Mercury, our most important planet for love

Mercury, brainy planet of thinking processes, communications, and the senses, is not often thought of as the most important planet in a natal chart. But it is.

Elsewhere I've referred to speedy Mercury as the 'tofu planet' since it tends to soak up the flavors of whatever planets it contacts in a chart.

Take Mercury conjunct Pluto, for instance. George W. Bush as a 1st house (Self) conjunction in Leo of Mercury and Pluto, a pair which together can indicate mental obsessions, cruel speech, and spying tendencies. One of the obsessions is, I suspect, tremendous mental focus (Mercury) on acquiring wealth and possessions (Pluto) and Pluto is god of the Underworld, thus he doesn't care how he attains his desires - or whom it beggars.

Well, W certainly demonstrated such things while he played president, but lack of intelligence wasn't actually one of his shortcomings in spite of how he was marketed and critiqued. Deep (Pluto) thinking (Mercury) is one of the signatures of Mercury/Pluto along with propaganda meant to sway the thinking of others; the conj posited in his natal 1st house shows that Mercury/Pluto was he.

On a lighter mercurial note, expert astrologer Beth Turnage says that Mercury is important for making love last in relationships, so check out Beth's excellent article, for if you've ever had a relationship where communication or its lack caused major problems, you already know the importance of mercurial compatibility in relationships.

And as they say, sexual attraction begins in the brain!

Interview with a Creative Yarn Spinner

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Now you may think this post's title refers to someone like Mark Twain or to that folksy storyteller you heard tall tales from at the last Aunt Granny Fanny Mountain Festival back in the holler. But...no.

And if you've read a post or two at 2 Hours before this moment you know that I often tout my daughter's new Etsy Shop of handspun and handpainted yarns which she then takes gorgeous photos of for online shoppers to view. Therefore, you won't be surprised that Maya and her spinning are featured in an interview which simply had to be shouted out by her mom. Right?

Patience Required!

There are an amazing number of steps in the spinning and dying processes in order to produce even one skein of squishy-soft yarn and have it look inviting, so please check out Maya's interview for more details about my knit-loving offspring's process and inspirations!

And here is a nostalgic photo of one of her dorm friends holding Maya's giraffe, Ayapap Ayam, who is mentioned in the interview above. Wonder if she'd get me if I told you her giraffe's name is 'Maya Papaya' spelled backwards? ;p



View more of Maya's photography at Springtree Road where November is always black'n'white photo month.

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Dreamyfish Art Calendar 2010 is ready for you!

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If you read my last post, you'll know that Old wife, a lovely fish of Western Australia, has been on pins and needles waiting to learn if she was chosen to represent a Month in my new Dreamyfish Art 2010 Calendar.

Sad to say, Old wife is only a runner-up (see her portrait in previous post) because Slender weed whiting beat out her stripediness by a nose...a very long nose.

But it's all good, for you may wish to order a Dreamyfish Art Calendar soon because you know that 2010 is just around the Dec 31 corner. You'll find that botanical names of each fish are included making it possible for you to amaze your non-diving friends with your scientific knowledge of underwater denizens of Western Australia - 12 of them, at least!

And do check out Issue #32 of X-RAY MAG with a Jude Cowell Portfolio feature of my botanical fish drawings with artist interview - and the download is free!

Download Section V to snag my Dreamyfish Art Portfolio, or you may download the entire gorgeous magazine with its astounding underwater photography and articles about what's going on with our oceans and dwindling world fish population. And please, let's...

Save Our Oceans!

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Old wide, Enoplosus armatus and the 2010 Fish Art Calendar

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Here's a little Old wife, Enoplosus armatus fretting at the thought of being left out of the Dreamyfish Art 2010 Calendar I'm in process of creating for my Zazzle Art Shop. The new 12-or-13-fish calendar should be on display and made available for Gift Giving Purposes during the upcoming weekend, Nov 14 - 15, 2009. And perhaps you enjoy a good calendar of original artwork for your office.

Whether or not Old wife will be chosen to represent a Month in the lives of the Tropical Fish of Western Australia...well, stay tuned to find out!

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Return of the '3 Temple Dancers'

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3 Temple Dancers is the original title of this oil and watercolour pencil drawing from my noodle. Its title soon morphed into simply 3 Dancers so it answers to both monikers and may be spied online under one or the other name.

The red trees I'm quite fond of. And who are the ladies symbolically representing? Crone, Matron, Youth?

From left to right: my Mom, Mary, my daughter, Maya, and myself, Judith. Happily I get to wear the hat, and 'Maya' is considered in certain circles to be a form of 'Mary' (FR: mer, sea or ocean.) Maya's name came to me in a dream when my pregnancy was about 6 months along.

Actually, Cosmic Persona Designs, a gallery of figure studies mostly, was opened to much acclaim in June 2005 with these very same ladies' in the portrait as you view it here. The 'acclaim' consisted of my friends egging me on to publish fashiony chiffonery images of dancers, singers, and other mask-related portraits, perhaps with a wee bit of Parisienne flavor to them. (An Adult Warning must be clicked through but not to fret - it's only Art. No photos allowed or sought.)

This image of 3 Temple Dancers will soon be available in one of my online Art Shops - either @ the Zazzle Store or on display @ Cafe Press. So if you wish, choose a shop and sashay by, for Holiday Gift Specials soon will be gathered atop a display shelf of their own not unlike the 1970s when I was an Estee Lauder rep at Macy's, Queen Estee of the Cosmetics Brands way back when before the Lauder estate was drained dry.

But that's another story of a different lipstick...

2010 calendars, T-shirts, ceramic travel and coffee mugs, baby clothing, cool mousepads, Wall Art Posters, and more!
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A spooky Halloween photo journal!

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Bwa ha ha...hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween this year! Did you overdose on candy corn and chocolate? Self-medicating, are we? ;p

Well, my daughter lives next door to a haunted house so if you like spooky photographs in black'n'white, you may wish to check out her frightful photo journal and neighborly comments concerning the cob-webbed haunted house next door!

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Heads-up: new merchandise with my own art designs have been added to Jude's Zazzle Shop and to Jude Cowell Art Shop at Cafe Press, so drop by when you can so that original art designs may turn up on your wall, your desk mousepad, your baby, or...well...your body.

10% of all proceeds go to Disaster Relief and Food Banks.

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A Yarn of Pallas, the Daughter

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This photo of my daughter's new skein of yarn, Pallas 2, was so scrumptious looking that I had to post it for you! Don't you love its hand-dyed autumnal colors? Makes me feel chilly just looking at it and I'm still wondering where my new mittens are coming from.

Pallas, the Daughter archetype in Astrology and Myth, is known for her patterning ability, and spinning is certainly one of her many talents of artisanship. How lovely it is for this astrologer to have a spinning daughter!

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Donna Cunningham on finding accurate birth times

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Making sure a birth time is accurate is not always easy but master astrologer Donna Cunningham has the best advice about the issue that you'll find anywhere, so check out Donna's insights on her SkyWriter blog about this very basic astrological matter upon which all hinges!

For as you know, a person's, entity's, or event's birth time, or time of beginning, is part of the birth data astrologers consider before setting up or calculating a horoscope. Anything or anyone that has a beginning has a birth or natal chart, aka a radical or radix chart.

The hour and minute (and sometimes the second) are what produces the sign and degree rising on the horizon at that moment of beginning and thus the planets can be positioned in their proper places in the chart. Of course, date and place are the other requirements for setting up a chart and yes, some information can be gleaned without knowing an accurate time of entrance into the flux of time and space.

But that's like a photograph slightly out of focus...you need a correct time to view a precise picture of the planetary dynamics and their relationships (aspects) to one another. Years ago my own horoscope was out of focus since no birth time was recorded on my BC so I did an end-run by having my mother sign papers the hospital provided so I could get her hospital records of having me, and there it was - listed not once, but three times.

So the 12 'houses' in a chart are departments of life and knowing which house/s your Sun and Moon are in, as well as the other planets and points, is a surefire way to snag yourself a valuable horoscope that can be useful when looking at transits (where planets are now or whenever), Solar (or other planetary) Returns, and for progressing the chart to tell you an evolutionary tale of your life.

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Heads-Up: today my Art Shop has been updated and refreshed, so please drop by Jude Cowell Art Shop to browse some groovy things!
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