i went to vegas a few weekends ago (8/25-8/28) and had the most random trip. allow me to outline some of the bizarro events that unfolded…

1. i sat in emergency seating on three legs of my four legged trip.
now i’ve traveled all over the world, and have never sat near the emergency exit before. it’s a little bit of a big deal… the stewardess make you say “yes, i am able to help” (in case our plane explodes into a gazillion tiny pieces). and if you don’t say it loud enough, she’ll make you repeat it. and do push ups. j/k.

2. i was standing at the top of an escalator in the airport and a woman fell down backwards on it. people were yelling, it was quite the scene. she had somehow positioned herself so that her head was towards the ground, and her feet were up in the air. one false move, and she was sliding down backwards. she was still there when i left to board my plane, surrounded by airport officials who wouldn’t let her move. i felt bad for her, kinda embarrassing.

3. out to dinner in a moroccon restaurant (see sexy above) and this crazy guy comes in and starts yelling. he picks up some wine glasses and threatens the staff and customers with them. he’s running around the tables in the restaurant screaming in some language that wasn’t english. it sounds funny, but it was a bit scary. finally the staff cornered him in a booth and talked him into putting down the glasses. one of the patrons had called the cops, and four cars showed up and reenacted a COPS scene for us. btw, these were donut-eating cops, and they knew how to throw someone down on a hood.

4. in an airport restaurant and decided that if i didn’t get to the powder room asap i would do myself permanent damage. so i told the couple next to me i’d be right back. um, yah, not so smart as it turns out. upon my return that same couple told me that my bag had started a bomb scare! they had to convince the manager not to call security. hmmnn… maybe next time i’ll pay attention to those loud-speaker announcements. i guess that one could have turned out a LOT worse.

5. the guy sitting next to me on the airplane had a heart attack. i had to flag down a steward and walk down the aisles of the plane asking for doctors. luckily, i found a nurse who administered CPR. he was laid down in the aisle next to my seat the whole trip home, and i thought he was dead for sure, but he lived. i sat on the stewardess’ bumper seat and we made an emergancy landing. after traipsing from one to terminal to another trying to catch a flight that didn’t exist, i missed my connection and spent the night at ramada inn. i must say though, that was some of the best tiramasu i’ve ever had. (in times of extreme duress, this vegan-inspired vegetarian allows herself to indulge in dairy laden desserts).

6. all of the above doesn’t even include the drama that was ongoing. such as changing my plane ticket three times, and just missing dinner dates, and getting tickets to an exclusive show and then losing them, and so forth and so on…

so for a three day trip, that’s kind of crazy no? i thought to myself, my god! what is the reason for all this insanity? could it possibly be related to my astrological chart? i asked molly Cliborne, of north-node.com for help on this befuddling tale. here’s what the astro sleuth turned up:

molly looked at the chart for the nutty weekend in question, superimposed on my natal chart. in it, she found a t-square with mercury as the focal point (a t-square is a stressful formation of planets that tends to show up as unsettled energies and conflicting needs or goals.). mercury occupied my 9th house, which rules long distance travel. and apparently, the other aspects happening were strange, dramatic and serious! see below for the technical jargon, but suffice it to say that some wild energy occured in my chart during my trip. now remember that mercury, planet of transportation, travel and the details thereof, is at the head of this t-square in my 9th house of long-distance travel. hanging around the position of my natal mercury the whole time, was pluto – planet of upheaval. so, in addition to all this intense t-square energy happening in my ninth house of travel… i have pluto, planet of life and death, acting out too! bear in mind that mercury is the planet of goings on around oneself, not necessarily oneself, keeping me at a comfortable distance from the drama.

now, if you’re interested in molly’s technical explanation, here it is:

gwen’s 9th house of long distance travel:

a t-square with mercury at the apex, conjunct the south node of the moon. (south node of the moon refers not to a pink floyd song, but in day-to-day life tends to bring up chaotic energies). also, retrograde venus conjunct saturn, (this makes for serious social interactions). gwen’s natal south node was at the midpoint of the conjunction, tying it together and making it very strong and personal to her – and leo made it a dramatic south node too. as the trip progressed, venus squared gwen’s mars in scorpio and applied to a square her natal saturn. (venus square mars brings out the “fight” in and around us, particularly in close relationships. scorpio makes everything intense).

and so, yes, in answer to my question, i found that my wacky trip was definitely related to planetary movements. as i believe so much of our lives are. why not have molly check out what the stars have in store for you?

oh, and next time you’re in vegas, eat at Marrakech. great food, and bellies.