shower her treasures.  The next time someone offers a gift, receive it, eat the sweet.  And encourage your managers to open the receiving door, so that all sorts of goodies can flow in.

Are you good at receiving?  Or are you “receiving challenged”?  Tell us about it in the comments section and if you know what sign your Venus is in, let us know that, too.

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