The Reiki Cafe 

Anyone with astrology knowledge out there who can tell us what interesting things may occur with this cool phenomena?
Feather
FROM AN INTERNET POSTING:

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that
will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in
recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is
in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on
Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be
certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth
in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as
60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when
Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and
will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in
the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9
and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest
75-power magnification

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
Mars will be easy to spot. At the
beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m.
and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are
closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its
highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty
convenient to see something that no human being has
seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at
the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the
month.
Share this with your children and grandchildren.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

Otoharo!

Feather, I have been searching every night since I read this post. It finally dawned on me that I could see nothing at all, no moon, no sun, nothing. The cloud cover is so deep and thick that all we can tell is whether it is day or night. I will keep watching, though. Thanks for alerting us of this momentous event.

finality

Feather,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- mythologically speaking, Mars was\is the Roman god of war (and agriculture) tho the latter association has weakend quite a bit over the millenia

>:-}}

- some who put stock in astrological influences may expect some sort of abrupt, unhappy changes, increased 'strifes' and dysharmonies, etc.

- bitter harvest, as it were

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Apparently, I have been told , that this already occured, and that this year, Mars will be bright and beautiful at the end of October!!! But, it can't hurt to look at the sky every night anyway!
Feather

Well, that's kinda yucky!
Seems like we are a bit familiar already with bitter harvest.
Peace,
Feather

feather,

/*\ Namaste :-}}

- so make up something - seems to be the rage these days -and few are likely to know the difference anyhow.

bagl

Reiki All Around,

All Blessings,

Firekeeper

Might just do that!
Peace,
Feather

Otoharo!

I have continued to search the night sky. I really want to see this. And it occurs to me that time is in zones. What time zone is the information. I am in Pacific time zone. that could be several hours difference. If the times given above are for Greenich, then I can interpolate.

finality

Well, apparently, the spectacular took place in August of 2003! But there WILL be a very red and nice Mars, albeit still small October 30 of 2005. Here is the scoop: (It lists "universal time" so I guess we have to look up how convert that!)
Feather

"Here are the facts: Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter this year on October 30th at 0319 Universal Time. Distance: 69 million kilometers. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, a pinprick of light, certainly not as wide as the full Moon.

Disappointed? Don't be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth's orbit and raise terrible tides.

Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.

You might remember another encounter with Mars, about two years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October's encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

Although closest approach is still months away, Mars is already conspicuous in the early morning. Before the sun comes up, it's the brightest object in the eastern sky, really eye-catching. If you have a telescope, even a small one, point it at Mars. You can see the bright icy South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet's surface."

Otoharo!

Feather, I mulled over this idea of universal time. How could that be? Finally, I got it! Since the whole point is how close Mars and Earth are, then whatever time it is on earth it is the same for Mars!

finality

if you are looking for astrological info a good place to go is a blog called "the aquarius papers" - chech it out and see if this works for you
light & love
ray

very cool
thanks,
feather