Posts Tagged Aries

Astro4Business Weekly Highlights – Don’t Rain on My Parade

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Hello everyone.

Can it be the end of April already?  Sure enough we’re in the final week and also the final week of the Moon, winding down and cleaning up in preparation for the next cycle.  Venus takes on Pluto and Saturn this week; she’s ready for a fight and I hope she can hold her own.  Venus in Aries is a warrior, but Pluto and Saturn are no lightweights themselves.  At the end of the week there is a rocket-launching Mars/Jupiter conjunction.  Only two days are highlighted this week but these energies are so powerful the whole week will be affected.  Let’s look at these two days a little further.

Wednesday

Very early Wednesday morning, maybe even Tuesday evening depending on your time zone, Venus in Aries reaches a 90° angle with Pluto in Capricorn.  This angle is known for tension and intractability; two parties are each sure they are exclusively in the right and are willing to go to the mats to prove it.  Venus rules money and Pluto rules the economy as a whole, including banking, debt, and taxes.  It may feel like others want too big a share of your pie and you’re “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!”  There’s a battle brewing this week and you may as well take a stand and try to protect your assets.

In the evening the Sun in Taurus forms a trine aspect with that same Pluto in Capricorn. This can bring a test of your own personal power and you will probably come out victorious.  You may negotiate a compromise position or recognize you have allies behind the scenes who are ready to come to your aid.  The day will end on a high note, but you may have fought a hard fight.  Time to celebrate your success with a little food, wine, and companionship.

Saturday

On Saturday Venus in Aries opposes Saturn in Libra.  We’re used to thinking of feminine Venus as a mediator and negotiator, but when she’s in Aries, she can put her dukes up with the best of them.  Saturn counsels restraint and caution but Venus is ready to act.

This aspect can bring an opportunity your way but with Saturn strong in Libra you may feel too cautious or restrained to actually take it.  You may feel that you can’t afford it or you don’t have the support you need to succeed and that may be true.  Venus opposing Saturn can feel really frustrating as feisty Venus wants new experiences but conservative Saturn wants to continue with the tried and true.  See the short video from the film Funny Girl below for a great example of Venus in Aries sloughing off her cautious Saturnian advisors, “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” This is the spirit of this aspect but don’t forget how the story ends.  Take the voices of experience seriously while you can today because….

…a few hours later Mars meets Jupiter in Aries, which sparks an ignition.  The Aries energy won’t be held back any longer.  You’re up for a challenge as Jupiter in Aries thinks big and Mars in Aries wants to take action with passion.  Growth, expansion, competition:  all these catch fire with this transit.  This aspect is fortunate in that Mars gives you the expertise right down on the field of action and Jupiter gives you the view from the hilltop.  You can see the patterns below and instantly respond, knowing when to advance and when to retreat.  This environment propels you to take the big risk, except that the New Moon is less than three days away.  So make your plans now, buy your supplies, get people on board, make sure all your tools are in working order, and then launch after May 3.

Have a wonderful week and as always, let me know how it all pans out.  Your comments expand our understanding of the impact of astrology on our businesses.

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For an overview of the year, check out these posts:

Pluto’s Journey through 2011

Neptune Swimming through 2011

Uranus Flashes through 2011

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

To read more about the business descriptions of the planets mentioned today, see

The Sun

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Pluto

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

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Aries Leadership – Maya Angelou

Hello everyone.

Aries Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called America’s most visible black female autobiographer.  Let’s look at the leadership qualities of Aries through the words of Maya Angelou.  First an overview from Wikipedia:

Maya Angelou at the groundbreaking for the African Burial Ground, 2007. (Source:Wikipedia)

Maya Angelou is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences.   Angelou  was active in the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1960s and served as Northern Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  She was a friend of and worked with Malcolm X.

Since 1991, she has taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she holds the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. In 1995, she was recognized for having the longest-running record (two years) on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List.

With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou was heralded as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African American women able to publicly discuss her personal life. She is highly respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women.

In addition to a National Book Award nomination for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Pulitzer Prize nomination for her poetry volume, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie, Angelou received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play Look Away, and three Grammy Awards for her spoken word albums.  In 1998, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.  She has served on two presidential committees, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2000 and the Lincoln Medal in 2008.  She has been awarded over thirty honorary degrees. [1]

What the experts tell us about Aries

  • The most important task for an Aries is to recognize that they have a separate, independent existence from the whole.  From the unity awareness of Pisces, Aries re-establishes the spark of the individual self.  Aries is sometimes seen as self-involved and self-referential.  Aries people can seem to take credit for others’ efforts and are impatient with those too recessive to keep up with them.Maya Angelou explains it this way: “Modesty is a learned affectation, put on from without, and very dangerous.  Life will slam a modern person against a wall and the modesty will drop off faster than a g-string will drop off a stripper.  Humility is the thing one wants, because humility comes from within out, not out on.” [2]

    (Source: Wikipedia)

    She goes on to say, “I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves.  Love liberates.” [3]

    And, “I’ve never felt the need to prove anything to an audience. I’m always concerned about who I am to me first—to myself and God. I really am. So I never have been very concerned about the world telling me how successful I am. I don’t need that.[4]

  • All of the fire signs are likely to be lively, outgoing, action-oriented, and warm.  When challenged they can be hot tempered and determined but their anger flares up quickly and burns out just as quickly:

    “I always knew that fury was my natural enemy. It clotted my blood and clogged my pores. It literally blinded me so that I lost peripheral vision.” [5]

    But she goes on to say, ”Bitterness is like a cancer; it eats on the host.  It doesn’t do a dern thing to the object. Anger is good. It burns things up and leaves nutrients in the earth. You should be angry at injustices and angry at brutality. We should be, so we can be angry enough to stop it.” [6]

  • Cardinal signs posses an ability to set specific goals and to go after them with all the strength at their command.Here’s an example from Angelou’s life:“I’m the first black female director in Hollywood; in order to direct, I went to Sweden and took a course in cinematography so I would understand what the camera would do. Though I had written a screenplay, and even composed the score, I wasn’t allowed to direct it. They brought in a young Swedish director who hadn’t even shaken a black person’s hand before. …So I thought, Well, what I guess I’d better do is be ten times as prepared. In every case I know I have to be ten times more prepared than my white counterpart.” [7]

Castle Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A. (Source:Wikipedia)

  • Aries is perhaps the most cardinal of all the cardinal signs with its strong, vital energy.In 1998, Dana Kennedy of The New York Times wrote, “The door opens into the apartment of Maya Angelou, poet, professor, best-selling author, actress, playwright, producer and now, at the age of 70, first-time feature film director of ‘Down in the Delta,’’ which opens on Dec. 25.   ‘I don’t need much sleep,’ she explains, settling into an armchair.  ‘Four, maybe five hours is about it and then I’m ready to go’ [8]
  • Aries is the warrior/hunter archetype:  fundamentally aggressive, courageous, and risk-taking.“All my work, my life, everything I do is about survival, not just bare, awful, plodding survival, but survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated”. [9]

    But she gives us an insight into this type of courage which is echoed in many Aries:  “I often rushed toward holocausts with an abandon that caused observers to think of me as courageous. The truth was, I simply wanted an end to uncertainty.” [10]

    And in one of her most famous statements she explains:  “[Courage is] the most important of all the virtues. Without that virtue you can’t practice any other virtue with consistency.” [11]

  • Aries seek constant challenges, big and small.Angelou gives us a hint of the idealism and fervor which drives Aries into challenging themselves throughout their lives when she says: “The dread of futility has been my lifelong plague.” [12]

    Fountain Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A. (Source:Wikipedia)

    The Achilles heel of an Aries is their inability to back down from a challenge.  This was the impetus for Angelou’s initial and acclaimed first autobiography.  As she tells the story, an editor at Random Books had repeatedly called her inviting to write the story of her youth.    “The next time he called, he said, ‘Well, Miss Angelou. I won’t bother you again. It’s just as well that you don’t attempt to write this book, because to write autobiography as literature is almost impossible.’  I said, ‘What are you talking about? I’ll do it.’ I’m not proud about this button that can be pushed and I will immediately jump.” [13]

  • Aries people are the high-energy, high-impact movers and shakers of this world.When I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was published in 1969, Angelou was hailed as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life. Up to that point, black female writers were marginalized to the point that they were unable to present themselves as central characters.  [14]

    Scholar Sondra O’Neale insists that Angelou’s autobiographies present black women differently than literature had portrayed them up to that time. O’Neale goes on to state that “no Black  woman in the world of Angelou’s books are losers”, and that Angelou herself is the third generation of “brilliantly resourceful females” who overcame the obstacles of racism and oppression. [15]

    Her screenplay, Georgia, Georgia (1972), was the first original script by a black woman to be produced.   At the age of seventy, Angelou was the first African American woman to direct a major motion picture, Down in the Delta, in 1998. [16]

  • Aries people will speak out for everyone, especially the underdog.“Once I got into [writing autobiographically] I realized I was following a tradition established by Frederick Douglass—the slave narrative—speaking in the first-person singular talking about the first-person plural, always saying I meaning we. And what a responsibility!” [17]

A few more insights into Aries

  • Aries are often criticized for being impulsive.  But Maya Angelou gives us her own assessment of this trait:  ”I know I’m a workaholic.  It’s got to be some kind of compulsion or impulse. I don’t know where it comes from. Mostly I just think of it as a gift given to me.” [18]
  • Aries have confidence in their own abilities and in the best case this spills over into confidence in others:  “My son turned out to be magnificent,” she says. ”But then I learned about mothering from my own mother. And Guy says he learned how to raise his stepson from me. This works with family — it even works with my actors. Hands off. Just tell someone you love them all the time and leave them alone.” [19]
  • The Aries is often an independent thinker, someone who takes her own counsel.  ”I was once told that I shouldn’t [publish a line of greeting cards for Hallmark] because the person said, ‘You are the people’s poet, the most popular poet in the United States, and you shouldn’t trivialize your work.’   So when I hung up the phone and thought about it, I said, ‘If I’m the people’s poet, then my work should be in the people’s hands. There are many people who will never buy a book, but who would buy a card.’ So I thought no, no. I’m going to do it.” [20]

Still I Rise

Aries.  The fountain of life force, the flame of individuality.  The calm sea erupting into a geyser of thrust, intention, will.  The courageous warrior.  The spokesman for the downtrodden, the one with something to achieve, something to gain, something to prove, something to accomplish.

Aries leadership carries a strong individual stamp.  This is full, vital, energetic leadership with no ambiguity about who is in the lead.

Glyph for Aries (Source: Wikipedia)


Throughout my research on Maya Angelou I kept seeing the glyph of Aries in my mind.  The Aries glyph, shown at right, represents the horns of the Ram, but it also represents the uprushing fountain, rising from the waters of the previous sign, Pisces.  Out of the collective, the individual.  Out of sleep, wakefulness.  Out of dormancy, renewal.  Out of surrender, idealism.  Authentic leadership for Aries embraces these qualities.

The poem, Still I Rise, is one of Angelou’s most famous.  It has this same sense of energy.  To all of the Aries leaders, if this poem resonates with you, if you can sense these fountains within you, you are in touch with your authentic Aries energy, a gift to the world.

Still I Rise[21]

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Grand Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)


Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

"El Tatio" in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

For two more studies on Aries Leadership see:

Aries Leadership – Let’s Get Started!

Aries Leadership – Nancy Pelosi

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For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.


[1] “Maya Angelou,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou

[2] “Dr. Maya Angelou,” National Visionary Leadership Project, http://www.visionaryproject.com/angeloumaya/

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Maya Angelou, The Art of Fiction No. 119,” the Paris Review, http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2279/the-art-of-fiction-no-119-maya-angelou

[5] All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, Maya Angelou, Vintage eBooks

[6] “Public Lives; At 73, a Robust ‘People’s Poet’ Embraces the Prosaic,”  Lynda Richardson,  The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/nyregion/public-lives-at-73-a-robust-people-s-poet-embraces-the-prosaic.html?ref=mayaangelou

[7] “Maya Angelou, The Art of Fiction No. 119,” Ibid.

[8] “HOLIDAY FILMS; A Poet, at 70, Ventures Into the Unknown,” Dana Kennedy, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/15/movies/holiday-films-a-poet-at-70-ventures-into-the-unknown.html?src=pm

[9] “Maya Angelou,” Wikipedia, Ibid.

[10] Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas, Maya Angelou, Random House Trade Paperbacks

[11] “Maya Angelou, The Art of Fiction No. 119,” Ibid.

[12] I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, Random House Trade Paperbacks

[13] “Maya Angelou, The Art of Fiction No. 119,” Ibid.

[14] “Maya Angelou,” Wikipedia, Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] “Maya Angelou, The Art of Fiction No. 119,” Ibid.

[18] “HOLIDAY FILMS; A Poet, at 70, Ventures Into the Unknown,” Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] “Public Lives; At 73, a Robust ‘People’s Poet’ Embraces the Prosaic,” Ibid.

[21] “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou, POETS.org., http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15623 Read the rest of this entry »

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Aries Leadership – Nancy Pelosi

Hello everyone.

Nancy Pelosi, first woman, first Italian-American and first Californian to lead a major party in Congress. (Source:Wikipedia)

Today let’s continue our look at the leadership qualities of Aries by looking at Aries Nancy Pelosi, the current Leader of the Minority Party in the U.S. House of Representatives and former Speaker of the House. And in honor of powerful women everywhere, I’ve gathered a photo gallery of woman warriors for you to enjoy.

First let’s review a few textbook attributes of the cardinal fire sign Aries.  (For citations and a more full description, see Aries Leadership – Let’s Get Started!)

What the experts tell us about Aries

  • The most important task for an Aries is to recognize that they have a separate, independent existence from the whole.  From the unity awareness of Pisces, Aries re-establishes the spark of the individual self.
  • All of the fire signs are likely to be lively, outgoing, action-oriented, and warm.  When challenged they can be hot tempered and determined.
  • Fire signs have a genius for enrolling others in their enthusiasms. They can be  inspiring leaders who know how to make things happen.
  • Cardinal signs posses an ability to set specific goals and to go after them with all the strength at their command.
  • Aries is perhaps the most cardinal of all the cardinal signs with its strong, vital energy.
  • Aries is the warrior/hunter archetype:  fundamentally aggressive, courageous, and risk-taking.
  • Aries seek constant challenges, big and small.
  • Aries becomes insecure if dealing with a string of failures.
  • Aries people are the high-energy, high-impact movers and shakers of this world.
  • Aries people want to get things started and to keep things moving, and they can come across as demanding and pushy.
  • Aries people will speak out for everyone, especially the underdog.

Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret by William Etty, 1833. (Source:Wikipedia)

Let’s see how Nancy Pelosi exemplifies the traits of Aries Leadership.

(Much of the material below was found in the book Nancy Pelosi and the New American Politics by Ronald M. Peters, Jr. and Cindy Simon Rosenthal.  The rest was gathered from Wikipedia, WikiQuotes, The New Yorker and The New York Times.)

  • Aries reestablishes the spark of the individual self. For Nancy Pelosi and many Aries there is a strong streak of independence, a penchant for swimming against the current.  Even though she came from an established political family steeped in Eastern-style liberalism, Pelosi always positioned herself as bringing a Western, entrepreneurial perspective to the Democratic Party.  She was the “outsider” running against the “Washington Establishment.”

    In the House of Representatives she was an outspoken critic of fellow Democrat President Bill Clinton on the subject of free trade and the World Trade Organization.  She was one of the few in Congress who opposed President Bush on the resolution to invade Iraq, and she declared her independence from President Obama from the beginning. She defined her own political persona rather than allowing it to be defined by others, including her family or political party.

  • Aries can be an inspiring leader who knows how to make things happen.   Much has been made of the loss of Democratic seats in the 2010 election under Pelosi’s leadership.  However as Minority Leader in 2006 she led the House Democrats to their first majority in 12 years.  Under her Speakership she tackled and passed legislation including health care reform, energy and environmental policy, restructuring the financial services industry, and addressing student loans, food safety, technological innovation, highway and transit funding, all amid a war and an economic disaster.

    Oil painting on silk, "Hua Mu Lan Goes to War." (Source:Wikipedia)

    She was also an excellent coalition builder, seeking as many cosponsors as possible for many bills.  She was known on Capitol Hill as a Speaker who went to extraordinary lengths to build bridges across Democratic Party divides and to foster consensus within it.

  • Aries seek constant challenges, big and small.   As the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi reached the highest position of any female in United States history.  Third in succession to the President, she gained the seat amid the still-prevalent doubts in the U.S. about whether women are suited to the task of political and military leadership.  On her way to the seat she skipped over the “lesser” party offices for which female members of the house historically competed.

    Once she gained the Speakership she revamped the committee selection process and put herself in direct charge of committee assignments, the first Speaker to do so in over a hundred years.  Her current challenge, with the Democrats in the minority, is to unite the Caucus, move it to the center to gain seats in the next election, and focus on protecting Social Security, Medicare and health care reform.

  • Aries people are the high-energy, high-impact movers and shakers of this world.  Under Nancy Pelosi Congress spent more time in session, cast more votes, passed more legislation, and conducted more oversight hearings than the prior Republican-controlled Congress, while functioning as her Party’s leader and representing her San Francisco constituents.  The metaphor used for Pelosi to describe her energy and drive is the “Energizer Bunny.”

    She works from early morning to late at night and is famous for the efficiency with which she uses her time.  Over 70, staff members have to run to keep pace with her.

  • Aries is the warrior/hunter archetype:  fundamentally aggressive, courageous, and risk-taking.  Pelosi’s opposition to the Iraq invasion shouldn’t fool us about her Warrior energy.  Opposing the war on ideological principle, she took a political risk which most of her peers were unwilling to take.  Had the war been a success, her political rise would have been doomed.

    Bronze statue of Jeanne Hachette by Gabriel-Vital Dubray. (Source: Wikipedia)

    The Legislature itself is a battleground and it takes an aggressive personality to lead it.  One Speaker described it this way:  “Traditionally, legislatures have fostered the spontaneous generation of conflict and competition.  Members are taught to look out for themselves.  Protocol and titles are considered of central importance.  The victor in any given struggle is often the one who pushes the hardest and the longest.”

    The strategic acumen of the successful warrior comes through in Nancy Pelosi’s leadership style.  She is known as a shrewd legislator, able to reach compromise on important issues.  Against her party’s more passive style, she argues that the only way to defeat the Republicans is through active and aggressive leadership.  She is happy to debate the Republicans over values and to define the differences between the two parties rather than blur them.

    She has an instinct to go on the attack, which she demonstrated numerous times against President Bush and the Republicans.  Her “rally the troops” leadership style has led her to some of the lowest approval ratings of any member of congress and to be the particular target of negative campaigning by the Republicans in the 2010 election.  As the minority leader, she continues to challenge Speaker Boehner on issues such as the decision for the House to hire private lawyers to defend the Defense of Marriage Act cases after President Obama declared the Justice Department would no longer hear them.

    We learn from Pelosi that loyalty, collaboration, and coalition-building are also part of the warrior style.  Pelosi has been criticized for placing too high a premium on loyalty and at times it has worked against her.  She can foster unneeded conflict to defend those loyal to her.  But loyalty on a battlefield can mean the difference between victory and failure and Pelosi seems to understand this.  Her one aim is that the Democratic agenda be accomplished.

    Collaboration and coalition-building may seem at odds with the independent spirit of the Aries temperament but in studying Nancy Pelosi we understand that no battle is won with one warrior alone; it takes a regiment of committed soldiers to succeed.  She places a premium on listening, consultation, and consensus and her leadership on the Hill included numerous meetings:  planning strategy, consulting with members, debriefings, meetings with the Democratic Caucus, and at least three meetings a week with her leadership team.  One of her major goals was to keep the Democrats unified in their assault against the policies of the Republicans.

  • The Goddess Durga slaying the forces of ignorance. (Source:Wikipedia)

    Aries people will speak out for everyone, especially the underdog.  Nancy Pelosi’s political record shows her support of the disenfranchised including AIDS funding in the early years, health care reform, the first minimum wage hike in a decade, student loan reform, stem-cell research, etc.

    In 1991, on a delegation to Beijing, she challenged protocol by displaying a sign commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre.  While the Bush administration urged quiet diplomacy, she argued for legislative restrictions to force the Chinese government’s hand.  She has become identified with the issue of human rights in China.

As with every leader we study, there is so much more that could be said about the Aries leadership style of Nancy Pelosi.  She is an excellent example of how the Aries energy can be applied to real-life leadership situations.  I’ll leave you with a quote from her that sums up her style and that of Aries:

“Think of me as a lioness- you threaten my cubs, you have a problem.”

For the first post on Aries Leadership, see Aries Leadership – Let’s Get Started!

For posts about Aquarius and Pisces Leadership styles, see the side bar “Leadership Through the Signs.”

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For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

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Astro4Business Weekly Highlights – Aries Hot!

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Hello, everyone.

Are you feeling the heat?  Don’t worry, by the end of the week you will be.  This week is all Aries, all the time.  If you’re an adventurous spirit, you’re gonna love it.  If not, you may want to run for cover.

Let me list it out for you:

Monday Sun in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn; Jupiter in Aries opposing Saturn in Libra

Wednesday Mercury in Aries making its station and turning retrograde

Friday Mars entering Aries, becoming very powerful in the sign it rules

Sunday New Moon in Aries; Mars conjuncting Uranus in Aries; Sun in Aries opposing Saturn in Libra

That’s a lot of warrior energy!  And I’d say it might be frustrated warrior energy with the Moon losing energy all week preparing for the New Moon on Sunday and Mercury turning retrograde mid-week.  Both of these indicate an inward-turning, quieting tide, just the opposite of rash, impulsive, put-your-foot-down-and-stomp-around Aries energy.

And that’s just your local environment.  On the wider societal and global stage this week we have that square from Pluto in Capricorn, oppositions from Saturn in Libra, and Uranus joining the fray.  We can call it destruction (Pluto), limitation (Saturn), and revolution (Uranus) at every intersection this week.

The most challenging aspects are the square from Pluto in Capricorn on Monday and the conjunction of Mars with Uranus next Sunday.  I’m not too worried about the oppositions from Saturn in Libra.  Saturn is exalted in Libra and will bring a dose of diplomacy, collaboration, and respect – a needed antidote to the self-referential and fiery Aries energy.

Sun square Pluto

We know the Sun in Aries brings an active, dynamic, aggressive energy to those in leadership.  We are apt to act first and ask questions later.  This is extremely valuable when we have to begin a new endeavor or push projects forward that are lagging or stalled.

But as we take hasty action this week we run smack into Pluto in Capricorn.  Pluto in Capricorn is a change agent, toppling over time the institutions in our lives that have gotten oppressive and tradition-bound.  Upheaval is a keyword for the process, but the attitudes which created these forms in the first place take many, many years to destroy.  No quick fixes here, which is all the Sun in Aries is interested in.  The Sun in Aries is not a long-haul energy; it wants to take action and be quickly rewarded.

As you implement your plans this week you could run into one hurdle after another, seemingly intransigent obstacles that you are probably sick and tired of dealing with.  The energy will ease up after the beginning of the week, but only after you’ve adjusted your expectations about what you can reasonably accomplish.  No side-stepping this week.

This square requires us to actively confront and resolve our problems.  Take definite acts of self-assertion but recognize that there is clean-up work to be done, and there’s no one else to do it but you.  As the leader, direct your attention to burning away anything malicious, destructive, disloyal, or decaying that comes to light.  It’s not the first time you’ve had to do this and it won’t be the last.  But it’s the work to do this week.

Mars conjunct Uranus

Helmeted young warrior, so-called Ares. Roman copy from a Greek original—this is a plaster replica, the original is now stored in the Museum of the Villa. Canope at the Villa Adriana in Tivoli.

With Mars entering Aries on Friday and approaching its conjunction with Uranus on Sunday, you may spend the entire week dealing with one conflict after another.  Mars in Aries incites a competitive fierceness which is great if you can wield it and hard to bear if it’s used against you.  You’ve got to stay on the offense this week as others vie for position and take advantage of any ambivalence.  Even within your staff, your operations and production people may be feisty and geared up, fomenting a full-blown revolution by the end of the week if you’re not careful.  It will take an absolute here and now presence from you, dealing swiftly with each matter as it arises, and there could be many.

You may be called upon to defend others in a righteous cause and if so, you could be surprised at your level of courage and determination.  Or you may finally feel you’ve had enough of excuses for mediocrity, in yourself or others.  You will have the insight to break through entrenched boundaries with this aspect, but you may end up in a place you could not have predicted.

One strong caution for the week is to keep up or even ramp up your exercise regimen.  This Mars/Uranus energy is very physical and stressful; it needs a positive outlet.  But be careful.  Push your limits but don’t exceed them, as this erratic, unpredictable energy can lead to accidents if you take it too far.

Mercury Retrograde

On Wednesday Mercury, the planet that rules all of the communications and information it takes to keep a business running, turns retrograde.  Mercury is retrograde for 18 days three times a year.  From our geocentric point of view, Mercury has gotten way out in front of the Sun, as far ahead as it can go.  Now it begins to regress, apparently moving backwards through the zodiac until it meets the Sun and then falls even farther behind it.  In 18 days Mercury will resume direct motion and begin to catch up with the Sun again.

The Sun represents you, the leader, and Mercury represents all of the tools and people you use to gather the information you need, including assistants, PR people, research teams, accountants, and IT.  These people have pulled ahead of you, so to speak, treading ground you have yet to explore.  You may feel that your company has gotten ahead of itself, or you’ve been too distracted by new information to manage the projects currently on your plate.  Mercury retrograde is the time to pull everyone back, to review what they have been doing, and to plan how to incorporate all the new information.  This also begins a period to evaluate your team’s efforts and be sure everyone is working toward the goals you have established.

New Moon in Aries

Usually I advise people to rest during the couple days before and after the New Moon.  It’s generally a time of inactivity, a seeding time for the new endeavor which will reveal itself just after the New Moon.  But this month, I don’t think we’ll have the luxury.  With all of this Aries activity, and the Sun and Moon in Aries at the New Moon on Sunday, I just don’t think we’ll be able to relax.  We’ll “want to be starting somethin’” in the words of Michael Jackson.  So go for it!  It may be a flash in the pan but if you try to resist the pro-activity of Aries, you risk burning out your circuits.  Aries needs to ACT, so if you feel the urge, indulge it with passion!  That will please Mars, the fiery ruler of this sign.

So that’s the week, a hotbed of powerful push-pull energies.  Don’t forget to sense the childlike quality of the Aries energy and have some fun.

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For an overview of the month, see Astro4Business Month Ahead – March 2011

To get an overview of the year, check out these posts:

Pluto’s Journey through 2011

Neptune Swimming through 2011

Uranus Flashes through 2011

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For more business information on the planets mentioned this week, see these links:

The Sun

The Moon

Mercury

Mars

Saturn

Uranus

Pluto

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

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Aries Leadership – Let’s Get Started!

Hello, everyone.

Aries, by Jacob Jordaens ca. 1640. (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

The Sun has moved into Aries and we move on in our Leadership through the Signs series.  In this series, as we progress through each month’s zodiac sign, we’ll explore and uncover the essential leadership qualities for each sign.  We’ll do this by looking at real life examples of established leaders whose birthdays fall into each particular sign.  We’ll test the principles of textbook astrology and add a few guidelines of our own as we discover them.  The purpose of the project is to recognize the authentic leadership qualities we naturally possess and allow them to come forward in our business lives. It’s also to better understand others we meet and work with in business.

First let’s define what we mean by a leader.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines a leader as 1) a person who leads others along a way; a guide, and 2) one in charge of or in command of others.  For our purposes, we’ll take both definitions and apply them to business.  In this series we’ll look at thought leaders, political leaders, business leaders, sports figures, and a few of us regular people too.

What the experts tell us about Aries

  • Each sign has its keyword, a phrase that captures the essence of the sign.  The keyword for Aries is “I am.”    In the developmental cycle of the zodiac, Aries follows Pisces, the most undifferentiated sign.  The most important task for an Aries is to recognize that they have a separate, independent existence from the whole.  From the unity awareness of Pisces, Aries re-establishes the spark of the individual self.
  • Every sign is comprised of an element, earth, air, fire, or water and a mode, cardinal, fixed, or mutable.  Aries is the cardinal fire sign.  From Donna Cunningham at SkyWriter we learn that all of the fire signs are likely to be lively, outgoing, action-oriented, and warm.  (Are You a Fire Type? Here’s the Score!)
  • Fire signs can have a genius for enrolling others in their enthusiasms, being an inspiring leader who knows how to make things happen.  (Ibid.)
  • When challenged, [fire signs] can be hot tempered and determined to win you over to their point of view.  (Ibid.)
  • Cardinality brings additional traits to Aries.  Per Donna Cunningham, cardinal signs posses an ability to set specific goals and to go after them with all the strength at their command.   (How Cardinal are You? Here’s the Score!)
  • Aries is perhaps the most cardinal of all the cardinal signs in its strong, vital energy.  (Ibid.)
  • Aries, by Giovanni Maria Falconetto, 1515-1520. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

  • Gunzberg and Brady at Astrologos tell us that Aries is the warrior/hunter archetype:  fundamentally aggressive, courageous, and risk-taking.  (The Zodiac – Urban Tribes, Astrologos Studyshop)
  • Aries are strongly focused, highly motivated, and quick tempered.  They seek constant challenges, big and small. (Ibid.)
  • Aries needs to win and becomes insecure if dealing with a string of failures.  (Ibid.)
  • Debra Silverman describes Aries as the high-energy, high-impact movers and shakers of this world.  (A Fun Look at Aries Zodiac Sign in Action )
  • Debra says Aries people want to get things started and to keep things moving, and this sometimes gets them into trouble with others, as they can come across as demanding and pushy. (Ibid.)
  • Aries people are so outspoken that they’ll speak out for everyone, especially the underdog. If something’s wrong or someone’s being hurt, Aries is the first one to stand up and put their foot down. (Ibid.)

These excerpts really give us a sense of this hot, generating Aries energy, don’t they?

Before we get into specific examples of Aries leadership, think about the list above and look at the images.  What would you say is authentic leadership for an Aries?  Have you known leaders who embodied these attributes?  What was their management style?  How did they accomplish their goals?

Are you an Aries?  How well do the above traits represent your essence?  Are you action-oriented and warm?  Are you hot-tempered and determined to win?  How do you handle failure?  Are you a mover and a shaker?

Remember to leave your comments as we begin our discussion of Aries Leadership.

For previous posts in this series, see

Pisces Leadership – Dipping our Toes in the Water

Pisces Leadership – George Washington

Pisces Leadership – Steve Jobs

Pisces Leadership – Albert Einstein, in his own words

Aquarius Leadership – Yoko Ono

Aquarius Leadership – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Aquarius Leadership – Sarah Palin

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For an Intro to Sun Signs and Leadership see this link to my other blog!

Have you seen my new blog? Discussing all things astrological, for anyone interested in real-life astrology, check out Ellen Longo’s Astrology Blog.

Do you have a question for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For an overview of the month, see Astro4Business Month Ahead – March 2011

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

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A4B Today – September 23, Full Moon in Aries

Source:Wikimedia Commons


Good Day!

Today the Moon enters fiery Aries and immediately reaches the Full Moon stage with an opposition to the Sun in Libra.  And oppositional seems to be the keyword for the day, as well as volatile, confrontational, and conflicted.

With the Sun in Libra you may be able to keep an even keel but you’re likely to feel you’re in the middle of a tempest.  Something about the Full moon forces conflicts to rise to the surface and become starkly apparent for all to see.  With the Moon in Aries, the sign of the god of war, there can be a feisty and belligerent tone to the day.  And then the Moon forms difficult aspects with much of the rest of the zodiac which brings challenges in many different guises and forms.

Under all this pressure, our projects and tasks of this lunar cycle roll toward fruition.  But we may have to take a stand and resist people who want to take things too far or in a different direction.  The Aries Moon may incite your customers or staff to demand something new but this lunar phase is about taking something already established over the top, bringing it to perfection, and displaying the fully-baked product for all to see.  See if you can channel the excessive entrepreneurial energy of the day into polishing and presenting.

One thing to watch for today are mistakes.  The Full Moon in Aries can be impulsive and independent and this can lead to damage if you don’t manage it well.  As much as possible foster an environment of teamwork, or at least a buddy system, today.  Make sure each person runs every decision by at least one other person before they take action.  Partnership and cooperation are the foil for the excesses of the Full Moon in Aries.  You’re likely to see less errors if everyone is teamed up with someone.

Even if you’re a one-person shop, run your work by another objective party today before you take it public.  You’re under the same influences – they just all manifest within you.  Find a way to balance independence with collaboration.

On the heels of the equinox yesterday, this is a most powerful Full Moon.  You don’t want to put the brakes on; you just want to maneuver well and carefully through the curve.  Use this energy to show what you and your team of capable of.

Do you have a question about your business for Ellen? See the “Work with Ellen” tab at the top of this site for my Straight to the Point Response service.

For an overview of the week, see the Weekly Forecast – September 20 – 26

For an overview of the month, see the Astro4Business Month Ahead – September 2010

For more info on the business descriptions of the planets mentioned today, see

The Sun

The Moon

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Learning from the Behemoths

Cover Image, The Economist, August 29, 2009.

Cover Image, The Economist, August 29, 2009.

The August 29th issue of The Economist featured a cover story called “Big is Back:  The Return of the Corporate Giant”.  The magazine cover pictured a huge whale with a tiny person bouncing around on the jet issuing from the whale’s spout – I guess that’s you and me, small business owners.  I was in the airport when I saw it and I had to grab the magazine:  the whale is a key symbol of the sign Pisces. 

With Uranus in Pisces and moving into Aries soon, I’ve been thinking a lot about innovation (Uranus) in companies at the end of their life cycle (Pisces).  What did they do to embrace the energies of Uranus in Pisces?  And how will they transition themselves into the kind of entrepreneurial companies that will survive the transition to Aries?  What innovations are they bringing in now that will carry them over the cusp into the new part of the cycle?

The end or the beginning?

During the Pisces stage of the business life cycle, the business has gotten so big it has begun to come apart at the seams.  At this stage of the cycle, there are so many “hands in the pot” so to speak that the company runs the risk of dispersing in all directions.  The company needs to focus on how to transition from the dissolution stage (Pisces) into the next stage of the cycle, the entrepreneurial stage (Aries).

But The Economist is saying these businesses are not nearing their end but staging a comeback! 

With Uranus having been in Pisces the last seven years, there has been innovation in this part of the cycle that has allowed certain companies to thrive while others have collapsed.  So what innovations have these large companies made that earns them an “end of cycle” feature on the cover of The Economist and an exhaustive study in a major new business book, SuperCorp: How Vangaurd Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good ?  How have they been able to survive?  What will become of them as we move into Uranus in Aries?  And most important, are there lessons we can learn that will help us make the transition as well?

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor at Harvard Business School, sums it up this way in SuperCorp:

The best of this breed aspire to be big but human, efficient but innovative, global but concerned about local communities.

Sounds a lot like Pisces to me.

What can the behemoths teach us?

Uranus will be in Pisces only a few more months.  During 2010 it progresses into Aries for five months and in 2011 it leaves Pisces permanently (well, about 80 years) and enters Aries where it will stay for the next seven years.  If we can anticipate the movement into Aries and how it will differ from the last seven years in Pisces, we’ll have a leg-up on the changes and innovations we’ll need to bring to our business in order to stay in touch with the current times.

And since, as The Economist states, “the most successful economic ecosystems contain a variety of big and small companies”, let’s see if there is some synergy we can develop between our small businesses and the behemoths.

Happy whale.  (Source:Wikipedia)

Happy whale. (Source:Wikipedia)

In coming posts we’ll look at some of these behemoths and how they have managed to stay viable through innovation.   A thorough look at this phenomena will yield insight into the coming times, beginning next year.  And let’s keep in mind the innovations we have brought to our businesses in the last seven years and how we may need a paradigm shift as Uranus enters Aries.

We’ve all been through this phase, either in our businesses or in other areas of our lives.  The Pisces to Aries transition is marked by dissolution of something that has gotten large and unwieldy and eventually finding that spark of your own individual self that allows you to start over with only your own resources to guide you – your inner pioneer.

So what have we seen in the last seven years with Uranus in Pisces and what is coming when Uranus moves into Aries?

To be continued…

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The Zodiac and the Business Life Cycle – Start-up

Hello, everyone.

Writing to you from outside London, in Sevenoaks, Kent.  I’m staying in an apartment with a sweet back yard full of flowers, apples, and plums, lush, green, and about 20 F degrees colder than Georgia, USA!  Change of scenery, change of pace, Mars in Cancer still working its way through my life.  How about yours?

In recent weeks we’ve looked at long-term influences correlated to the slower-moving planets with an eye to understanding current and future conditions that will have a bearing on our business plans for 2010.  We’re getting there!  We’ve looked at Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Aquarius, Saturn in Virgo, and we’ve begun looking at Uranus. 

Before we examine Uranus in the sign of Pisces, I want to give an overview of the cycle of the zodiac and the standard business life cycle.  The progression through the zodiac is a map of the natural cycles of development and change that all life goes through, including the life cycle of a business. Over the next few posts, we’ll look at these natural cycles and how they are also reflected in business life cycles.

Aries

Business Life Cycle

Business Life Cycle

In Aries, a fire sign ruled by Mars, the spark of life is new.  In business, this is the pre-start up phase, when the idea has just formed.  This is a highly entrepreneurial* time, when the owner is evaluating his or her personal reasons for going into business, making the decision to begin operating a business, and deciding what type of business he or she will begin.  This is also referred to as the “seed stage” in the business life cycle and the focus is on perceiving the business opportunities at hand and matching them with the owner’s skills, experience, and passions.  *(Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to [begin] a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. Source:Wikipedia)

Whether a new product, or an established product or service in a new location or market, this is the initiatory phase, the spark has ignited but it has not burst into form yet.  At this stage the Aries traits of courage, independence, and enthusiasm are apparent.

Taurus

This is the stage of business development when the spark of Aries begins to take a form.  Taurus is an earth sign ruled by Venus, and as such, is concerned with manifesting an idea in the physical world. At this stage the business owner chooses and registers the name and opens a bank account in the business name. There may be research and product development, obtaining financing, and setting up the legal structure for the business.

This is the phase when products or services begin to be in production, and when there begins to be a customer base and market presence.  Hopefully at this phase the business begins to create cash flow.  The Taurus traits of practicality, persistence, and patience are needed at this stage.

Gemini

Gemini, an air sign ruled by Mercury, brings to the business sales and marketing efforts, signing procurement contracts, setting up the bookkeeping, and obtaining the necessary licensing.  In this phase advisors such as accountants and lawyers are chosen and usually the form of the business, whether incorporated, limited, or sole proprietorship is chosen and legally established.  Producing sales and services to generate cash flow becomes a major focus for the business.

The Gemini traits of versatility, rationality, and communications ability are important to the developing business at this stage.

These are the signs that correspond to the start-up phase of a business life cycle.  Once these initial steps have been taken, more complexities come into play, as we’ll examine in the next few posts.

Mercury Retrograde Stories

Any Mercury retrograde stories?  I’ve got one.  My daughter-in-law Natasha went to the train station today to buy a monthly commuter ticket for her job that starts tomorrow in London.  The very nice man at the ticket counter said that the computerized ticketing system had been down all day and they were trying not to sell tickets today because they would have to process them manually.  She had to patiently wait (she’s a Taurus) as the man repeated himself eight times that he was trying not to sell her a ticket.  Her Taurus persistence won out and she finally bought the ticket, although we’re hoping it is in the system by tomorrow morning at 6:30 when she has to catch the train.

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