Saturn Return

Image: Amy Winehouse

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." - Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Dedicated to Amy Winehouse
14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011

Whose retro soul changed the world.
Safe travels and new beginnings. Love.

Amy Winehouse did not die because of the "cursed" Saturn return.

In astrology, Saturn "returns" to every person between the ages 27-31. Pop culture's "27 Club" attributes a number of famous celebrity deaths to a misinterpreted (read: sensationalized) Saturn return.

Saturn return is the time it takes for the planet Saturn to orbit one time around the sun (approx 29.4 years). Astrologers believe the return of Saturn to the degree in orbit that occurred at the time of birth marks a rite of passage for a person to enter the next stage of their life. With the first return, a person is said to leave their youth behind and enter adulthood. With the second return, a person enters maturity. And with the third, a person enters wise old age.

Amy's death chart reveals she never had a Saturn return though she was nearing it. Her Saturn return would have taken place in early 2012. However, the transits (movement) of planets that occurred on July 23, 2011 would have affected her health:

- Jupiter (expansion into another great realm)
- Chiron (healing of a deep wound)
- Uranus (unexpected and impulsive surprise)
- Neptune (dissolving)
- Pluto (transforming)

These planets alone are not enough to "cause" death. Only the soul can choose when to end it's time on earth.

Contrary to popular belief, the return of Saturn does not imply death. Saturn (the task master planet Karma) returns to bring transformation and rebirth to a soul's life on earth. It is a difficult period of restructuring that brings about an opportunity for change and growth or endings and new beginnings (a sort of death).

Amy's birth chart reveals she was a Virgo born with Neptune near her natal moon which is often an affliction for drugs and alcohol, but also marks stunning creativity and talent. As a Virgo girl myself, I can attest that Virgo's have walked through fire these past few years and have been especially unlucky astrologically, facing constant cosmic tests in love, career, and health.

Amy's tempestuous relationship with on-again-off-again ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil was well documented. Their tragic love story signifies a deep soul connection. Blake (who is currently incarcerated and serving a 32-month sentence at Leeds Armley Jail) was interviewed following news of Amy's death and is in his own words,"beyond inconsolable." Allegedly, Blake has been placed on suicide watch in his cell. I don't envy the man, his soul, nor the burden he carries. There are better ways to love but perhaps that was their karma.

In life, Amy played a magnificent "Catherine" to Blake's "Heathcliffe." Their story played out eerily close to the gothic horror love story Wuthering Heights. May both their souls heal and find peace & love.

For more information and to see Amy's birth and death charts see Risa's Esoteric Astrology.

To find out when your Saturn return will occur, use this calculator. Mine takes place this October 2011.

Why Water?

Image: Charity: Water

Charity: Water is my all-time favourite charity. Not just because the cause (water) affects all of us, but because this saavy charity maximizes multimedia in compelling and interactive ways that contribute to transparency, education, and donations.

Proof of funding features are built right into the Charity: Water website where you can track your dollar and watch your contribution bring clean and safe drinking water on the ground using Google Maps. And your dollar goes a long way. A one-time donation of $20 gives one person clean, safe drinking water. Each water project costs an average of $5,000 and can serve a community of 250 people. And 100% of your donation goes directly to the field because private donors fund the charity operation costs.

It's humanitarian mission meets innovative technology. And it's making a difference. Check out charitywater.org to see the proof.

Why water? Because it changes everything.

The Beaches

Image: Free Spirit

"And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned to a pillar of salt. So it goes."

- Kurt Vonnegut

Looking back, I see my distance.

If these walls could talk, they'd tell you how much they love me. They are what holds me. The walls of this pre-WWII craftsman style house in Hintonburg/West Wellington Village were built strong to survive the storms. They are like my grandparents -- quite unshakeable.

This is the house where my mother was born and my grandparents lived. This is the house I grew up in. With the same creaky wood floors and tired old doors. The same tangled grape vines and dusty back lane.

There's the maple tree where I learned to ride my bike. And the sidewalk where I smashed my teeth. And grandad's pear tree where we constructed snow forts. And the hole in the fence I (still) crawl through to collect lost tennis balls.

I have lived so many lives, I've forgotten my time. No longer moved by hours and minutes, I live as an ocean by the current. I flow with moments and turning tides. I seek sunlight to break a surface where I may venture into new world. I may sink, I may float, or I may swim. But no matter how far or low, how lazy or frustrated, I always find my way back to the shore.

The shore I call my home is a sacred ground with the energy of a thousand memories. Lying in bed with my fate and my free will, I'm listening to The Avett Brothers and my breathing -- inhale/exhale, just like the ebb and flow of an ocean. Two halves, one rhythmic flow. The ocean is never still. The tide is constant in that it comes and goes. But it is always there - a whole ocean.

Whatever you want, I hope you have it. For breath is time and we are the beaches. As for me, I am still working on mine.

So it goes.

If it's the beaches/ If it's the beaches' sands you want/ Then you will have them/ If it's the mountains' bending rivers/ Then you will have them/ If it's the wish to run away / Then I will grant it/ Take whatever you think of/ While I go gas up the truck/ Pack the old love letters up/ We will read them when we forget why we left here

-- The Avett Brothers