Tiger Kitty and Puppy Shadow and I keep our vet appointment, and I shell out for flea meds

March 26, 2024

Just as with my own recent experiences with western allopathic medicine (broken wrist and weird lesion on back), I was both curious and full of dread prior to going to the long-standing vet appointment. Almost cancelled it. Almost called in today, beforehand, asking if I should even bother coming in, since I’ve decided to treat the health of my animals the same way I treat my own health. No vaccines, unless required by law (so rabies only) and no heart worm medication, since all three of us ingest a teensy bit of  ivermectin (a dewormer, “horse paste”) every month or so.

It’s odd, but I’ve not been as courageous with my animals as I am with my own body. WHY? Not sure. But today brought us into union.

Not only that, but, like all the medical appointments I’ve had lately, I had fun, and met new friends. Nobody batted an eye when I told them what I wanted for my animals. Not even the ivermectin threw them for a loop. The vet himself ended up telling me about his own training, starting with how much he still owed: $58K, out of the original $80K. “$450/month,” he said with a sigh. “But I worked all the way through school; some of my classmates got out owing $300 K, $400 K! He went on to talk about how, as a first year undergraduate, he ended up with a D average, mainly because of hardly ever attending class.

Then his father (also a vet, as was his grandfather) sat him down. Said he was willing to fund his undergraduate education, but only if he took it seriously.

So . . . he took three years off, and then, when he was more mature, went back to school, and got an A average all the way through.

So, he ended, with pride, obviously loving his work, “I’m a third generation veterinarian. And my 7-year old daughter wants to become a vet as well. So that’s four generations in a row.”

YES!

I then stopped at Petco for a Seresto flea collar (supposed to last a year) for Shadow and Advantage II (six monthly doses, large cat) for Tiger. That came to $140. Sigh.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, two weeks from today

March 25, 2024

 

Bloomington, Indiana, is one of the places that sits directly in the path of totality.

Today is the 5° Aries/Libra Full Moon, itself a penumbral lunar eclipse — but who cares! We humans are looking forward to the exceedingly rare full solar eclipse, for which 300,000 visitors are expected in this town alone.

A few of us are going to walk one mile to what we call “Solstice Hill,” named when some of us converged there for that famous Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 0° Aquarius on Winter Solstice 2020.

I still think it’s the highest hill in Bloomington, and I wonder how many of the thousands who are to visit, or even those who actually live here, realize that?

We were alone then. I doubt we will be alone on the afternoon of April 8, 2024.

 

Here’s the chart for the event, which I set for the moment when full-on twilight sets in, 3:04 PM EDT.

 

The eclipse, at 19°+ Aries, corresponds to Sabian symbol for 20° Aries.

A Young Girl Feeding Birds in Winter

Keynote: Overcoming crises through compassion.

Just think, what if this momentous eclipse, when we diverse, fractious humans, unified in our awed upward gaze as the Moon completely obscures the Sun, seize this four minute twilight zone for a new Arian beginning, shifting ourselves into compassion when faced with our own and others’ crises. What would happen? What would happen if expansive LOVE began to fill the void of contractive FEAR?

This Sabian symbol is especially relevant in that the Eclipse itself also conjuncts, exactly, Chiron, otherwise known as the “wounded healer.”

Plus, the entire chart is potent as hell, with both a close Jupiter/Uranus conjunction forming in earthy Taurus (earth changes? economic collapse? destabilization of whatever we still want to take for granted?) and an even closer Mars/Saturn conjunction forming in watery Pisces (previously stuck emotions running rampant? piercing the veil to telepathic connection/communion?). These two conjunctions, one in earth, the other in water, ground us into our bodies and our feelings, which we share as embodied beings, all of us, no matter how scattered and polarized our mental states. What’s more, these two conjunctions, like two guardians, create a wide 60° aspect base, for the Sun/Moon/Chiron eclipse at their midpoint.

Furthermore, notice the shape of this chart, what’s called a “locomotive” pattern, with, in this case, all planets within less than 120°. The most important planet with the locomotive pattern is the first planet . . .

And what is this planet? Pluto, in Aquarius. Might it be that humanity will now grab hold of the gradual transition from Capricorn to Aquarius from 2023 through 2024, and truly begin to recognize and honor all humans as Aquarian equals? Might it be that we humans will now become consciously aware that the old, stuck Capricornian traditions, structures, matrices, systems, can no longer hold us in their various, too small, too tight boxes? That no one person has authority over any other? That each of us is truly a free being, ready and willing to explore, to network, to experiment with each other in all sorts of ways, as we move full on into the 20 year Pluto in Aquarius era. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

I will be musing further on this full-on solar eclipse over these next two weeks.