Unknown artist
Spring Equinox: Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 9:30pm Pacific
Sun into Aries
The beginning of a new astrological year.
Equal day, equal night.
Plant the seeds (metaphorically and literally) of what you’d like to see grow this year.
“On any given day we’re lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lie can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, shows the manners and “hotspots” used by those trained to recognize deception — and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving.”
Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/pamela_meyer_how_to_spot_a_liar?language=en
“Pamela Meyer thinks we’re facing a pandemic of deception, but she’s arming people with tools that can help take back the truth.
Social media expert Pamela Meyer can tell when you’re lying. If it’s not your words that give you away, it’s your posture, eyes, breathing rate, fidgets, and a host of other indicators. Worse, we are all lied to up to 200 times a day, she says, from the white lies that allow society to function smoothly to the devastating duplicities that bring down corporations and break up families.
Working with a team of researchers over several years, Meyer, who is CEO of social networking company Simpatico Networks, collected and reviewed most of the research on deception that has been published, from such fields as law-enforcement, military, psychology and espionage. She then became an expert herself, receiving advanced training in deception detection, including multiple courses of advanced training in interrogation, microexpression analysis, statement analysis, behavior and body language interpretation, and emotion recognition. Her research is synthetized in her bestselling book Liespotting.”
“All forms of self deception make us vulnerable to the scam, the con, the false promise, the bad hire, the unwise promotion, the faulty new product.” — Portfolio.com
“When researchers observed brain activity in people who were reading or doing math, they noticed that certain parts of the brain would light-up. Generally, with any given activity, the brain would utilize just one specific region — however, when the researchers introduced music, something amazing happened.
Not only did listening to music cause the brain to light up in multiple areas, but when subjects began to play music, practically every section of the brain went to work in an explosive jubilee of activity!
Find out more about this mind-blowing discovery in this video.”
Source: http://blog.theliteracysite.com/this-is-your-brain-on-music/
Vali Myers, c. 1965
“Australian-born dancer and artist Vali Myers “the Witch of Positano” arrived in Paris in 1950, at age 20, after studying with the Melbourne Modern Ballet Company. She hung out with Django Reinhardt, Jean Genet (“Congratulations on your maquillage,” he famously told her), Tennessee Williams, Salvador Dalí, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Allen Ginsberg.
In 1950s Paris, Myers was a symbol of the “restless, confused, vice-enthralled demimonde that populated certain cafés on the Left Bank,” wrote George Plimpton, who published a series of her self-portraits in the Paris Review in 1958. Plimpton’s accompanying essay recounted how bartenders in the little boîtes where she danced nicknamed her le chat, while concierges called her la bête. Others referred to her as la morte vive because of her corpse-white face and kohl-laden eyes; the makeup, she explained, was protection against evil spirits.
Can’t confirm the writer but this is great article I found here
Vali Myers in Saint Germain des Prés, Paris, 1950
On a trip to Vienna in 1952, she met an architecture student named Rudi Rappold, whom she married in 1955.
By that point, Myers had become addicted to opium. “I was very fragile and frail, rarely leaving my room till late at night,” she wrote years later to the Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken, who had included her in his 1956 book Love on the Left Bank. “For three years, I didn’t see the sunlight.” Facing escalating problems with the French immigration authorities, Myers and Rappold hitchhiked to Italy in 1958. They leased a small house in II Porto, a deep valley in Positano, at the base of a towering cliff.
It was the perfect hideaway for the eccentric couple, who eventually were joined there by a young Italian, Gianni Menichetti. He soon became Myers’s lover and, later, her biographer. They kept pigs and goats and took in dozens of stray dogs; her beloved fox, Foxey, was with her for 14 years. The locals mostly kept their distance, fearing that Myers was a witch. Though she rarely left Il Porto, her fame quickly spread—Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful came to visit and bought Myers’s drawing The Death of Jezebel. And at the invitation of the folksinger Donovan, Myers traveled to London in 1967 to dance to his song “Season of the Witch” at the Royal Albert Hall.
Vali Myers, 1950
Eventually, Myers found herself in need of actual money, so in 1971 she checked in at New York’s Chelsea Hotel, where she knew she could sell a few paintings. “One of her favorite sayings was that life is ‘like a comet, burning bright and fast,’ ” recalls Chris Stein, a cofounder of and the guitarist for Blondie, who befriended Myers at the Chelsea and subsequently named his daughter after her. “She was a magical thing: highbrow and completely of the streets, too.”
Vali Myers by Ed van der Elsken, Paris 1950s
Patti Smith was so awestruck, she asked Myers to tattoo her knee with a lightning bolt. “Vali was a big hero of mine when I was 14,” the punk artist told Interview magazine in 1973. “She was the supreme beatnik chick—thick red hair and big black eyes, black boatneck sweaters, and trenchcoats.” But by the time Smith met her idol, the wild gamine of Paris had transformed almost beyond recognition. She wore outlandish peasant costumes and had tattooed an outline around her mouth and inked her hands and feet. Her hotel room was filled with other denizens of the Chelsea underworld—Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Abbie Hoffman.
After 43 years, Myers returned to Melbourne in 1992 and spent her days creating a new bohemian oasis and enjoying her quasi-celebrity. The wild, rebellious proto rock chick of the Rive Gauche had found her place in the world. She told Menichetti a decade before her death in 2003: “I feel like a bird that has spread its wings—finally. It’s a miracle!”
The spectacular Vali Myers.
The biggest inspiration to me is Vali Myers, a fiery demon angel who covered the world in her goldleaf and fine ink, gypsy dancing and hordes of animals; a fox in human form.
“She was an Amazon. An indomitable creature, a stoic and spartan nomad soul. A primeval, telluric, pagan spirit.”
— Gianni Menichetti on Vali
She was born in the 30s in Australia, later working in factories to save money for dancing lessons. She left for Paris at 19 to pursue a dance career, ending up living on the streets of the Left Bank, a haze of opium and darkness, though she kept living through her drawings, eventually being exiled from France.
“We lived in the streets, in the cafes, like a pack of mongrel dogs. We had our very own codes. Students and people with jobs were kept out. As for the tourists who came around to gawk…
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By vdara124
How strong does Pluto figure in your astrological chart? Below is a VERY interesting take on how Pluto effects you! Look up your chart for free at astro.com and then take the test below. You’ll need to have some experience with astrology.
I’m extremely Plutonian! I scored 83 on this thing!! Let me know your score in the comments below.
From Donna Cunningham:
“Would you be considered a Plutonian person? You would if Pluto, the sign Scorpio, and the 8th house are strong in your birth chart. Below is a test to give these chart features a score and then a description of what that score says about you. While there aren’t any scientific measurements of a planet’s strength, I’ve assigned number scores to certain chart factors, based on 40 years of doing charts professionally.
Full article here: https://skywriter.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/how-strong-is-your-pluto-here%E2%80%99s-the-score/
In each of the categories below, add the total score of all the factors that apply to that item, and write the total on the blank. Then add all the items up to find out how your Pluto ranks.
Here’s the Test:
| Pluto In Aspect | Points | Score |
| Pluto conjunct, square, trine, or opposite the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, or Midheaven | 10 ea |
____ |
| Pluto conjunct, square, trine, or opposite other planets | 5 ea |
____ |
| Pluto in minor aspect to the Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Midheaven, or other planets | 2 ea |
_____ |
| Part of major configuration like a stellium, T-square, or Grand Trine | 5 ea |
____ |
| Stellium Planets: Lead planet (first in series) or Alpha Dog | 5 ea |
_____ |
| Pluto/8th House Features |
|
|
| Pluto in Scorpio | 10 |
_____ |
| Ascendant in Scorpio | 10 ea |
______ |
| Sun, Moon, or Midheaven in Scorpio | 5 ea |
____ |
| Other planets in Scorpio | 3 ea |
_____ |
| Sun or Moon in the 8th house | 5 ea |
_____ |
| Other planets in the 8th house | 3 ea |
____ |
| Bonus: |
|
|
| Add 2-5 points for each other factor you consider important, such as Pluto aspects to the Nodes or having a Node or Part of Fortune in Scorpio or the 8th house. Specify: ______________________________________________ | 2-5 ea |
_____ |
| ______________________________________________ |
|
|
| Total |
____ |
Score: 0-10 would be considered low, while 15-30 indicates a moderately strong influence. More than 30? Very strong indeed—you’re definitely a Plutonian!
(If you were born with the Pluto-Uranus conjunction of the 1960s, do both tests to find out which of the pair influences you most.)
What does “Being a Plutonian” Mean?
Pluto has a wide range of expressions. At the unevolved level, Plutonians can engage in manipulating or coercing others, abuses of power, battles for control, resentments and grievances, failing for spite, and being a target of other people’s projections.
At the evolved level, the expressions can include transforming, healing, and empowering themselves and people and conditions they care about. Plutonians can have a natural gift for psychology, the healing arts, and understanding what makes people tick.
Pluto Issues: Power and control, trust, to discover and analyze what lies beneath the surface and eliminate the undesirable, separateness, holding on to things or feelings, revenge, death and endings, rebirth, healing, and transformation.
Worldly matters associated with Pluto/Scorpio: healing, psychology, sexuality, wealth, uses and abuses of power, corruption and dirty dealing, secrets, exposes, occult, death and the afterlife, national and personal debt, stocks.
Examples of Plutonian occupations: psychotherapist, healer, medium, past life therapist, researcher, grief counselor, OB/GYN staff, cancer treatment, sex therapist, insurance agent, financial planner, stock broker.
Interpreting your Scores—ARE you a Plutonian?
No brief interpretation can fully explore Pluto’s status in an individual chart, but below are some qualities you might find in someone who has a strong Pluto vs. one with few supporting chart features. (You’ll find more detailed interpretations in my hardcopy book, Healing Pluto Problems. Kindle version at Amazon.com.)
If you had a high score, you’re an over-achiever in the matters of Pluto: You’re probably a Plutonian and therefore extremely strong in some the qualities listed above—the positive ones, the negative ones, or more likely both ends of the spectrum at once. You may alternate between isolation and being joined at the hip in obsessive relationships; in the worst of times, you could be controlling; mistrustful; emotional intensity; bitter, vengeful. And/or you may be dedicated to healing yourself, and as you learn how to do that, can become a natural healer and catalyst in the lives of people around you.
If you had a low score, you may be an under-achiever in the matters of Pluto:If your score is down in the single digits, you may be lacking in some of the qualities listed above. You may not often look deeply within and may be missing important psychological insights that could help you change undesirable patterns. When you have a bad setback, you may take longer to mobilize yourself to come back from it.
On the bright side, you’re probably pretty easy going and not likely to carry grudges or harbor plans for revenge. Until you’re challenged by Pluto transits—like the Pluto-Uranus-Saturn cardinal t-square of 2010-12, you might not give a rat’s behind about transforming your self or your world.”
©1-16-2010, revised 5/2012 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
young artist moulding raw clay in art studio
“Being more creative may be as easy as pretending you are. Creativity, that abstract muse, is increasingly thought of as essential not just to artistic pursuits but also to business success. Who doesn’t want to be more creative? Or, conversely, who wants to be more formulaic and rote?
Article: http://mentalfloss.com/article/76358/pretending-youre-creative-will-make-you-more-creative-study-says
A new study by researchers at the University of Maryland indicates that, much like how stereotypes about women being bad at math can lead to women performing worse on math tests, treating yourself like a stereotypical creative genius can lead to more creative thinking. In two different experiments detailed in PLOS ONE, the researchers primed more than 200 undergrads majoring in several different forms of art or science to imagine themselves as either a stereotypically creative professional (“an eccentric poet”) or a stereotypically stodgy one (“a rigid librarian”). The students then completed the Uses of Objects Task, a standard psychology test to measure creativity (as you might guess, you brainstorm various uses of objects). A control group completed the task without being primed to imagine themselves as having any specific characteristics or jobs.
The researchers found that the ability to think outside the box isn’t a static personality trait. It’s malleable, and influenced by stereotypes. Students who imagined themselves as eccentric poets were able to think of more (and more original) uses for objects like bricks than students in the control group. Students who imagined themselves as rigid librarians came up with significantly fewer creative uses than the control group. Not only did thinking of themselves as eccentric give students a creative boost, but thinking of themselves as rigid became an impediment to creativity.”
What a good excuse to declare yourself an artist and act super wacky.
[h/t Pacific Standard]
David Bowie and Iggy Pop, 1977
Learning about Bowie’s creative process has been illuminating over the past few weeks since his untimely death. Read Iggy’s perspective below, it’s great:
Iggy Pop has written a new essay immortalizing his late friend and collaborator David Bowie. In the days immediately following his death, Pop paid tribute to the Thin White Duke with a heartfelt reflection. “He resurrected me,” Pop wrote at the time. “He was more of a benefactor than a friend in a way most people think of friendship. He went a bit out of his way to bestow some good karma on me.”
Now, for the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Pop has expanded on his relationship with Bowie, specifically discussing his musical impact.
“I learned a lot from him. I first heard the Ramones, Kraftwerk and Tom Waits from him. He also had a certain rigor. If he saw something in another artist he admired, if they didn’t pick up that ball and run with it, he didn’t have any problem saying, ‘Well, if you’re not going to do it, I will. I’ll do this thing you should have done.’ And that was very valid…
“David was not a person to waste a piece of music: Never waste an idea. I first heard his 1980 song ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’ when we were in a house on Sunset Boulevard in 1974. It was called ‘Running Scared’ at the time. He was playing it on the guitar and wanted to know if I could do something with it. I couldn’t. He kept it and worked it up.
“That was another big thing I learned: Don’t throw stuff away.”
In 1972, Bowie confronted Pop about his escalating drug addiction, encouraging him to move to London to work on music. There he teamed with James Williamson to pen what would become The Stooges’ crown opus, Raw Power, which was mixed by Bowie himself. Three years later, Bowie and Pop moved to Berlin together with the hope of kicking drugs for good. When not recording his own trilogy of albums, Bowie worked with Pop on his solo debut, The Idiot, and follow-up, Lust For Life.
Read the full tribute at Rolling Stone.
In related news, Pop has teamed up with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme to release a sort-of sequel to Lust For Life called Post Pop Depression, out March 18th.
Can you stay open to the pain of others? The Practice: Being at peace with the pain of others. Why? Humans are an empathic, compassionate, and loving
Source: Being at Peace with the Pain of Others
Excellent article! Keeping a warm heart and doing what you can to help the person is great advice.
“See the big picture
Whatever the pain of another person happens to be – perhaps due to illness, family quarrel, poverty, aging, depression, stressful job, worry about a child, disappointment in love, or the devastation of war – it is made up of many parts (emotions, sensations, thoughts, etc.) that are the result of a vast web of causes.
When you recognize this truth, it is strangely calming. You still care about the other person and you do what you can, but you see that this pain and its causes are a tiny part of a larger and mostly impersonal whole.
This recognition of the whole – the whole of one person’s life, of the past emerging into the present, of the natural world, of physical reality altogether – tends to settle down the neural networks in the top middle of the brain that ruminate and agitate. It also tends to activate and strengthen neural networks on the sides of the brain that support spacious mindfulness, staying in the present, taking life less personally – and a growing sense of peace.”
Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant (1845–1902), Afternoon Langour
10:20am Pacific today. Focus on the DETAILS of EVERYTHING. Give your OCD full expression – today is perfect for it. Feel free to analyze everything (but leave the obsession out of it). The Sun/Neptune in Pisces are on one side of the sky, opposing a beautiful Full Virgo Moon on the other. Make your dreams real. Pisces dreams and has a technicolor imagination, while Virgo is practical as heck and can make a PLAN to accomplish your vision. Set some goals today and make a plan to manifest them. Virgo isn’t afraid to do the WORK and research necessary to achieve a goal.
If you are caught in an unstable situation today it will become glaringly obvious. That’s what Full Moons do, they bring things to extremes. If a relationship, job or situation is unsustainable, you will see the damaged underpinnings today. Don’t be afraid to take action and again, CREATE a PLAN. Have those difficult conversations. Also a great day to begin a new health plan, particularly around exercising and losing weight as the Moon will be shrinking for the next two weeks, and you can shrink along with it 🙂
Happy Full Moon!
elizabeth rose psychic and tarot 