Only a few more days of 2012

We are off to spend three weeks in Spain with our family in Spain. I'm so happy to know that our friends will be enjoying a creative retreat in our home, in the company of Master Leo. We'll be back for a few days, and then off to San Francisco to visit our family in SF.  I will be glad to be away. These past few months have been hard.

Our first-year student was rewarded with straight A's for her hard work and creativity in her first semester. I'm happiest about how much she enjoyed all the new things she tried, and how much she learned that wasn't on the tests.

I am eager to read the papers by my freshman class; they were at terrific group, and I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to say goodbye to them in person during the last week of class.

During these weeks, I will be meditating on the New Moon in Sagittarius post by Katie at Empowering Astrology. I have been finding these writings extraordinarily apt for my stage of life right now. "Head home" is a phrase that emerged, and the idea of rebalancing the feminine. What does she mean about Uranus going direct? Here are some questions to ponder:

So ask yourself, as this new moon begins to wax, as we head towards the much hyped solstice in 8 days, what does “head home” mean to you? How are you integrating and releasing your shadow? How are rearranging the parts? How are you rebuilding a better you? Uranus is about to turn direct. The alarm clock says it’s time to wake up.

Life list #3: New recipe every week: Aloo Gobi

I'm getting a box from my CSA, Featherstone Farms, every two weeks this winter. In the past, I've always done the summer share, and I love it, but I'm a big fan of winter root veggies and the kind of greens that you can get in the late fall. I'm interested to see what kinds of crops we'll get. So far in the first two boxes I have received cilantro, parsley, delicata squash, beets, kale, spinach, potatoes, red and white onions, radishes, tender cauliflower, fabulous broccoli,  cabbage, and napa cabbage. Oh, and a pumpkin!

I can tell I'm going to have to make sure I don't get behind on cooking all the vegetables! Today, I roasted some of the carrots and potatoes with olive oil and salt, roasted the beets in their jackets, steamed the spinach, and baked a kabocha squash I had from before. For my new recipe of the week, I made a cauliflower curry from the slow-cooker cookbook. All the vegetables were from the farm except the garlic and ginger.

Slow-cooker cauliflower curry (Aloo Gobi)
Chop a red onion, super fresh cauliflower and sweet crisp carrots. Throw in a few small potatoes, garlic and ginger, some chopped cilantro. Season with Garam Masala, salt, pepper, cumin. Add two T of good tomato paste (in the absence of fresh tomatoes) and a splash of beer to moisten. Mix it all up in the slow cooker, then cook on low for 4-5 hours. Everything gets melty and permeated with the sauce, and the whole thing is yummy.

The carrots are not typical, but I couldn't resist. I could have added a sliced jalapeño or serrano pepper, some turmeric, maybe toasted some black mustard seeds, but I didn't have them on hand. One can also prepare this on the stove top, but I LOVE my slow-cooker.

Monday's Scorpio New Moon Eclipse

A new moon is a time for planting seeds, and the new moon in Scorpio means we have the chance to dive deep and work through our deepest truths, to be reborn like the phoenix from its ashes.
What would this mean for you? What does it mean for me?

Monday's total solar eclipse intensifies this moment; the sun, the moon, and the earth are aligned.  The last such eclipse in this series was 18 years ago, within days of my child's birth and my own birthday. It was a moment of profound transformation, birth and rebirth. Now she is 18 and has moved out of the house, on her own journey as an artist and student and a young woman. I didn't realize how profoundly this would affect me, but after some hard struggle I am moving through, opening myself up to this moment of transformation.

The Scorpio archetype calls to mind Persephone's descent to the underworld, which she must do to detach from her mother Demeter.

Kelly Rosano says: be a conscious creator.

At Empowering Astrology,  prepare yourself  "To boldly go where no man has gone before".

Molly Hall suggests some Scorpio New Moon Tips

• Avoid obsessing on "what ifs" -- gravitate to activities that make you feel hopeful.
• Take a long bath with special salts or oils. (I went to the sauna at the Y)
• Minimize the rushing around, in favor of some empty space on your day planner.
• Sage your space, and invoke spirits of protection, if necessary.
• Recall your energy from bad investments, and feel it concentrating around you.

Detox and purge. Surrender and feel all the feelings, then let go of them.

Today I listen to Lucinda Williams's song "Get Right With God"

I would risk the serpent's bite
I would dance around with seven
I would kiss the diamond back
If I knew it would get me to heaven

(Chorus:)
'Cause I want to get right with God
Yes, you know you got to get right with God

I would burn the soles of my feet
Burn the palms of both my hands
If I could learn and be complete
If I could walk righteously again

I would sleep on a bed of nails
'Till my back was torn and bleeding
In the deep darkness of Hell
The Damascus of my meeting

I asked God about his plan
To save us all from Satan's slaughter
If I give up one of my lambs
Will you take me as one of your daughters?

Roiling waters

Susan Miller's Astrologyzone forecast for me for the month of October is feeling very potent right now.
 
Free Will Astrology's Scorpio Horoscope for week of October 18, 2012:

Sometime soon you may dream of being naked at a public event like a class at school or a committee meeting. I think this would be an excellent omen, so I hope it comes to pass. It would signify that you're ready to shed the disguises that have been making it problematical for you to reinvent yourself. Who is the New You? Stripping down to the bare essentials in your dreams will help you see raw truths about your waking life.

So, it turns out that my sun sign is Scorpio, but my rising sign and moon are both Aries.