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As an L.A. fashion editor 20 years ago, the best part of my job was visiting designers. I'd sit in their quirky downtown studios while they showed me their latest creations, often just a quick sketch and swatch of fabric. As I made the rounds, similarities would pop up. Their imaginations were tuned in to the same collective vibes. I'd weave the ideas together in a theme, write my forecast and stage a photo shoot with models wearing the garments. When the story came out in the paper, other designers jumped on the bandwagon and a new fashion trend was born. As an astrologer, I'm doing something similar. I look ahead and spot trends based on planetary patterns that affect the collective. Each person is part of a group mind, which evolves through vibratory changes. It's my job to report on these changing events and bring them to consciousness, including how they affect an individual's astrology chart, or design blueprint. The month of May spotlights what Carl Jung called the 'collective unconscious,' or group mind. Astrologers call this the planet Neptune. Representing both the heights of cosmic bliss and depths of illusion and fear, Neptune is a transpersonal planet associated with dissolving boundaries between life and death, ego and spirit. This outer planet is stationary, extra powerful, all month as it prepares to go retrograde on the 19th. When Neptune turns backward, it plunges deeper into its own watery depths to activate the universal consciousness connecting us all. Just prior to Neptune's backward dive, Mars (energy and passion) meets up with Uranus (shocks, awakenings) in Neptune's home sign of Pisces on the 15th. Expect the unexpected! Pay close attention to sudden insights or dreams, and indulge in plenty of downtime. Going with the flow will help you navigate sudden surprises (this is especially the case for those with prominent planets or points in Pisces, Sagittarius, Virgo and Gemini). Also, prepare for an activation of your intuitive powers and artistic and musical impulses, with the added bonus of spiritual insights and emotional breakthroughs. Last month, I went to a talk by Byron Katie on the publication of her new book, I Need Your Love—Is That True? Katie woke up enlightened one morning in the basement of a halfway house. After literally going out of her mind, she realized that examining one’s thoughts is the key to liberation. "Thoughts are not personal," Katie announced to the crowd. "They’re all around us, we breathe them in and out like air." It’s only when we latch onto them, she added, without inquiring to see if they are true, that we run into trouble. "Don't believe everything you think," she smiled. This is good advice for the month of May, when our collective mind, with its fantasies and fears, is being activated to the max. We’re also approaching a pivotal point in the Mayan Calendar, which charts the evolution of consciousness. According to Ian Lungold (www.mayanmajix.com), June 2 is the midpoint of the Galactic Cycle (1999-2010), signifying the consciousness of ethics and integrity overcoming the consciousness of power and domination as the prevailing energy on Earth. At this midpoint, he says, conflict between the two polarities is likely. With the passing of the Pope at the solar eclipse last month, the collective consciousness has been touched in a major way. Battles for the Arctic Refuge and the Supreme Court are heating up. We are living in exciting times, as the feminine consciousness resurfaces in the group mind to assume equality as a co-creator with the masculine. The difficulties we face are growing pains of the new, more balanced consciousness. May the magical energies of Uranus and Neptune quicken our process of evolution this month! © 2005 Simone Butler
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