Santa Cruz Good Times

Wednesday
Jun 19th
Text size
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

Full Moon & Farewell to a Poet

RisaNewSSimultaneous (Jewish, Catholic, Esoteric astrological) religious and spiritual festivals occur this weekend, creating within humanity coordinated, synchronized and harmonized prayers to God. Concurrent religious festivals form the foundation of the Aquarian new world religion. We are at the end of Holy Week, leading to Easter Sunday’s Resurrection Festival.

Holy Thursday night is the Last Supper followed by our Lord’s (Pisces World Teacher) betrayal by Judas (his role to play) for 30 pieces of silver.



 

Good Friday is the Crucifixion and Death (Initiations) of Christ Jesus (our Initiations also). Friday at sunset, Passover begins (until April 14), commemorating the Exodus, Israelites release from slavery (esoterically Taurus Age end, Aries Age begins).

Good Friday is also the full moon, solar festival of Aries (all things new). The Light of Aries is the Light of Life Itself summoning the Spirit of Restoration to “Restore the Plan on Earth.” The New Group of World Servers (NGWS), reciting the Great Invocation, calls humanity to identify as World Disciple, World Server and World Savior with an invitation to join the NGWS to help “Restore the Plan on Earth.” This is humanity’s “Call to Resurrection.”

We bid farewell to “keen-edged beacon,” beloved and fierce poet, Adrienne Rich (8th house Sun, Mercury in Gemini, illumined writer always “Diving Into the Wreck”), “called back” last Tuesday. Her 1976 book “Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution,” identified and radicalized my life as a woman and mother. Ohm Mani Padme Hum.  (More introduction at nightlightnews.com.)

Esoteric Astrology as News for the week of April 5, 2012 For Sun and Rising Signs

ariesAries-March 21–April 20
You are developing a greater awareness of self as you continue to experience personal, political, inner/outer change. New ideas enter your mind coloring your experiences. A sense of a fire burns within, like a heart giving warmth to the world. You feel bright and brilliant. You are. You are also responsible for providing this fire and ideas to the world. Are you ready?


taurusTaurus April 21–May 21
Most likely you’re not going too many places these days. It’s possible your vehicle(s) is/are experiencing breakdowns or flat tires so you can’t go too far. A state of contemplativeness has befallen your life and all you can accomplish is gardening, slow walks, reflection and hiding from events, phones and people. You’re a leader whether this is acknowledged or not. Are you ready?


geminiGemini May 22–June 20
Deeper revelations of divinity are occurring, possibly in sleep, but definitely while serving the world. Here are mantrams and intentions we recite each morning in meditation (which you’re welcome to join). “Assume a new and fresh attitude of community and hold it during the hours of service which lie ahead each day. Guard with care all thoughts and speech. Call for those you will work with to help build the new culture and civilization.” There’s more. Are you ready?


cancerCancer June 21–July 20
Slowly you are building up a reputation and gaining achievements as you oh-so-carefully enter the world. So often you’re hidden under a protective shell. We know this is for safety and shelter. Often you’re working toward goals we don’t see or understand - not until they’re offered as nurturance and in service to others. You’re ambitious but no one can tell. You’re a leader. And you hide this, too. Are you ready to lead others?


leoLeo July 21–August 22
Restlessness often overtakes you in the winter and summer. You need a change of environment, of scenery, along with perhaps a change in friendships. You also need to communicate what you’ve learned to those who want to learn, those with curiosity and the ability to understand more expansive heartfelt ideas. In our meditations each morning we thank our great teachers past, present and those to come. You are a great teacher.
 


virgoVirgo August 23–September 22
You are focused on the horizon with great, goal-oriented ideas as high as the mountaintop under which the May full moon festival takes place. You are proud of what you know. When using your knowledge with humility and Right Attitude, others learn from you. In turn you must want to learn, too. Your information must be turned into true knowledge, your love into wisdom. Are you ready?


libraLibra September 23–October 22
There’s a sense you must enter deeper in life, including dying and regenerating like a phoenix and this is focused within your most intimate relationships. Yours is the Path of the Warrior, going into battle with desires and aspiration, seeking the virtuous way, increasing the demand for change, compelling others to change also. For rebirth to occur, something from the past must be relinquished. It’s a hurt you hold. It can be let go now.


scorpioScorpio October 23–November 21
As we grow older our true self emerges. I remember my art teacher, Detta Lange, at Immaculate Heart College Art Department in Hollywood, telling me, a young art student, “As we age we become more of our rising sign.” I didn’t understand her. But I do now. The inner essence of our rising sign is our Soul and as we grow in age and experience, our Soul comes forth to direct our personality. This becomes our foundation. Are you ready?


saggSagittarius November 22–December 20
You’re proud of your family, your heritage, religion, education. These constitute your very own private life. You are careful with your privacy, allowing no one to enter who is not trusted. There are others in your life who wonder if you are trustworthy. Trust is something based on truth and understanding and knowing you will work for the good of the whole. Are you ready to be identified as trustworthy?


capricornCapricorn December 21–January 20
Be very careful with communication and thoughts. It’s possible communication can be difficult and misunderstandings occur— Neptune in Pisces in your house of communication. Begin each day with the intention to think and speak only with a loving heart. This cultivates a joy that brings strength and courage and a great creative ability. For gardening follow the biodynamic planting guide. A greenhouse is in your future. Are you ready?
 


aquariusAquarius January 21–February 18
You feel restless, perhap, and more than ready to make changes in your home. You sense an expansion of self as independent. This is how you must move about in your world. It’s important to be flexible and to have mental agility, allowing you to communicate clearly to everyone who comes your way. New values, a shift in resources and a deep need to nest appears. Are you ready?


piscesPisces February 19–March 20
As a child it was difficult to build or even understand solid secure foundations. As an adult a secure foundation is most necessary. However, it’s difficult now to build it. Begin by identifying what you value and what you are proud of about yourself. You have become that solid and secure foundation you have always sought. Call forth daily what you need in terms of wealth, possessions, a home and home security. Make ready for them.
 


Risa is Founder & Director of the Esoteric & Astrological Studies & Research Institute, a contemporary Wisdom School in Santa Cruz, CA.

More at nightlightnews.com. Risa's email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Facebook: Risa's Esoteric Astrology

Comments (0)Add Comment

Write comment
smaller | bigger

busy
 

Share this on your social networks

Bookmark and Share

Share this

Bookmark and Share

 

Silent Dilemma

An inside look at body image and eating disorders. PLUS: Why ‘fat’ is not a feeling. My earliest memory of “feeling fat” was when I was about 12 years old. Up until that time, I was not all that aware of having a body; I was pretty much just in my body, doing the things that kids do. I had not yet learned that I was supposed to look differently than I did. I had not yet downloaded the program that some foods were “good” and others were “bad.” I did not yet have exercise and movement linked up with calorie burning or self-worth.

 

Field to Vase

Open house provides opportunity for residents to meet their local flower growers Valentine’s Day is a high point of the year for those in the cut flower business. So when, one year in the late ’90s, the bouquet-riddled holiday failed to deliver for Kitayama Brothers Farms, the family behind the decades-old rose-growing business knew something was wrong.  “It was the writing on the wall,” recalls Stuart Kitayama, operations manager for the Watsonville-based company. “Those of us who had been hoping things would just get better finally said ‘it’s time to change.’”

 

The Price of Safety

The city's proposed budget addresses public safety needs The City of Santa Cruz’s pocketbook has come a long way since 2009, when an $8 million shortfall loomed. According to City Manager Martin Bernal, the proposed general fund budget for 2013-2014 is healthier than it has been since the beginning of The Great Recession in 2008. Armed with this returning stability, the proposal puts one of the community's top concerns—public safety—front and center.

 

Community Studies 2.0

After a controversial suspension, a new incarnation of the unique UC Santa Cruz major is reinstated The UC Santa Cruz community studies lounge is a great place to have a conversation.  Housed on the second floor of a faculty building in Oakes College, just down the hall from a whiteboard that reads “COMMUNITY STUDIES LIVES,” the room has a big round table, couches and chairs, and shelves stacked with past senior “capstone projects.”

 

North Pacific String Band

Jeff Wilson, who plays banjo for North Pacific String Band, loves being part of original music experiences. “What I like about the music we play is that it’s fairly unique and kind of hard to put your finger on,” Wilson says. “We’re not just trying to do bluegrass or country or folk. It’s a mixture of those things and we try to add in a lot of musicality to all of that.” Originality and musicality aren’t ideas which are limited to the band’s exploits either.

 

Peace in the Middle East

New dance-concert explores Palestinian-Israeli conflict Inspired by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, local choreographer Karl Schaffer’s “Mosaic” is a dance-concert featuring Jewish Diaspora and Arab music from the women’s choral group Zambra, singer Fattah Abbou and a troupe of local dancers. In between rehearsals for the show, which runs June 21-22 at Motion Pacific, Schaffer shared the story behind its creation.

 

Muscle-Bound

Valiant cast battles loud, ugly action for the soul of 'Man of Steel' Early in Man of Steel, fourth-grader Clark, the boy who will be Superman, is cowering in a broom closet at school, eyes screwed shut, hands clapped over his ears. He can't control his super powers: his X-ray vision shows him the skulls and skeletons under everyone's flesh; unfiltered noise—dogs, traffic, heartbeats—assault him from all sides. Rushing to school, his mom kneels outside the door and asks what's wrong.

 

CYNDI

On the eve of Cyndi Lauper’s Mountain Winery gig, we dissect the woman, the icon, the creative beast. Plus: Her thoughts on the music industry, equal rights and those sparkling ‘Kinky Boots’ Few performers possess the kind of fierce, she-bopping tenacity Cyndi Lauper has become famous for. Equal parts free spirit, civil rights activist and Grammy-winner, Lauper is one of the few creative artists able to successfully marry her cutting-edge verve with a heart-of-gold panache. It certainly has helped fuel the remarkable career resurgence she has been experiencing lately.

 

Making the Grade

The quest to identify sources of high levels of bacteria at Cowell Beach continues With straight As on Heal the Bay’s annual “beach report card” for 10 out of 13 Santa Cruz County beaches—Main Beach, Seabright, and even Cowell Beach at the Stairs, to name a few—it would seem that Santa Cruz boasts a high coastal GPA. But in recent years, one Santa Cruz beach just can’t seem to pass: Cowell Beach west of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.

 

Summer Solstice, Full Moon, Mercury Retros

Early morning Wednesday Mercury, star of communication and conflict, turns stationary retrograde (23 Cancer). We all know by now what not to do. And what to do—through July 19.
Sign up for Tomorrow's Good Times Today
Upcoming arts & events

Latest Comments

 

A Sustainable Culture

The popularity of old world yogurt is surging, and it’s easy to make at home Yogurt is a product of the ages. With a name originating in Turkey and probiotic benefits touted by the health food industry. A fondness for Greek-style yogurt has taken the country by storm, resulting in a tripling of the number of yogurt factories in New York State, and a $2 billion a year industry. What sets this Mediterranean yogurt apart is straining. Other cultures refer to the product as “hung” yogurt. Stirred yogurt is placed in a fine mesh strainer which has been lined with cheesecloth and suspended over a deep container. Watery whey seeps out, resulting in a thicker, denser yogurt with more protein by volume. It makes a lovely base for a stiffer tzatziki cucumber-garlic dip and spread.

 

The Power of Conversation

Local author Cecile Andrews emphasizes importance of community engagement in newest book Cecile Andrews, author of the new book “Living Room Revolution: A Handbook for Conversation, Community and the Common Good,” probably wouldn’t get along too well with Larry David’s character from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, known for hiding his face and avoiding communication with anyone he runs into on the street. Andrews is a longstanding part-time Santa Cruz (part-time Seattle) resident who says something that’s struck her about this town over the years is people's willingness to participate in a practice she’s dubbed the “Stop and Chat”—which is exactly what it sounds like.

 

Is Edward Snowden a patriot or a traitor?

He's a patriot. Anyone who stands up for the rights that we stand for as a country, that is real democracy. That would be in my book—somebody who is a patriot. Leah WeissSanta Cruz | Therapist

 

Best of Santa Cruz County

The 2013 Santa Cruz County Readers' Poll and Critics’ Picks It’s our biggest issue of the year, and in it, your votes—more than 6,500 of them—determined the winners of The Best of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll. New to the long list of local restaurants, shops and other notables that captured your interest: Best Beer Selection, Best Locally Owned Business, Best Customer Service and Best Marijuana Dispensary. In the meantime, many readers were ever so chatty online about potential new categories. Some of the suggestions that stood out: Best Teen Program and Best Web Design/Designer. But what about: Dog Park, Church, Hotel, Local Farm, Therapist (I second that!) or Sports Bar—not to be confused with Bra. Our favorite suggestion: Best Act of Kindness—one reader noted Café Gratitude and the free meals it offered to the Santa Cruz Police Department in the aftermath of recent crimes. Perhaps some of these can be woven into next year’s ballot, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the following pages and take note of our Critics’ Picks, too, beginning on page 91. A big thanks for voting—and for reading—and an even bigger congratulations to all of the winners. Enjoy.  -Greg Archer, EditorBest of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll INDEX | Shops | Food & Drink | Arts & Entertainment | Health & Fitness | Professionals | The Rest |

 

Serene Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

There’s always an upbeat vibe going at MJA’s tasting room on the Westside. On a recent visit, the very sociable owner Marin Artukovich was busy pouring for a roomful of oenophiles having a good time. With the help of staff members, Artukovich makes sure that nobody waits too long to sample his fine wines, while also keeping track of every person’s flight.

 

Paying it Forward

Pianist Benny Green wants jazz’s past to continue to inform its future I can honestly say I’m still learning.” Hearing such an admirable, humble statement from someone like Benny Green—a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and band leader whose 30-plus year career includes performances and recordings with jazz luminaries like Oscar Peterson, Art Blakey and Betty Carter—might be surprising at first. But Green’s insatiable desire to keep learning has served him well. That desire—and his deep love of jazz—is something he wants today’s younger musicians to feel, too.

 

Good Morning Maui

Goodness, righteousness, virtuousness and fairness are some of the four-score English words that attempt to describe the Hawaiian essence of pono, whose use in the state motto translates to “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

 

Exposed

David Cay Johnston’s new book explains how big companies rob us blind In his late teens David Cay Johnston started to ask questions. “Why do we have these guys in uniforms with guns driving around in cars all day?” “Why is the Santa Cruz County Courthouse being built in such an unusual shape?” He wrote an article, while still living in his hometown of Santa Cruz, proving that the off-kilter courthouse building, which officials had promised would save money, actually cost more than a conventional building.

 

What’s your secret to avoiding the summer swarms?