Even the tiniest glance at the Orange celebrity blog over the last few days would’ve left your eyes overwhelmed with the sheer volume of shapely legs and classy dresses on offer. And, amazingly considering his overbearing presence in the Celebrity Big Brother house, none of them belongs to Alex Reid…

Moving swiftly on from Katie Price’s horrible black faux fur jacket/tiara combo, the real fun was at the 21st birthday party of Frankie Sandford. Whaddya mean you don’t know her from a can of paint? She’s one of The Saturdays! Obviously.

Anyway, the Soho shindig meant the five popstrels were absolutely obliged to throw caution to the wind, rain and snow, obliging us with an exciting array of dresses. The birthday girl wore an LBD, Mollie King went for a black lacy number, while Una Healy took after her Christmas turkey in what looks like silver foil. The other two looked dull so we’ll not waste space on them…

Try as it might, though, Frankie’s party couldn’t quite top the deliciously OTT glam overload at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills. Who was there? Who wasn’t there! Thankfully not wearing a dress was host Ricky Gervais, but cheerfully frocking up for the evening we spotted Jennifer Aniston and her endless pins.

Also out in force were A-listers such as Valentino, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli… oh no, wait, those were just the blokes who designed the togs worn by Jen, Christina Aguilera, Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz and our very own Leona Lewis. Aw, dunnit make you proud – our Hackney gel all grown up.

Technorati Tags: 2010, Celebrity, Globes, Golden, January, news

Mars is the Roman God of War in Mythology

The actual red color of the planet represents the bloodshed of war. This is an aggressive masculine planet indeed, a true warrior in all matters involving the life force, will, and courage.

The personality of Mars is highly energetic, strong, sexual, and confident—qualities that are especially associated with aggressive sports and other competitive activities. In all life areas Mars is the initiator, warrior and conqueror who goes about achieving his goals with single-minded determination.

In the old astrology before Pluto was assigned to the 8th House; Mars ruled Aries and the 1st House (Personality & Self-Expression) as well as Scorpio and the 8th House (Death and Regeneration). In the body Mars rules the genitals, adrenal glands, gallbladder, and muscles.

Mars also Represents your Life Force Energy

Depending in which sign Mars is located in your chart; you will be able to understand how your energy flows, what the obstacles are and what you should consider relating to your self-expression.

The level and specifics of your life force energy are significant to your ability to achieve your goals in life. Your state of health is directly related to it as well.

For example in my chart Mars is in Cancer; a water sign which is not considered a very strong or good position for Mars. As a result of that I had to struggle all my life with having not the energy available I would like to have. For some years I had to deal with chronic fatigue and always had health issues of some kind. I had to learn over time to be more conserving and conservative with my energy and plan my day and life accordingly to it.

Mars Enters Gemini

Mars moving into Gemini will set the overall tone and general impact for all of us. But even more interesting is to determine how it will influence you more specifically as an individual. For that you need to look into your individual birth chart.

The transiting Mars is moving around the Sun, through the zodiac in 687 days and will be activating different signs, houses and planets at different times in your horoscope and in your life.

Today we will just have a look at the overall implications of Mars in Gemini. But you will be able to use that information for your personal chart as well. These are the specific qualities of Gemini:

Gemini: Inspired Communicator and Curious Butterfly

May 21–June 21

Ruling Planet: Mercury

Element: Air

Gender: Masculine

Geminis have great minds! They are fast learners and interested in a great variety of topics, so they accumulate a large store of knowledge. Additionally, the have the ability to communicate their knowledge very well and make great conversationalists. They need the stimulation of moving like a butterfly from one thing that catches their interest to the next. This gives them flexibility—they don’t get stuck for long in one place and are always ready for a new challenge. A drawback of their fascination with details is that they might miss the bigger picture. They excel in all fields involving the written or spoken word.

An Energetic Mars is Entering the Restless Gemini

You could say that with energetic Mars entering restless Gemini there will be lots of mental activity going on, but also a potential for more flexibility in our actions and more openness to try on new ideas and methods. But we can also get easily distracted and scattered in the expression of our energy flow.

In general this is an excellent time for expanding your mental horizon, learning new things, opening up to new ideas, studying to learn new skills, polishing up on your writing or speaking abilities or meeting new people. You may start new projects of any kind. You could sign up for some social networking sites and explore the instantaneous connectedness with like minded people all over the world. You can start organizing your thoughts and ideas by journaling regularly. The list is endless!

Venus is already in Gemini for some Days

Venus has been moving into the light hearted Gemini at July 5th. It brought in some uplifting of our mood and a more adventures spirit in meeting new people or friends. Venus, the Goddess of love and harmony smoothes the path to connecting and communicating with more ease and a lighter spirit. Venus will be in Gemini till August 1st which means we will have some time to adjust to that flow and use it to our advantage. You can read more about Venus in Gemini in an earlier post on my blog if you  like.(jewelryandgemsforselfdiscovery.com/blog/?p=565)

Get inspired and enjoy the ride to new horizons which is a very joyful journey!

If you are looking for an introduction into astrology and learning about how to use healing gems to balance frictions and challenges in your chart you might have a look at my book Jewelry and Gems for Self-Discovery: Choosing Gemstones that Delight the Eyes & Strengthen the Soul.

If you enjoyed this post and my astrological musings, I invite you to visit my Astrological Signs Weather Report & Healing Gems Blog http://www.jewelryandgemsforselfdiscovery.com/blog/ where I discuss the universal, astrological forces and ways to balance yourself with the help of  healing gems and inspire you to apply your insights for a more successful and joyful life.

Aloha and many blessings, Shakti.

Shakti Carola Navran: astrologer, jeweler and author

Technorati Tags: 2009, Action, Enters, Gemini, Ideas, into, Joins, July, Mars, turning, Venus

www.birthdaysnewyork.com | Want to plan unforgettable 21st Birthday Party in style? birthdaysnewyork.com has the solution. Get access to the very best venues in New York City. Let Birthdaysnewyork.com take care of everything from the reservation, to the limo to getting behind the velvet rope.

Technorati Tags: 21st, birthday, City, Party, Planning, unforgettable, York

There is so much going on in the skies, pointing us into the direction of a deeper understanding of where we are in our life, helping to gain more clarity and a higher level of consciousness.

Solar Eclipses Speak to our Soul!
With the Solar Eclipse right in front of our eyes, we do know something auspicious is going on and we might feel touched by the magnificence of the universe and its mysterious ways of working. I live on Maui and when I look up at the night sky I can actually see the stars. I love doing that! I also have a good friend who loves to travel with her husband to Solar Eclipses around the world; he actually proposed to her on one of their first trips! So what is going on with Solar Eclipses? Why is it obviously touching our soul and spirit? What is actually happening when a Solar Eclipse happens?

Total Solar Eclipse
When the Sun is covered up by the Moon we will experience total darkness! I remember watching my first Solar Eclipse as a small child and feeling pretty unsettled by the darkness in the middle of the day. I am sure Solar Eclipses have been watched with dread throughout the ages. After all the Sun was perceived as the bringer of light and life on our planet earth and was known in its significance and its impact onto our lives here.

The light of the Sun as source of our consciousness being gone would have been taken as a bad omen. But then how wonderful when the Sun reemerges, distributing the life giving force! And with it a new cycle of understanding and expansion of consciousness and life!

Today we know all about the reasons for eclipses happening and we know exactly where and when we will be able to see it. Still it has not taken away much from the mystery of it and the sense of something significant happening.

A Lunar and a Solar Eclipse in Opposing Signs this Month
Eclipses are very potent Full and New Moons! They are said to bring the shadow side of the opposing and the sign it is in to the foreground of our consciousness. With the Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn on July 7th and the Solar Eclipse in Cancer on July 21/22 we will for sure have a chance to look deeper into that shadow but into the wonderful possibilities of integration as well.

We could say that this ax of Cancer and Capricorn could expose immaturity, denial, martyrdom and self-indulgence for Cancer or dominance, control, giving away our power to authority out there and not taking on responsibility for our own life for Capricorn.

Cancer is seen as the most feminine water sign symbolizing the divine mother, live giving and life affirming. Capricorn is seen as the fatherly guiding principle of authority. We are living in a time where prejudice based on sex or skin color is loosing its dominance, and what an exciting time it is to live in!

Balancing the Male and the Female in Us
We all have a male and a feminine side in us! In astrology the Sun and Mars is symbolizing the inner man and Moon and Venus the inner woman. When we have a solar eclipse the Moon is merging with the Sun, the male with the feminine and for a moment there is oneness and balance of the two. This can inspire us to strive for that balance in our own life more consciously and successfully.

The Aquarian Age
In the bigger picture we are moving into the Aquarian Age, a 26, 000-year cycle which introduces an era of equality and collaboration instead of the ego driven old paradigm of the survival of the fittest. We are on the cusp of tremendous changes in our state of consciousness and how we perceive ourselves in the world. The year 2012 seems to be a turning point and spiritual doorway into a changed perception of unity and oneness consciousness. The Mayan calendar is ending in 2012 and with it there is the potential for a paradigm shift into something truly new.

New Moon
The New Moon always is a time of new beginnings by cleaning the plate of the old and outlived. It is a time to reorient and check in with our deepest soul intentions. We also have two New Moons in Cancer this year, one was in the beginning of Cancer, at the end of June and one is at the very end of the sign in July. Also this New Moon has a quincunx to Pluto; the agent of transformation, death and rebirth.

What Does it Really Mean for You?
Wherever the New Moon is falling into your chart that is an area in your life you want to pay attention to!

Which house is it in? For example if it is in the second house, which is representing our finances and property, the material world we live in; you might want to be aware of how you nourish yourself in a very concrete way. What are your plans for later in life when you retire? Do you spend more money then you earn? Are you dealing with your credit card debt? Are you taking charge of your financial status? Or do you blame the economical situation and the government and victimize yourself? If you blame somebody else you don’t perceive yourself as able to change anything; therefore blame is always disempowering!

How many people have thrived in times of economical downturns? Are you looking at the glass half empty or half full? Do you take responsibility for your life or not? Are you aware that wherever you are in your life is the result of the thoughts, beliefs, values, habits and actions of your past? If you truly understand and accept that, you have the key for changing your future!

Second Jupiter Conjunction with Chiron is still close to Neptune
Within twelve hours of the eclipse Jupiter is having its second close encounter with Chiron. The third and last one will be on December 7th.

I have commented on the powerful threesome before and how their energy carries great potential and explosive expansion for growth. You might want to read more

Because Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron are very slow moving celestial bodies we will have some time to integrate these principles and make it work for us. Between March 2009 and February 2010 these three planets will remain within 10 degrees of each other.

Venus Squaring Saturn
Six hours before the Solar Eclipse Venus will have an exact square with Saturn. As the second feminine archetype in action, Venus is encouraging new ways to relate between the sexes for the men from Mars and the women from Venus. Saturn stirs us up when in contact with personal planets and as a result of that brings light into old rigid structures, therefore laying the ground for change.

Resume
This is a good time we are living in! All the inner desires of humankind for survival, safety, equality, freedom and love are culminating in the potentiality of the present time. Astrology as a tool to interpret time quality versus time quantity is of great help to recognize the quality of the seed of every given moment and what might evolve out of it.

If we know this specific seed is creating a tomato plant, we will treat it as such with just the right amount of water, nutrients, shade and sun to help it grow. The same applies to the potential of any given moment and starting point of anything new. If we know the time quality described by astrology we will be able to help it along into its highest expression.

And your personal expansion into a higher level of consciousness is influencing everybody around you and is contributing to the collective consciousness. But it is also helping you tremendously in your personal alignment with the universal forces, which deepens your sense of balance and joy in the moment! Your conscious alignment with the universal forces in that present moment is all you can do. Remember life is a process and a mystery to be lived and not a problem to be solved!

If you enjoyed my ramblings about life and astrology, you can visit me at my Astrological Signs Weather Report & Healing Gems Blog where I discuss the actual universal, astrological forces and inspire you to use them wisely for a successful and joyful life. Healing gemstones are suggested as tools to balance and come into alignment with the cosmic flow and of course can be used to create custom designed soul jewelry as well.

Aloha and many blessings, Shakti.

Shakti Carola Navran: astrologer, jeweler and author

Technorati Tags: 2009, 21/22, cancer, Chiron, Conjunction, Dawn, Eclipse, July, Jupiter, Moon, Saturn, Second, Solar, Square, Total, Venus

I want to have a 21st birthday party, but there are a few problems. Most of my friends aren’t going to be 21, so we can’t go to a casino or a bar or something. I also have a lot of people that I want to party with, maybe around 20-30 people. Where can we go, or what can we do where we can drink and have fun?
Image taken on 2004-12-10 11:15:00 by Sukianto.

Technorati Tags: 21st, birthday, could

Marquees are for every occasion – hire a marquee in Manchester and give your guests something to talk about!

When hiring a marquee for your event whether its for a wedding, garden parties, birthday parties and anniversary celebrations, summer balls, 21st birthday parties and large gatherings, corporate events or charity balls, you’ll want a venue that will wow your guests.

What kind of places offers venues for marquees?

All over the UK many places offer the chance to erect your marquee for your big event. This can include country houses, castles, hotels, parks, car parks and so on.

Manchester – a brilliant location for your marquee

Manchester is a great location for your marquee venue for any event. Manchester has the exciting and fast paced atmosphere from the great city, or if you are looking for a more quiet and peaceful affair you can go further out into Lancashire which offers a more tranquil setting.

Areas to consider around Manchester for your marquee and marquee hire include Blackpool, Bolton, Salford, Stockport, Warrington, Wigan, Southport, Sale, and Warrington.

Venue / marquee – marquee / venue

Before you hire your marquee it is best to choose your venue first. Why? Because you need to make sure that where you are hiring your marquee from covers the area of where your event is being placed. You do not want a marquee being dropped off at your house and then you have to transport the marquee to your venue yourself. Also if the marquee hire company does not cover your area of venue this eliminates the option of them erecting the marquee for you.  All in all we suggest choosing your venue before you hire the marquee – just to be on the safe side!

Technorati Tags: best, Hire, Manchester, Marquee, Venues