Happy Thanksgiving to you, and Blogiversary to me!

It was Thanksgiving of 2005 when this blog began.  My sister, already a prolific blogger, helped me get Astrological Musings set up on Blogger, and the rest is history.  At the time there were just a handful of astrology blogs: Elsa, of course, and Robert, and Jeff’s blog at the time was “Astrology at the Movies.”   Things have changed – currently there are 187 members of our Astrology Bloggers Facebook group.

My second Saturn Return began last fall with a burst of productivity, but the second phase in the spring was marked by a blog crisis of major proportions as Astrological Musings quit BeliefNet to move to Patheos, only to be dropped by Patheos under threat of a lawsuit from BeliefNet.  Who knew Astrological Musings was so valuable!

The Saturn Return wasn’t all I went through this summer and fall – the Uranus/Pluto square fell right on Chiron in my natal chart, opening up old wounds and unearthing layers of emotional sensitivity that were ripe for the healing process.  During this period my mother nearly died, an incredibly intense experience that took me literally into the realm of Pluto and clearing some of the karmic garbage between my mother and myself.

I have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.  I am grateful that many of the readers who started this blog with me back in the early days are still with me.  I am grateful for the healing that has taken place with my mother and my sister, even though it was painful and disturbing at times.  I am grateful for the love and support of my husband Rich, who created a cocoon of love and safety for me and without whom none of this work could have been possible.  I am grateful for the wisdom that my challenges have brought me, and for the prosperity that has been the result.

Gratitude is a powerful exercise.  It opens the heart and creates space for new possibilities.  It has the power to transform the way we view our lives and the trials in which we may find ourselves.  Over the past few months I have grown very cranky – no doubt the result of the pressure from Saturn, Uranus and Pluto and an extremely difficult personal situation.  Normally I have a far easier time finding the silver lining to any cloud but right now I am having to make the awareness of the gifts in my life a daily practice.

So at this time I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings, and the joy of giving thanks.  And thank you for sticking with me for all of these years!