The Storyteller's Night Sky with Mary Stewart Adams

The cycle of the year unfolds in successive stages that are easily measured by the rhythms of the Earth, Sun, and Moon through the cosmos, and in the sequence of festival days in the various cultures around the world. Monday brings the last New Moon of the Spring in the northern hemisphere, followed by the planet Venus reaching its greatest elongation, or distance, from the Sun next Sunday.

Into the morning triumph of birdsong before sunrise come Venus, Saturn, Neptune, and Moon ~ scene that only happens every 30 years or so.

The Moon comes Full on Monday, then wanes through the Milky Way on the anniversary of the death of Emily Dickinson, a teller of the All-Embracing True Tales (as the ancients called poetry and myth).

The Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower peaks overnight Monday to Tuesday, while that Ole Mother Goose Cygnus the Swan takes wing over the Northeast horizon, trailing a Milky Way of stars!

Wednesday night is the eve of the season's cross quarter day, the halfway point in the Spring. At the eve, a secret portal opens, but we have to be aware, because Jupiter and Moon are standing at the door as guardians, to see whether we can pass of our own, or whether we must be "butted" through!

It's the week of the April New Moon, which means it's time for celebrating international dark sky week. And don't miss Venus and Saturn, setting the stage for an exercise in contemplation during the Moon's dark phase.

The Moon gave way on Saturday, when it came to its Full Phase below the celestial equator, the furthest-away Full Moon for the year. And with Mercury and Venus now both in direct motion again, these three destiny planets support a mood of moving forward to meet the spiritual new year at last.

Though the Sun came to its equinox moment two weeks ago, the Moon only yields its position of dominance in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere this week, unleashing the year's high cosmic mystery. And this year, Venus ends its retrograde at the same moment ~ standing still to see what rises with human hearts to meet the mystery.

This week, the planet Neptune moves from tropical Pisces into Aries, across the vernal point out of the water and into the fire. How will we meet it?

The celestial bodies that weave with human destiny (Moon, Mercury, Venus) are making unique gestures right now, and with Neptune about to change signs, it's time to state your intentions and not wait on what dreams may come.

Equinox comes on Thursday like an invitation from life to celebrate our soul-spirit nature while Venus helps us know how this mystery lives in the heart.

There's a Total Lunar Eclipse overnight Thursday to Friday this week (March 13-14), and the best way to prepare for it is to find a place to catch moonrise and sunset the evening before it happens, and then, to do a bit of ceremony.

In its current retrograde motion, Venus is looking into the secret in human hearts, gathering them up for carrying to the core with us, when it meets the Sun March 22nd.

This week the line up from west to east after sunset is Mercury, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars, with Moon joining the parade on Friday. It begs the question: What's lining up in our own lives?  

The Sun is moving through Aquarius stars, where all the star names have to do with good fortune, hidden treasure, and wishes that come true, while the Moon is sweeping past Spica, the star of abundance. It's worth paying attention to this scene now, and for the next several months.

Venus is moving among the stars of Pisces, which is associated with the forces of dawn. When Venus is there, deep mysteries of the heart surface and wake. Astrologically Venus is exalted in Pisces, where the planet reaches its highest potential. And it's there on Valentine's Day.

The Moon was but a chin of gold A night or two ago, And now she turns her perfect face Upon the world below.

The Year of the Snake, the star wisdom of Dante, and the Storyteller's Night Sky, which will continue on podcast, though this is the final episode for Interlochen Public Radio.

The night sky is visually stunning right now, and astrologically dynamic, especially when the Sun rises with Pluto on Monday morning, January 20, 2025, followed by the parade of planets across the night.

At a Mars'opposition the time is right to repair a mistake, to right a wrong, or to do something you've left undone. Knowledge and wisdom can grow into miracles out of the close confrontation with Mars!

The New Year started with Mercury leading the charge as morning star, and just recently, the waxing crescent Moon swept passed Venus and Saturn, on its way to Full Phase and an occultation of Mars, where it finds Mars moving retrograde opposite the dwarf planet Pluto. So, what else is going on in the stars this year?

Once the long night of the solstice has commenced, it's appropriate to reflect on the year past and to anticipate the year ahead, not just for a moment, but for the full 12 days of Christmas, which begin with the birth of inner light on Christmas Eve, at midnight.

At dawn on Wednesday the Moon sweeps past Mars in retrograde where it prepares a place in the cradle of the heart for all who are tuned in.

Before the 16th century calendar reform, Friday the 13th would've been Christmas Eve. The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks overnight the 13th, and it's worth noting despite nearly Full Moon.

There are six stars, two planets, and the Moon making a sign in the heavens right now: the stars that form the Winter Hexagon; Jupiter and Venus, respectively straddling the horizons east and west at sunset; and the Moon, when it meets Venus on Wednesday

Thanksgiving week there's a magical event happening in the morning sky, one that begs the question: when am I central to what occurs in the world around me?

3rd century Neoplatonist Plotinus wrote: The universe extends as far as the soul goes, but no further. The boundaries of its existence are determined by the degree to which, in going forth, it has the soul to keep it in being.

Friday's Full Moon occurs near Uranus, which means that now we begin anew the great tale of human becoming.

A mighty week is upon us, inaugurated 11.3.24 by the opposition between Mars and Pluto that will occur two more times in the coming months due to Mars' impending retrograde motion.

This week is the seasonal cross quarter, or halfway point, which includes the mischievous festival of Halloween, followed by All Saints Day, then All Soul's Day, and then the several weeks of honoring loved ones who have died. How does the soul know?

Moon passes by Mars among Gemini stars this week, where the red planet will soon make its biennial retrograde loop, which finds it passing through these stars several times from now until April 2025.

A calendar is a brilliant mechanism formulated over centuries of sky watching that works with the magic of a time machine~tiny black boxes aligned in neat rows, each row divided into seven parts, each part named in accord with a classical planet, and all in a particular order that reveals a deep wisdom, allowing us to access the past, stay attuned to the present, and plan for the future

The Moon catches Venus in the great golden scale of Libra, where the goddess of love and beauty witnesses the measure of love abiding in the human heart.

The experience of each new age requires a new confession, and the world seems always waiting for its poet.

It's Harvest Moon Wednesday, Sept 17 which begs the question: what is my harvest this year? On Michigan's Beaver Island, they have an answer!

A fascinating signature of the Mysteries is appearing in the sky right now, involving the planets Saturn and Mercury and the constellations Aquarius and Leo.

The last New Moon of Summer on 2 September 2024 prepares for the transition from outer light to inner radiance that happens at Equinox later this month.

Each month the Moon greets every planet, modulating the mood as it goes. This week, it meets Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury.

The astrological omens this week suggest now's the time for sloughing off the dead weight and for moving out of stagnant situations.

Sun, Mercury, Earth, and Moon align at square angle to Uranus while Jupiter and Saturn engage in the same, and all of this at Blue Moon Monday, August 19, 2024

In August the Milky Way is like the brilliantly beaded belt of a sparkling garment woven out of stars and flung across the night.

This week a date of historic and literary note rolls around: “Lammas Eve,” which is the night before we're halfway through the summer. 

Venus emerges as our evenings star very soon, and will grace the western horizon until mid-March 2025. What can it mean?

All the talk this week is about the great meeting between the red planet Mars and the eccentric gas giant Uranus, which coincides with quick changes and reversals, sudden upsets, unforeseen events or even new insights stirred all of sudden, breaking in like revelation.

Earth comes to its aphelion Friday, when it's furthest away from the Sun, the same day as the first New Moon of summer, revealing the social harmony inherent in the cosmos.

All in one week the Moon checks in with all the outer planets, and this as Saturn begins its retrograde.

This week it's all about the Sun and its solstice, but it's also about the Moon, which comes to Full Phase the day after solstice, placing an accent mark on what happens with the standing still of the Sun that marks the beginning of summer.

The messenger of the gods slips into hiding beyond the Sun Friday, while the first heaven is flung open wide by a growing Moon ~ time to heed the whispers of the merry wanderer of the night.

Thursday, May 30th is the Feast of Joan of Arc. Arcturus is rising overhead from the East, the star of the shepherdess, beside the crown she would use to crown the King of France, who was nearly toppled, like Hercules, from his rightful place.

Thursday's Full Moon blocks the star Antares, the rival of Mars, which means it's our turn to sculpt the red planet's warrior forces.

The Moon returned to its eclipse point Sunday, then moves through its dark phase, encountering the secrets of Venus before it comes New Tuesday night.