“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”

~ Moliere

Sun square Saturn

Sun square Saturn is the only main aspect on the menu this week, one that comes around approximately twice a year.  All other astrological features are not aspects as such, though the Full Moon is an opposition between the Sun and Moon.

What to expect

This aspect will be a good opportunity to turn round or review your Victim Archetype.  Everyone has one, according to Caroline Myss (in her system, there are 4 main Archetypes which are in everybody’s repertoire).  It is not the only indicator of the Victim Archetype, but an important one.

Victim archetype

The Sun square Saturn this week may alert you to where you may be playing out the Victim, which is one step towards healing it.  According to Myss: “Shadow Victim shows you that you might like to play that role because of the positive feedback you get in the form of sympathy or pity”.

In its resolution she advises: “The goal is always to learn how to recognize these inappropriate attitudes in ourselves or others, and to act accordingly.”

Caroline Myss has a new book out, entitled  “Archetypes – who are you?”, where she concentrates on modern, empowering Archetypes.  It’s a worthy sequel to her earlier book “Sacred Contracts”.  She has furthered the work of Carl Jung in this field.

In Global Affairs

In his article this week “Perpetuating Historic Victimhood breeds New Victims” Alon Ben Meir, Professor of International Relations at New York University argues that the victimhood of both the Israelis and the Palestinians are holding back the peace process.

He writes “The sorry truth is that while polls consistently show that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians believe that only the co-existence of two independent states offers a viable solution, they still refuse to divorce themselves from a deep sense of victimhood.  Both parties continue to define themselves as historic victims, and to nourish a kind of vicarious victimhood which ultimately serves to justify the policies and goals they pursue, however counterproductive they may be to a solution.”

If you have Sun square Saturn natally

You may have had a difficult start in life, and felt reluctant to take on responsibilities.  You may find it hard to get things going, needing everything to be tried and tested. The Sun square Saturn dynamic feels like you are pushing against something, but paradoxically it can give you the energy to push, if you decide to move beyond self-defeatism.   The problem may be a health handicap which manifests early in life according to the health associations of the Sun sign, e.g. childhood asthma for Sun in Gemini, or depression for Sun in Capricorn.  If you have this aspect natally, ask yourself  “What in your life have I most had to overcome?” and the answer may lead you to what you need to work on, if you haven’t already dealt with it to your satisfaction.  The goal is liberation into your true Self.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey, who has the aspect of Sun square Saturn exact in her birth chart, offers an example of one who had a very difficult childhood, then reached a turning point in her teens and turned her life around spectacularly.  This was with the help of other attributes in her chart, such as the karmic mission of Inner Healer (North Node exactly conjunct Chiron in the 1^st House), the Sun exactly conjunct Venus in her 2^nd House (success through the warmth of the Heart Chakra, with financial benefits) and Part of Fortune exactly conjunct Neptune in 10^th House (joy in Spiritual pursuits contributing to success).

Wikipedia quotes her as saying: “The reason I gained so much weight in the first place and the reason I had such a sorry history of abusive relationships with men was I just needed approval so much. I needed everyone to like me, because I didn’t like myself much. So I’d end up with these cruel self-absorbed guys who’d tell me how selfish I was, and I’d say ‘Oh thank you, you’re so right’ and be grateful to them. Because I had no sense that I deserved anything else. Which is also why I gained so much weight later on. It was the perfect way of cushioning myself against the world’s disapproval.”

Is it possible to eliminate the victim altogether?

Oprah’s tale went from rags to riches, although riches are not a definitive indicator of success or happiness; a rich man or woman can be a victim of their own success.  She has worked phenomenally on her spiritual issues, including victimhood.  Sun square Saturn offers the opportunity to identify and work on our Inner Victim.  I am not sure whether you can totally give it up, but certainly life doesn’t have to be an endurance test.

Interplay with other Archetypes

There is enough work to do on one’s own Victim Archetype, but there is often interaction with other Archetypes, with others as well as within oneself.  A Victim Archetype often needs to set up with others to play: with the Tyrant and the Rescuer, for instance.  This may be the subject of another blog.

“The victim and the victimizer are one, and we don’t need to attach ourselves to either of those polarities.  Rather, we need to free ourselves from the grip and the limitations of each of these roles, because they are simply roles decided upon freely by all the players – agreed upon unanimously.”

~ Chris Griscom from “Ecstasy is a New Frequency”

The Aspects

If working on your Victim Archetype doesn’t tickle your fancy this week, there are other forms of spiritual and mental exercise on offer.

Today we have a Full Moon in Leo, which opposes the Sun in Aquarius.  This is a more creative Full Moon than say the passive Full Moon of Cancer, and more playful.  What needs to be developed is an awareness of your individual emotional make-up and how that can interact with a group situation (the Sun in Aquarius) without feeling threatened.

The Alice Bailey seed thought for the Leo Full Moon is: “I am That and That am I”, something to bring into your meditations.

If a more active exercise is desired, then some psychodrama would be suitable, with a group of like-minded people, if you can achieve that.

On Wednesday (30^th) Jupiter goes Stationary prior to moving direct, so any form of spinning exercise, such as dervish whirling, would be suitable.  I once found myself being stopped in my tracks and turning round on such an occasion, which was very memorable, and not too surprising given that Jupiter is my ruling planet.  Depending on the House that Jupiter currently occupies in your chart, you may be able to make more progress on the related area and issues of your life.

Later the same day, the Sun squares Saturn, and something may remind you to knuckle down and see what your Inner Victim Archetype has to say, what you want to say to it, and what you want to do about its role in your life.  You may decide to pass, until another suitable occasion, or you may indeed decide that once and for all this is the moment to turn it around, especially as Jupiter is moving forwards and certain philosophical issues can become clearer.  But an Archetype is a deep inner energetic force, and though it can work with the higher mind, it doesn’t always respond to reason.  You may decide this is not the time, and go and do something else, like bake some cakes or biscuits to raise money for The Great Comic Relief Bake Off, such as Claudia Winkleman’s red nose cake.

Fresh fields again on Saturday (2^nd Feb) as with Saturday 19^th, for two planets are changing signs that day: Mars enters Pisces, and Venus enters Aquarius.  Mars entering Pisces from Aquarius creates a new emotional field which you may experience as though you have been travelling along in a detached way, and suddenly you are plunged into a more emotional context and set of purposes and desires.

Venus entering Aquarius from Capricorn will take your feeling nature from a very practical, dry state (e.g. you may have been performing out of duty) into a more idealistic, humanitarian and socially orientated heart focus.

Use the challenge of this week to liberate and empower yourself.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – Full blown creativity
• Wednesday – a U-turn in the right direction; then the Victim Archetype may crop up
• Saturday – Deepening passion, and heightened idealism

Sometimes when I sit down on a Sunday morning to blog, I do not know what I will write about.  Some subjects that I would like to write about, are not easy to investigate astrologically.  Take the example of this week’s scandal about horsemeat being in beefburgers.  As a vegetarian, I would love to write about this, but the astrological data seems lacking: would it were as easy as “Jupiter (horse) being in Taurus (beef)”, which it is not…

Algeria

Some subjects are governed by an astrological imperative.  Take this week’s crisis over Algeria, and the hostage rescue mission.  This coincided with the transit of Venus to the Uranus-Pluto square.  A transit to the Uranus-Pluto square is always important, always a crisis (in personal lives too), and always shows us more about what this Uranus-Pluto square is flagging up and trying to teach.

The crisis was serious enough to cause David Cameron to cancel an impending speech about Europe, on the very day of the Venus-Pluto conjunction.  This blog could have been about Europe…

The crisis in Algeria may or may not be directly linked with the French intervention in Mali the week before.  Suddenly we are all poring over maps of parts of Africa we had barely heard of, and I never knew Timbucktu was in Mali.  Why has Mali become the new focus of world issues? The tie between France and Mali is an interesting one, as their Suns are exactly conjunct, and Mali’s Saturn squares their Suns, a cause of difficulty.  Jupiter is squaring the Mali Pluto at this time, exaggerating its deep-seated problems.  The Nodal Axis (karma) is squaring France’s Pluto and Neptune, and conjunct its Mars – it can’t help getting dragged in!

Astrologer Marjorie Orr wrote last Wednesday: “There are two possible charts for Mali – 22 Sept 1960 12pm Bamako, Mali or 20 Aug 1960 2 am. Both charts have Saturn at 11/12 Capricorn suggesting that this already poor country will be facing greater hardship over the next two years with 2014/15 being worse than this year.”  [Pluto would be transiting 11/12 Capricorn and Uranus squaring that point].

Barely had France asked for help from the international community, and obtained a cautious level of help from the United Kingdom, than a new crisis came almost simultaneously out of the blue, in neighbouring Algeria, with an international focus – the many foreign workers whose lives were threatened.

So this week, new focus and old issues come to bear on a section of Africa, the Sahal.  Even the primitive tribal population, the indigenous people of the Tuareg tribes, are involved in this story, from their uprising a year ago, wanting their own autonomy from Mali.  The instinctual earthy element of our global psyche has spoken, and made its mark.

As for the Algerian-British relationship, Algeria’s Uranus (surprise) opposes our natal Mars (attack), a potential ignition point.  And Algeria’s Sun is conjunct our Pluto (the potential of power play). Jupiter now squares Algeria’s Pluto, as it does Mali’s Pluto.  Pluto is now opposing the United Kingdom Pluto (dangerous power play).

One of the main considerations now is that the nations of the world are looking at another potential abyss in the shape of a new area of terrorism and Al Quaeda nest in this part of Africa, analogous to Afghanistan and Iraq.  So the question which has come forward again intensely at this time is, should nations intervene and how much?  Can similar past scenarios be avoided?

“This Week”

Michael Portillo was last seen roaming the railways of Europe with a book under his arm, sporting a divine wardrobe of pink, turquoise and lilac jackets and shirts (my favourite colours).  On “This Week” with Andrew Neil, the dress code for him on the sofa next to Alistair Campbell and opposite Andrew Neil has been “how dishevelled can we look?”, with shirts studiedly open and casual, and not a tie in sight.  On Thursday night, however, with the Algerian crisis deepening, what was going on?  Michael, Alistair and Andrew (Neil, not Marr – who we have learnt is doing well) all appeared in uncharacteristic brown suits and brown ties (hubby says they were grey)…They had been joined by no less a figure of respect than Kofi Annan, and the programme took on much more gravitas.

Michael Portillo outlined the countries where intervention had taken place and failed: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya.  Our intervention had not worked, he was saying.  We supported regime change in Tunisia, and Egypt, and the outcomes are uncertain.  We have not intervened in Syria, but it is an unholy mess (my words).

Kofi Annan is a global treasure, and has the “Diplomat Archetype” in his chart (Mercury conjunct Venus).  Regular readers will know it is also the Writer’s Archetype, but that is for another blog, about Archetypes.  His gently spoken words amounted to a view that regrettably the loss of life in Algeria could be viewed as collateral damage.  According to the BBC website “The Algerian action to rescue hostages was “well intended” said Kofi Annan, adding it was “the sort of action, I would have expected them to take”.

This event, and its implications, may well form part of my blog next May when the Uranus-Pluto square rises up for the third time, but in the meantime it illustrates the fact that it is emphatically clear now that the old ways of nations working together over these issues does not work, and the problem needs a new vision and spiritual overview.  A new approach is needed too in whatever collective or communal efforts you may be currently engaged in, which may have come up for you in this week’s Venus-Uranus-Pluto test.

Lance Armstrong – Part 2

Another way of choosing a blog subject is for someone to ding the bell on the Customer Service desk, and demand that I write about Lance Armstrong in a threatening, drug-induced stupor, which is virtually what has happened here.

I did start to write about him in my blog of 14 October 2012, under the subject of the Moral Compass.  But the subject has moved on, and my customer has a point, there is more to write about.  This week, he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, confessing to his doping activities, a confession he has hitherto denied the legal authorities.

But first a playback of some of my original observations:

“…he is strongly Mercury-ruled through Virgo, and Mercury is associated with bikes (more usually through Gemini).  He has a warrior North Node/Mars conjunction which is exact in Aquarius, which gives him lightning speed with or without the drugs.”

We are painfully deprived of a birth time for his chart, which might provide us for clues about the masks that he may employ, such as the Midheaven.  Watching the clips of his interview, I was struck at how frozen he was, as though he was holding almost all of himself back, and employing an automaton to speak, as though we were literally seeing just the tip of the iceberg.  One wonders about the long term effect of the drugs on his consciousness and psyche – what has been repressed, deadened or distorted by them.

The interesting slant that this moment in time offers, the time he has chosen and the opportunity to do the interview, is that there is a transit of Jupiter to his Saturn.  This represents the fact that Oprah has thrown him a lifeline, an attempt to bring in a little light, into the darkness that is his situation.  Saturn represents a part of his psyche where he might have failed in the past to open his heart, and slim though it is, there is an opportunity to open a chink of his heart.  Many believe that it is too late, and he has failed.  But he may have opened a dialogue with his version of God, and the judgement of the people, and his own karma.

I often wonder about his relationship with Sheryl Crow, partly because she is one of  Hubby’s favourite recording artists, what she knew, and what did she think…But the blog is running on and on, and that again is food for thought for another time.  Hubby did dig out for me a quote from the Observer Sport section this morning (I never open it).  It quotes his mother, years ago, in an interview from 1993 with Greg LeMond:

“They sat on the porch for a while and then moved inside to the kitchen.  Linda had something else on her mind: ‘How do I make him less of an a**hole.  He doesn’t care about anyone.’

‘Well,’ LeMond replied. “I can’t help you there.’ “

The only redeeming feature in the current situation I can think of, is that while Jimmy Saville has escaped before he can be confronted by his victims, Lance Armstrong has stayed to face his karma.

Aspects

Mainly good aspects this week, with a karmic challenge on Thursday and a blip and a dip at Friday tea-time, but the general planetary energies supportive of progress.

We start with Mercury sextile Uranus on Tuesday (22^nd): a dynamic, mentally stimulating time, where bright new ideas can spring forth, such as how we find new approaches to old problems.  There is an air of excitement.

Wednesday (23^rd) brings a trine between Mercury and Jupiter, which coming after the launch pad of the week, could really bring lift off!  Travel is wonderfully supported (which looks unlikely at the moment in the U.K. with entrenched snow).  Certainly armchair travel could be incredibly successful, you may even levitate as you stare at a photograph of the Potala Palace in Lhasa in your favourite book on Tibetan Buddhism.  You could practise astral travel, though I wonder – is that terribly passé these days?  Now it is more in vogue to travel in your merkebah with your lightbody…Enough reverie, this can be a very practical aspect, bringing communication to a high level of satisfaction, and disseminating ideas worldwide, or communitywide.  Any good ideas from Tuesday will receive further validation from others.  Humour could also be a winning theme of the day.

Mars squares the Nodal Axis on Thursday (24^th), and Warrior Karma will come to the fore.  This can be negative, as in terrorism may come to the fore in world troublespots.  However, if you are working in your own life on your Inner Warrior, and tracing those you warred with in order to make reparation or harmony, earnest efforts could be rewarded karmically.

The Sun sextiles Uranus on Friday (25^th) and further opportunities arise for invention and new ideas, and for combining these with creativity.  If you have a brilliant new idea, it’s a good time to approach authorities, or your local patent office.  If a brilliant new idea is only just emerging, it’s a good time to let your creativity flow with it, certainly early in the day.

At tea-time, Mercury squares Saturn, and there may be a teensy weensy deflation in your ideas or plans.  Perhaps you have discovered something in the idea that might not work on a practical level.  You may have temporarily to go back to the draught board, and tell the authorities to hold the page, while you work things out.  You can do it!  Every problem contains its own solution, if you can but find it.  Ignore the negative voices which may say you won’t find a solution.  Keep working on it, and consign it to your subconscious in dreams…

…Because on Saturday (26^th) there is extra back up for your purposes in that Jupiter trines the Sun, and you could strike gold, especially if you have worked on your new design or idea for international co-operation all week, with continuity of purpose.  It is a lucky day for some, and coincidentally a lottery draw day (although we can’t all win, can we?).  You could get your design for a snow sledge off the ground today, or whatever has occurred to you as the solution to your current problem; your New Year’s resolutions may be holding up spectacularly, and the ruminations of your Soul could yield an epiphany.  I am sorry that this week’s blog has been so long, but I couldn’t hold back any of it, including the aspects for what looks like an exciting week!

The week in bullet points:

• Tuesday – mental excitement!
• Wednesday – joyous communication!
• Thursday – War, or Pow Wow between Warriors
• Friday – creative originality! Then a reality check
• Saturday – lucky stars!

An appreciation of Andrew Marr

Andrew Marr needs to be appreciated this morning for his services to this blog.  Andrew, who suffered a stroke last Tuesday, is the presenter of “the Andrew Marr show” which has been broadcast on Sunday mornings since September 2005.  I had noticed that his new book was quite prominent in the bookshops early last week, before I learned the news, but did not have any presentiment that all was not well.

So back to his relevance to this blog!  He has been part of my Sunday morning routine for years.  Every Sunday morning,  I read the Observer newspaper, then watch the Andrew Marr show with its current affairs and political interviews, after which I feel sufficiently up to date to begin working on my blog! Sunday morning wouldn’t seem like Sunday morning without Andrew…

I also have a friend, a text mate, who exchanges views (e.g on his sartorial elegance and orange ties teamed with purple socks) on Sunday mornings.  Last Sunday I had noticed a small article in the paper reporting unfortunately that he had been included in the top 10 worst dressed list. I was concerned how he might feel about that.  So you see, I have a bit of a fan club outlook on Andrew, and this is why I am writing this appreciation.

Andrew has a high wire nervous system (Mercury exactly conjunct Uranus in Leo) and high stress workaholism  (Mars conjunct Pluto in Virgo).

He has the Interviewer Archetype in the Mercury-Uranus conjunction, as distinct from the Critic Archetype, which is Mercury conjunct Mars.

Stroke

At the time of his stroke Jupiter was exactly squaring his natal Mars, stoking up energy and activity in his system. However, in his favour Jupiter was sextile his Sun and trine his North Node. I am hoping this might mean that he will make a good recovery.

We don’t have a birth time or Ascendant for him, but the prominent “ginger” aura would point to Aries rising  (Scorpio is auburn) or Mars rising. As his Mars is in Virgo, and he is fairly lean physically, Virgo rising would make sense. The ginger tone can derive from his Sun in Leo but is not as likely as the Mars connection.

We hear that he is making progress, though his family understandably wish for privacy. And I imagine that many people who like me value his part in their lives, are sending healing thoughts his way.  Transitting Neptune exactly sextiles his Saturn today bringing sensitization, but with the possibility of reconstruction.   The Mean North Node will reach his Jupiter on 24^th/25^th January, which I hope will be another stage in his rehabilitation.  Further, more refined healing, may take place on 30^th January when the True North Node reaches his Jupiter.

Aspects

This is a week to examine our feelings:  you may be feeling alienated but this may give you the detachment to look at relationships honestly.  However, don’t turn this into a negative (which may be the line of least resistance) and throw the baby out with the bath water. Today this temptation may apply, with Venus squaring Uranus.  There is a hint of separation about this aspect.

Tomorrow, Venus is sextile Chiron, so there is a possibility of healing some of the separation, and understanding the reasons for it.

On Tuesday (15^th) Jupiter squares Chiron, so there may be a setback in the healing, and some aspect of the problem may be exaggerated.  You need to find some appropriate mental or physical balm, as you would find skin cream for sore skin, or dock leaves for nettle rash.

The theme of early week separation continues and intensifies by Thursday, when Venus is conjoined with Pluto at 9 degrees Capricorn, adjusting the microscope lens on relationships and money to a closer or deeper setting.  It may also be decision time, e.g. If you are an employer you may find that you have to let someone go. You may point the finger, like Alan Sugar , and say “With regret, you’re fired!”   You may find yourself reluctantly appearing as the bad guy, or pantomime villain, but deep down you’ll feel it, just as much as your victim. …”The victim and the victimiser are one”, so says Chris Griscom. Except that often this concept can only be accepted and understood in a multi-incarnational context, such as looking from the perspective and overview of past or future lives, and karmic processes.

It will prove to be a new start for both of you, as the space is protected and stabilised by a sextile of Saturn to the Venus/ Pluto. Therefore it may become immediately clear to each of you what to do.

When I left a job in King’s Lynn in 2001, I “saw” a golden light above the city of Cambridge, and have not looked back since.  There was a future waiting for me there.  If you have to move on, where is your golden light?

Thought crystallizes, perhaps about your career or life direction, on Friday (18th) with Sun conjunct Mercury at 28 degrees Capricorn.  You may employ this time, and this aspect, with some valuable writing.

And the end of the week, Saturday (19th) may see changes implemented, for the same two planets change sign on that day, from the more institutionally retrenched sign of Capricorn, to the revolutionary road of Aquarius.  From a difficult position at the beginning of the week, entangled in the Uranus-Pluto square, you should begin to see your personal way more clearly by Saturday.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – a hint of separation
• Tomorrow – subsequent healing
• Tuesday  – inflammation
• Thursday –  confrontation, followed by some stabilization
• Friday – clear thought
• Saturday – ch ch changes

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell:
I know the grass beyond the door
The sweet keen smell,
The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before,–
How long ago I may not know:
But just when at that swallow’s soar
Your neck turn’d so,
Some veil did fall,–I knew it all of yore.

Has this been thus before?
And shall not thus time’s eddying flight
Still with our lives our love restore
In death’s despite,
And day and night yield one delight once more

“Sudden Light” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition at Tate Britain

12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013

Note:  I will be honest.  This Pre-Raphaelite series of blogs is one of my least popular and successful, but I am continuing because I enjoy this topic.  The Exhibition ends tomorrow.

From Italian stock, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the physical lynch pin of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood (where Ruskin was the Aquarian ideas man) had several planets in Taurus, the sign of the painter.  More than a double Taurus (Sun and Ascendant in that sign) he also had the Moon (his emotional tone), Part of Fortune (his joy of life), Chiron (his inner healer) and Mercury (his mentality) in that sign.

All the above planets appear in the 12^th House of the Unconscious, and so he was very much fed by his inner imagination and vision.

Taurus rules the neck, and Dante Gabriel was definitely a neck man.  His beauties display long, swan-like necks!  His déjà vu (of the poem Sudden Light) turns on the neck.

Melanie Reinhart writes of his Chiron placement:

“He was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in nineteenth-century art, which sought to reconnect with the simplicity (Chiron in Taurus), purity and idealism (11^th House) of earlier art (12^th House), and to convey spiritual realities through skilled representational painting (Chiron in Taurus, conjunct 12^th House stellium).  He usually chose mythological or pastoral subjects, both of which are symbolized by his Chiron configuration.”

With his Venus sextile Mercury/Chiron/Part of Fortune, he was also an adept poet and the Pre-Raphaelite movement in general combined art and writing well, e.g. William Morris’ illuminated manuscripts.  Dante Gabriel and William Morris both have Venus trine Jupiter, denoting success in the Arts.

With his Nodal Axis square to his Midheaven/I.C. Axis, his was a fateful existence, and especially in his karmic connections with others.  In his romantic life especially, there seems to have been a sense of compulsion, and in the case of his foremost and primary love Lizzie, a tragic outcome reflecting his Venus square Pluto (the connection between love and death).

I am hoping to write a separate blog about Lizzie, but will outline a brief astrological history of their relationship:

With Sun/Saturn/Mars and Venus in Leo, golden-haired Elizabeth Siddal had a very creative chart, and some of her sketches are exhibited in the current Pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain.  She also loved poetry, and wrote poetry herself.

Lizzie met Dante Gabriel in 1849, sat for numerous works, and developed her own artistic talent under patronage from John Ruskin, but was ill for much of the time of her relationship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  She famously lay in ice cold water for Millais’ painting of Ophelia (in 1852), and suffered a health crisis from that.  She was described by Dante’s brother William Rossetti as having a “lofty neck”, so perhaps her Ascendant was Taurus (we do not have her birth time).  In Dante Gabriel’s mind and vision (his 12^th House planets) they played out mythological roles, most notably Dante and Beatrice.  He resisted marriage for some time (Her Sun opposite Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Uranus brought out his need for freedom) but they eventually married in 1860.

One of the most poignant episodes of his life was after her death which occurred in 1862,  when he had buried some of his poetry with her, and then later attempted to have the poems exhumed with the help of a friend.  However, they had sustained damage from a worm.  This was a fraught process which took place when Mars was squaring his Nodal Axis, a transit which can coincide with risky ventures.

Beata Beatrix

There were other women and artists’ models in his life, such as Fanny Cornforth, whose affections he toyed with.  Also prominent in his romantic history was Jane Burden (another swan-necked beauty), who, like Lizzie, sat for many of his paintings, such as Guinevere.  William Morris became engaged to Jane in 1858, but later the three were involved in a “Menage a trois” situation.

Astarte Syriaca

By 1969, writes Franny Moyle: “Rossetti’s preoccupation with the love poetry he had written at the height of his infatuation with Lizzie had been resurrected by Jane.  His obsession with his latest conquest was returning his thoughts to his long-lost verse.  What is more, Jane was encouraging him to publish his work.”  The poetry assumed more importance for him during this period.  His poetry, like his painting, displays the richness and sensuality of Taurus.  Although he alludes to reincarnation in the poem above, I have not been able to find information about his beliefs on the subject.

Towards the end of his life, Rossetti departed slightly from the original aims of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, veering away from truth and realism, and more towards beauty and decoration.

He died in 1882:

“Guardian obituary

The death of Mr DG Rossetti

We regret to announce the death of Mr Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which occurred on Sunday [9^th April 1882], at 9.27 p.m., at Birchington-on-Sea, to which place he had gone some weeks ago for the benefit of his health.”

At his death, 6 planets had gathered in his sign Taurus, and Scorpio was rising.

I hope that I have done justice to the subject.  It is interesting to note that Rossetti had Ascendant and Sun in Taurus, and Ruskin Ascendant and Sun in Aquarius, strong signs in square to each other.  They may have been grist to each other’s mill.

Bibliography:

“Desperate Romantics” by Franny Moyle

“Chiron and the Healing Journey” by Melanie Reinhart

“The Pre-Raphaelites” by Tim Hilton

Other blogs in this series:

The Pre-Raphaelites: A Soul Group

http://www.lanawooster.co.uk/blog/2009/09/the-pre-raphaelites-a-soul-group/

The Pre-Raphaelites: John Ruskin

http://www.lanawooster.co.uk/blog/2012/10/the-pre-raphaelites-john-ruskin/

Aspects

There is a complex tangle of aspects in the first half of the week, then a pause for thought in the middle of the week, followed by an upturn in mood in the second half of the week.

The tangle consists of Mercury at 9 degrees Capricorn, Mars at 9 degrees Aquarius, Pluto at 9 degrees Capricorn, and Saturn at 9 degrees Scorpio.  If you have a planet at 9 degrees of a sign, you may be well aware of what I am talking about.

The whole effect may be one of having to stay within a tangled situation until you can unpick the causes and find your way out.  It may be a complex problem involving three or more people, where patiently each interaction needs to be harmonized until each person is inwardly or outwardly freed.

Breakdown of the Tangle

Today’s experience of the bouquet of barbed wire (which is not totally negative, it is an awareness about how people are linked or how situations have arisen, prior to disentanglement) involves the planet Mercury in all three aspects, and starts with a semi-sextile between Mercury and Mars.

This is a connection between rationality, and activity.  It is setting the stage for two of the planets.  The mind is alerted: you start to understand that there is a problem to solve here, and it is a situation which may have started last week.  Perhaps there are two people in your circle, one who approaches life from a rational, Richard-Dawkinesque point of view, and another who is more basic in their approach.  Or maybe you are observing these two parts of your own psyche, and how they are currently interacting.  There may be, or may have been, a minor skirmish, or an altercation which highlights the difference in approach.  Words may have been exchanged, for this could be a very verbal day.

The second aspect today is Mercury conjunct Pluto, and that is the most intense aspect, occurring just before tea-time in the U.K.  The conversation or dialogue throughout the day may have skirted round the main issue, or stayed at a superficial level.  There may have been some petty sniping about unimportant things.  Towards tea-time there is a shift, and a sudden realization that the conversation and the communication needs to go to a deeper level.  Perhaps the conversation pauses, and it suddenly dawns on all parties, the active members and the observers or side participants.  The energy may suddenly go from busy busy to even silent pondering.  People start to reach into themselves for how they really feel and what they really mean.  Psyches regroup.  Then may follow a deeper level of connection, not necessarily comfortable, but more satisfying in terms of truth and emotional connection.  People will start to talk about what really matters.

In the late evening, Mercury will be sextile with Saturn, and a position of stability will be reached.  Perhaps a halfway house where things can be spoken without hurt, but with seriousness and effectiveness.  Plans or negotiations may be in order on that basis.  You will realize what you can speak about, and what feelings you may have to lay aside for the time being, in order to have some dialogue.  You can settle to sleep more easily, as a result.  You may have started the day a little rattled or irritated without necessarily knowing why, then gone through a deep cathartic phase, and finally won through to a more practical and boundaried reality, with a structure you can work with.

A good sleep is very much to be desired, for there is much work to do on the morrow, Monday (7^th) in case you are already losing track.  The first aspect tomorrow is another semi-sextile: that of Mars and Pluto.  These two forces are going to clash, although it is a minor aspect.  Keep the warring factions apart, if you are able to.  They are releasing some primordial emotions, based on their ancient warrior Archetypes.  The scenario may well be a group situation, in which case there may be Peacemakers or mediators who can draw on and hone their skills.  Again, if you are working within your own psyche, be aware of the mental and spiritual space required by each Archetype individually, then work on the relationships and interactions.  This “face-off” is part of the process, but try not to let it get too out of hand, for the whole aim of the exercise is healing, for all.

Then, just after tea-time, Mars squares Saturn, and a practical solution may have to be found, which may be frustrating for some, but it is the culminating aspect for this complex set of interactions.  Again, healing and safety for all are the major considerations, especially if your own emotions are not too embroiled.  Hopefully, from the two days will emerge a set of solutions found from unpicking the needs and requirements contained in this cluster of planetary interactions.

Mid Week

On Wednesday (9^th) Venus enters Capricorn and loyalty in relationships takes over as the theme, from the whooping it up of the festive period.  It is the “you know who your friends are” residue from the more surface link-ups of the party season.  This is the pregnant pause or hiatus which marks the first and second halves of the week.

Uplift

On Thursday (10^th) with Venus sextile Neptune, it gradually dawns that you have come through to a new spiritual reality.  That some old demons have been exorcised, ghosts laid to rest, and passions appeased.  Other Archetypes may emerge, such as the Inner Artist and the Mystic, and you may feel like writing poetry, or ice dancing.  This new scenery, like a serene swan gliding along a lake, is no less real than the earlier more grounding part of the week, just a different part of the psyche which also needs expression.  You may find yourself in a different social circle, too.

The last aspect of the week too, which occurs on Friday (11^th) is equally constructive and helpful.  It is the New Moon of Capricorn (at 21 degrees) which brings new life to structures and institutions, in personal and private lives.  It is about constructing plans for your work in the world.  This is another good day to renew some of your New Year’s resolutions (last Friday was the first), particularly where they involve career or life direction.  If you were knocked by last November’s eclipse, or if you have fallen off your pantomime horse (like John Barrowman), this New Moon may enable a reconstruction and a healing.

The week in bullet points:

• Today – three chances to assess a complex situation
• Tomorrow – a little confrontation, but diplomacy can be allowed in
• Wednesday – a new cooler tone in relationships, but steadfastness rules
• Thursday – artistic and musical notes, plus spiritual guidance
• Friday – a new beginning for serious purposes

2012 Year of Extremes

2012 was undoubtedly a year of extremes.  Starting with the weather – in the UK alone we went from the driest year to the wettest year, all in one year!  The weather seems to be getting wilder all over the globe, and of course is set to continue that way.

The Uranus-Pluto square which first arrived in June, set supreme challenges in our personal and global lives.  Although we did have some good major aspects between the outer planets, this square, which recurred in September and will recur in 2013, dominated the skies.  This is the main astrological feature which correlates with extremes.

Some people have reported to me it has been the year they finally turned their lives around.  Others did not manage to catch their particular curveball and are still struggling with internal issues such as loneliness, or practical losses such as from the heartbreak of homes flooding, or the conflict of war.

I believe that those who did well, such as the Olympic athletes, were rising to the challenges of the Uranus-Pluto square, rather than doing well more from a favourable aspect from say Jupiter.  A wave of euphoria swept over the UK for sports fans, and some non-sports fans, throughout the Olympics, and then was echoed during the Paralympics.

One of those who learned and raised their game was Andy Murray who went from an abysmal Wimbledon final defeat (under the first square) to realizing what he needed to do, which if the common UK wisdom is to be believed, was to release emotion, show he was human, and connect with the British people! Then he won the Olympic tennis tournament. His coach Ivan Lendl of course had a lot to do with it too.  No man is an island, and the man himself has just received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

The U.S. experience too was one of extremes, not only in weather, but in re-electing the good guy (the hurricane arriving the same week as the vote was due), and then having to face the edge of the fiscal cliff.  The “fiscal cliff” itself has coincided with the Saturn-Pluto sextile, giving gravitas to Obama’s efforts, and ensuring that everyone knows how important it is.  The outcome is yet to be decided.

We also faced the Armageddon of the Ascension Cliff, and came through as a species.

2013 Our Brand New Year

For the coming year, there will be more of the Uranus-Pluto square. We now have a personal handle on it, as we have experienced 2 of its 7 passes.  Financial dilemmas such as the Fiscal cliff and the Eurozone are continuing to cause anguish, and internationally Iran and Syria are represented as challenges connected with this ongoing astrological feature.

In our personal lives, if we have successfully negotiated it so far, we may be lucky in that it didn’t strike our charts very directly, but we may also have learned lessons we can pass on to others.

I think overall, the main lesson of the Uranus-Pluto square in our personal lives is in letting go and allowing the Universe to settle the form for us, then accepting to work with what is.  This works for some, especially where you are involved in a group effort.  There are in certain areas, higher blueprints which are coming into manifestation with surprising results.  Some businesses are bucking the trend and flourishing, often with ethical, humane and ecological principles.

One outcome of the Pluto/Capricorn and Uranus/Aries square has been one of tyrants overthrown, with no one person holding the reins, and the acknowledgement that power needs to be shared – a process which is taking time, in the phenomenon of the Arab Spring which notably made us aware of it, and the Occupy movement which succeeded it.  These were features of 2011, with Uranus newly occupying Aries and challenging the Pluto/Capricorn order and authority.  These processes and planetary transits were ongoing through 2012.

Financial astrology guru Raymond Merriman, not given to unrealistic claims, has said that he sees the summer aspects for 2013 as being very promising, and a cause for hope.

On looking into my ephemeris it seems that Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune are each in a different water sign in the summer, and can provide the solace and strength and uplift of Water Trines.  It will certainly be a good summer for Water babies.

I wish to thank 2012 for its lessons, but look forward to a new outlook in 2013, and possibly also a new relationship with time.  Certainly the brussel sprouts seemed to take a long time to prepare this Christmas, I found.  My mother-in-law took 12 hours to make mince pies and banana cakes.  And my youngest daughter took 8 hours to transfer me from I Phone 3 to I Phone 4.  I am enjoying the absence of pressure of apocalyptic thinking.  It feels freer, and it feels like a fresh start.

Dates for your New Diary

So, action for your diary: 20^th May 2013, especially if you have planets at 11 degrees of the signs (this being the third pass of the Uranus-Pluto square).

1^st November 2013, especially if you have planets at 9 degrees of the signs.  Dates to work towards in a constructive way, now that we have some handle on the Uranus-Pluto square.  You may be able to progress the issues which you worked with last June and September.  This is the fourth pass of the Uranus-Pluto square.

Aspects

Lunchtime today the Sun will be conjunct Pluto, and our minds will be on transformation.  If, like me, you have experienced rollover Christmasses with different branches of the family, you may be considering how to transform leftover turkey into say curry, or the vegetarian equivalent manoeuvre.

But it’s a serious frame of mind, and no messing, psychologically, which is asked for by this aspect.  The mindset is that there are serious problems to address, and address them we will.

Consolidation of new plans, such as those set down last Thursday, can come later in the day.  It is a good aspect for serious negotiations, such as Barack Obama is having to carry out in relation to the fiscal cliff.  If you have serious negotiations in a personal capacity, the Universe is edging you in the right direction.

Tomorrow (Monday 31^st) Mercury enters Capricorn, again a serious note, and one where everyone will have a political interest in events, watching closely for the right thing to happen.

Tuesday (1^st January, 2013) will see Mars sextile Uranus, which is capable of bringing a surprise breakthrough in two areas of your life, or on the world scene.

This is backed up by another sextile between Mercury and Neptune which enables spirituality to ally with the mind, a spiritual tone of ideas to take the forefront.  You may be inspired by a guide or light being, on top of the dynamic action of the first sextile.

On Thursday (3^rd January) Mercury will be square to Uranus, which is a little mentally fraught, but should not undo the work of earlier in the week.  There may be some bizarre thinking, and beware of people who tend to be loose canons speechwise.  However, the best job I ever had was begun under this aspect, at a Psychiatric Unit (which was very fitting).  If the nature of your task is about mental health for instance, you can achieve much because you are flowing with the nature of the squared planets, and not against the grain.

We end on a high, for Friday (4^th) brings an enthusiastic trine between Mars and Jupiter.  Energy and optimism combine, and another feast is set on the table.  Renew your New Year’s resolutions on Friday, as the wave of energy could carry you far.  This is a good note to end the week on, full of New Year Cheer.  So I am able to wish all my readers, quite genuinely and legitimately, a Happy New Year!

The week in bullet points:

• Today – A serious note, or two
• Tomorrow – A third serious note
• Tuesday – Two harmonious notes
• Thursday – a spanner in the works
• Friday – A high note

Strictly Come Dancing

I am so glad that we survived to see the final of Strictly Come Dancing!  What a National Treasure of a television programme, suitable for viewers from the ages of 8 to 80.  Every year they say it has been the best series yet, and with 3 excellent finalists this year, it may be true.

The first show was aired on 15 May 2004 (not, as now, scheduled in the Autumn), with Jupiter (success) trine the North Node (a karmic pathway).  Since then, it has gone from strength to strength.

A topless Louis Smith took the glitterball last night, having won a sliver medal in the London Olympics earlier in the year.  With the Sun conjunct Venus in Taurus in his chart, he would have the musicality to elevate his dancing.  Could dancing be part of his karmic mission, with a North Node in Pisces (the sign of dance)?  At the time of his Olympic triumph, Neptune was transiting his North Node, Neptune being in inspirational mode.  At the time of his Strictly win, Neptune is sextile with his Sun (more inspiration) so Neptune is a key planet for Louis, although we do not know his birth time.

Denise van Outen, who also made the final, is a versatile Geminian, with a difficult T-square in her chart between Uranus, Mars and Chiron.  Mastering the T-square I feel has been key to her being able to master so many disciplines and bring her technical ability to the dance floor.  During the contest she had come in for criticism for already having had some dance experience, and by the final she had two oppositions in place: Jupiter opposite her Neptune and Uranus opposite her Pluto.  I did feel quite emotional about her journey, and confess that I voted for her.

Lovely Kimberley Walsh danced beautifully, and attained the perfect score of 40 I think three times during the contest.  She is a Scorpio, and was able to produce the sultry tones needed for some of the Latin dances, with aplomb.  Her show dance was set to Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”, in which she displayed her raunchy side.  She would have been an equally worthy winner.  I think they should have divided the glitterball into three sections.  Her natal chart has a conjunction of the Sun and Uranus, across the Scorpio/Sagittarius cusp which gives her a wide range of ability and telepathy.  Telepathy may have been one of the strengths of her dancing partnership with Pasha Kovalev, but there is also a good chemistry with her Venus exactly trine his Mars, and a conjunction between her Mars and his.

All the judges on the show are wonderful, but I just wish I had the gift of the gab of Bruno Tonioli…He has the sensual sextile between Venus and Mars in his chart, plus the powerhouse of energy of Jupiter conjunct Pluto, Jupiter being the ruler of his Sun sign Sagittarius.  His love of life is contagious!

And I can’t leave it without mentioning Lisa Riley, who did it for us larger ladies (well I am a little old larger lady).  I have two different charts for her, so will not pronounce astrologically, and I would have liked to have seen her in the final, too.  But there was no more room at the top.

Ah well, it’s over for another year…but you might like the image that Hubby sat at the computer during the final, with his back to the programme, and declared at the end that it sounded good.  It’s a woman thing.

Aspects

Today Venus opposes Jupiter, at the frivolous end of the week (don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds). There may be some double booking in the pre-Xmas social whirl, perhaps splitting yourself between two or more sets of friends and  family, with a little social embarrassment involved.

On Christmas Day (Tuesday 25^th) there are no major aspects, but the Moon is in Gemini and squaring Neptune, so the whole day may pass in a haze of food, charades and television, or alternatively inner contemplation.

Boxing Day, Wednesday (26^th) begins with Mars entering Aquarius in the early hours, setting a determined and idealistic tone.  You may wake up determined to uphold the underdog, or set up a new network.

This is followed by the Sun square Uranus, so somebody may be cantankerous: perhaps the teenage nephew who had one too many pear ciders on Christmas day, or the chief cook and bottle washer who feels like going on strike and putting his or her feet up.  There is an opportunity for a family argument, if two sides wish for it.  Hopefully, though, the rebellion is quelled by a general consensus of good will.

Thursday 27^th is the day:

Saturn sextile Pluto

This is the serious half of the week, but only in a constructive, realistic way (not in a scary way).  And make no mistake, it’s a big aspect.  Big enough to begin plans or lay foundations for major reconstruction, after the end of the end of the Mayan calendar, towards a successful 2013.  Saturn and Pluto are both serious planets, and they are both in serious signs.  What is more, they are in mutual reception, that is they appear in each other’s signs.  Saturn is currently in Scorpio, and Pluto is currently in Capricorn, and you can build a new lifestyle under this sextile.  If you know the Houses they appear in natally for you, you will find that the House area that Saturn appears in will be stabilizing, and the House issues that are occupied by Pluto will be more transformative.  This aspect confers strength, such as the strength needed to make changes, or perhaps to stand your ground.

Thursday’s efforts receive additional support through another sextile between the Sun and Chiron, adding healing qualities and inspiration to your ideas of how to proceed in the future.  Make the most of these auspicious aspects.

Friday brings a Full Moon in Cancer, so you may feel a weight of emotion being released as the week draws to an end, over family issues most likely.  It may be a day when, if you are so inclined, you might want to watch old weepies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “The Apartment” accompanied by a box of tissues.  If you want to work with the energies on a different level, visualize how you would like your home and family area of life to work out over the coming year.

The End of the End of the Mayan Calendar

I was flattened by the energies of Friday…I think the Universe just wanted me out for the count  (A mild tummy bug the night before resulted in complete exhaustion for the festivities – I couldn’t make it to Bugarach).  Whatever your conclusions about the conclusions, there was a nice quote in the Guardian by the president of Bolivia about it:

“According to the Mayan calendar, the 21 of December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time…It is the end of hatred and the beginning of love, the end of lies and beginning of truth”.

Here’s wishing all my readers a Light-Filled Christmas!

The week in bullet points:

• Today – frivolously fill your Christmas stockings
• Wednesday – some spirited banter
• Thursday – serious reconstruction and a healing touch
• Friday – nostalgia, and/or projecting emotion forward positively

Last week we were thinking about 2 children who had lost their mother; this week we find ourselves thinking about parents who have lost their children – in the worst school massacre in U.S. history.

From my Postbag

Q: “I wonder if the fact of Friday’s aspect is what caused the spark (snap/crack) in the mind of Adam Lanza and triggered yesterday’s shooting rampage. The added flashes from the universe were perhaps too much for him to process, cut off as he seems to have been from his emotions.”

(from Dia, Southern California, 15/12/12)

Short Reply

A: “Transiting Uranus (the spark) is now conjunct Adam Lanza’s Mercury (mind) and would have intensified this process.”

Longer Reply

Adam Lanza was said to be autistic, and this may show in the karmic feature of his chart which is Mercury (his mind) square to his Nodal Axis (his karma).  Uranus transitting his Mercury and overloading his mind will have set off the square to his North Node conjunct the Moon in Capricorn, and the square to his South Node in Cancer, creating a T-square.  This would be a complex interaction between his karma (Nodal Axis), his mind (Mercury) and his relationship with the public (Moon).

Connecticut Shootings

The first thing that struck me when looking at the chart of the shootings was that the Midheaven (the meaning of the event in the world) was at 21 degrees Scorpio (a sign associated with the cycle of death and rebirth).  Though I am not well-versed in the astrology of eclipses, it was not lost on me that this was the degree which took place on the eclipse in the middle of November.

In this chart, Mars (planet of shooting) is exactly sextile the Midheaven, increasing the possibility of violence, or activity.  What could we do with such information?  Even knowing that, we could not be vigilant on the moment of every day that the Midheaven is at 21 degrees of Scorpio during the aftermath of an eclipse (the influence of which can last up to 6 months).

The Moon too in this chart is within one degree of Pluto, a destructive aspect emotionally, but one which occurs once a month.  Should we be more vigilant on this day every month?  I do not work with the Moon’s aspects in this blog, though there are some astrobloggers that do (notably Auntie Moon in the U.S., whose link is on my Contact page).  I only point out the New Moon and the Full Moon each month, but may in the future be more vigilant about pointing out vigilance for that aspect.  For those who would like to alert their diary, it will next take place around 10^th/11^th January 2013.

Gun Laws

Much has been made of the fact that this horrific event may be a turning point for gun laws in the U.S., as was the Dunblane massacre in the U.K.  At the time of Dunblane, there was not a conjunction of the Moon and Pluto (though the Moon was square to Pluto, fuelling destructive emotions).  Pluto however was square to the U.K. Mercury (with the Moon transitting that point) necessitating a change of mind-set.  At this time, the U.S. does not have Pluto squaring its Mercury.  It has Jupiter conjunct its Uranus (which is a new hope from a new Presidency) but more pertinently Mars is trine its Neptune, so that may be related to more sensitivity to gun crime, and a more spiritual approach to this problem.  The prominence of Mercury in these events may be due to the fact that they took place in Schools, establishments ruled by Mercury.  The ongoing backdrop of the square between Uranus and Pluto of course bears much responsibility for current violence and destructiveness.

Harmlessness

The Hindu term “Ahimsa” meaning harmlessness may be fundamental to the concept of gun laws.  There was a discussion on the Andrew Marr show this morning which involved the fact that the Sandy Hook School, in which Friday’s massacre took place, was not armed.  Then it was mentioned that someone had suggested arming everyone (which would be the opposite of dis-arming everyone through gun laws).  For me, the fundamental question is, if you had a gun would you be prepared to kill someone else with all the karmic implication that entailed, let alone the mental anguish?

My late friend and working partner Sandy Colyer used to point out the absurdity of the gentle meditative art of Tai Chi being founded on a martial art, and the implication that in practising peace you would contemplate war and be coming from a warlike practice.  I hope I am not misrepresenting her thoughts.

Let us hope that this truly will be a turning point for humanity in our attitude to carrying arms, and mental health, and all the other issues that this tragic event has raised.

Aspects

Today Venus enters Sagittarius, where it can express itself with a lighter touch than in the previous sign of Scorpio.  It may be a time to examine your relation to faith (Sagittarius) in order to move on from those things which have happened that we cannot now do much about.  That brings to mind the prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr, used by Alcoholics Anonymous:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”

Venus very soon, also today, hits a square with Neptune, bringing confusion and paranoia in relationships and leaving us wondering what are the things we can change, whether we have the courage to change them, and where is the wisdom to know the difference.  This will be a period of evaluation.

Tomorrow Mercury opposes Jupiter, providing too much information to take in, but some of it positive.

Wednesday (19^th) has a trine between Venus and Uranus, and looks like the best day of the week.  It is a much better day for relationships and meetings, and can provide a spark between people (hopefully not too much of a spark).

Friday (21^st) is the end of the Mayan calendar and the Winter Solstice signifying the entry of the Sun into Capricorn.  It is ironic that as we go from the lighter sign of Sagittarius every year at that point into the darker or more serious side and sign of Capricorn, the daylight starts to increase again.  So you may notice some change in your inner and outer light and darkness, but may be confused which way it is going.  This year’s experience of course is complicated by the apocalyptic sense produced by what I called the “Ascension cliff” a couple of weeks ago.  I reprise my take on this, which remains essentially the same:

“I spoke to the founder of my Earth Healing group this week about the significance of the 2012 energies which had been feared by some, now that we are nearly through (and the Olympics turned out exceedingly well).  Her conclusion was that change is occurring, but she feels that the biggest lesson has been learning to live with chaos.  I do not feel that the western astrology supports any extraordinary precipice taking place on that particular day.  We are still in the midst of the Uranus-Pluto square and will be through to 2015, but the two exact aspects which take place on 21^st December are Venus squaring Chiron, which is uncomfortable, but not rare, and the Sun sextile Neptune, which is a harmonious spiritual attunement.  It would be good to make a wish or two for that date, perhaps a personal one and a global one, for the Sun sextile Neptune supports your dreams, and you need to keep them alive.”

It may say more to you as we are now nearer the event.  My only modification is that the Sun-Neptune sextile actually peaks on Saturday (22^nd) at 6.48 a.m. in the U.K., so the spiritual experience may be the dream you wake up with the morning after 21^st, which is interesting…

The week in bullet points:

• Today – love in your heart, and adjustments with others
• Tomorrow – travel hopefully
• Wednesday – brighter hope in relationships
• Friday – the Solstice is what we make of it
• Saturday – what dreams are left

Deconstructing last week:  The Sun-Jupiter Opposition

Last week’s Sun-Jupiter opposition could have been dubbed The Prankster.  From feedback, some were able to negotiate its challenge of working with polarity, some achieved miracles, and some suffered greatly (I had one complainant to my Customer Service Desk).

Royal Story of the Week

On Monday, the day of the Sun-Jupiter opposition, Kate Middleton was admitted to hospital.  It was a bittersweet story: the pregnancy was still early (about 2 months) and they were not ready to announce it.  It was, however, a source of delight once in the public domain, a good news story.  Except for the fact that Kate had a severe form of morning sickness, and experts were wheeled onto our screens to declare it was unusual, and other facts we didn’t know about it.  Could the baby be on course to be a Cancerian, like its father and grandmother?

Current mixed transits for Kate Middleton include Saturn squaring her Venus (this could be the severe morning sickness), Saturn on her Jupiter (some restriction on her exuberance), Jupiter trine her Mars (joy at the same time). We do not have her birthtime, so we do not know the exact position of her Moon (motherhood)

Current transits for Prince William include Neptune trine his Sun (a spiritual shift), Uranus square his Moon indicating surprise events connected with parenthood, South Node on his Venus (a karmic relationship event), Pluto squaring his Mars (extreme stress) and Neptune trine Jupiter completing a Grand Trine with his Sun (he will be privately over the Moon about the prospect of parenthood).

The condition was treatable, and under control, so far so good.

On Tuesday Australian DJs phoned the hospital, and impersonated the Queen and Prince Charles.  With Mars on Prince William’s South Node, there may have been an unconscious element of warriorship towards the royals in the prank.  The public generally were horrified at the intrusion of privacy which the prank achieved.  This prank would have come under the Sun-Jupiter opposition category of inappropriate laughter, for sure.

Pranks

It is debatable whether pranks are an acceptable form of humour, or where a line can be drawn.  I myself remember perpetrating a prank or two in my teenage years, I have to hold up my hands in that regard.  Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand generally “got away with” their prank on Andrew Sachs.  A little remembered feature of that prank is that one of them joked about a possible suicide occurring.  If Andrew Sachs had been made of frailer stuff, who knows what might have happened.  Pranks themselves now are under threat.

On Thursday Prince Charles expressed his happy anticipation of grandfatherhood, his delight that Kate was getting better, and even managed a good-natured quip about the prank, asking reporters “How do you know I am not a radio station?”  The dust seemed to be settling on the story.

On Friday, the story took a tragic turn, with the suicide of the nurse who took the call, Jacintha Saldanha, possibly through public humiliation.  According to the hospital, she was not reprimanded, so it must have been the public element which loomed large in her mind.  Nurses are not trained in PR, and having come from India she was probably not even aware of the nuances of regional or class accents.  This was a truly horrific twist in the tale.  The effects on her family, William and Kate and the Australian DJs will be lasting, and live long in the memory and the collective psyche.  It was subsequently revealed that the prank call was pre-recorded and Okd by the radio station before being broadcast.

By that time, Mars was squaring Prince William’s natal Saturn (a harsh event beyond his control), and another element of Kate’s Saturn square her natal Venus emerged (a personal sadness).

Aspects

On Tuesday (11^th) Mercury enters Sagittarius, and there is scope for more mental positivity.  It is a good day to choose an affirmation, and stick to it.  You can make up one, based on your current circumstances, or pick one from a book on affirmations.  Louise L. Hay’s “Heal Your Body” is often by my side, and I think I have quoted the affirmation for flu at least once in my blog, so I will quote one for ageing: “I love and accept myself at every age.  Each moment of life is perfect”.

The focus of applying one’s mind in this way will be crucial on Tuesday, because later we face a square between Mercury and Neptune, and we could become absent-minded, or confused.  We need to remember who we are and what we are doing, before the square messes with that awareness.  Be vigilant, try to focus, and above all keep saying the affirmation.

On Wednesday (12^th) Venus will be conjunct the North Node, and we could see some interesting interpersonal karma that day.  We might be catching up, or having reunions, with people we haven’t seen in a while, or since our last incarnation even.  Broadly, this is likely to be an affectionate encounter, though individual karmic or astrological factors could make things more complicated.  Hopefully, though, this aspect will bring the astrological barometer on the up, and help to clear some of our confusion, particularly where it is karmic.

The rest of the week should bring happier experiences.  Thursday (13^th) has a New Moon in Sagittarius, happily uncomplicated without an eclipse.  There may be joyful news, and international relations may improve.

The same day Uranus is stationary, prior to turning direct, and you may look forward to the element of the unexpected working with you rather than opposing you.  I still wouldn’t advise in favour of pranks, though.

On Friday (14^th) Mercury is trine Uranus, and I did prepare a whole blog earlier on the subject (under Aspects).  But to save you trawling through my back catalogue, here is a passage from that blog:

“It’s a good week to cultivate mental acuity, and telepathic transmission, and to keep your higher antennae out for messages from the Universe.  If you have this aspect natally, you have an intuitional mind, which can sometimes by-pass logic, and cut through it to the real truth.  So we can all have flashes of intuition under this aspect, and it’s a good week to hone the connection between the lower mind and the higher self.“

I would broadly agree with that.

Related Post:

http://www.lanawooster.co.uk/blog/2010/11/from-my-postbag-2-prince-william-and-kate-middleton/

The week in bullet points:

• Tuesday – Mentally lifted, then suspended
• Wednesday – A whole lot of love
• Thursday – Bright new ventures, more confidence
• Friday – mental briliance

Sun opposite Jupiter: Monday 3^rd December 2012 1.45 a.m.

We have less drama this week, and a chance to accentuate the positive, with only one aspect, and that aspect being a Jupiterian one.  This aspect comes at the beginning of the week, and occurs just after midnight tonight, at 1.45 a.m. tomorrow morning in the U.K.  So it will set the tone for the week.

Current Themes

The Leveson Report has turned out to be a minefield in terms of understanding and deciding what should now be done about press freedom.  Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty, like Cameron, would tend not to legislate.  Hugh Grant, the McCanns and J.K. Rowling have come out in favour of implementing Lord Leveson’s suggestions and acting to make a difference.  This tug of interests reflects the themes of the Sun opposing Jupiter and especially the signs they fall in, which are Sagittarius and Gemini.

Can I just have another pop at the inappropriateness of Michael Gove’s educational initiatives.  When he was appointed Education minister, and Jupiter went into Gemini (education) I mentioned there would be educational changes.  Unfortunately, these have turned out to be retrogressive, coloured by Michael Gove’s own childhood experiences.  Jupiter in Gemini so far then has been disappointing in this respect.   I hope that the outworkings of this transit prove more useful by the time Jupiter goes into the next sign, Cancer, next June.

Themes for Sun opposite Jupiter

The main themes for Sun opposite Jupiter are: pushing boundaries, going for goals, and taking risks.  Because the opposition is an antagonistic aspect, the energy and fire of action will be there, but may often miss the mark, e.g. as in the arrow of the Sagittarian not quite hitting the target.  However, this is an opportunity, and you may regret not having a go at whatever is in your sights, e.g. it is better to have tried and lost than never to have tried at all.  It is an experimental energy in many ways, and certainly is adventurous.

Inappropriate Laughter

Sun opposite Jupiter is humorous, but the humour may be too alternative or go over the edge of acceptability.  We all have our individual tastes in humour, and our dislikes.  I currently enjoy Jupiter-ruled Miranda Hart, but also the U.S. comedy series about lovable geeks, “The Big Bang Theory”, and am not a great fan of stand-up comedy, or racist jokes such as those which poke fun at the Irish. It is a time when you may generate humour, e.g. in writing a last-minute panto, but hopefully will experience some natural highs.  Unplanned and spontaneous laughter is the best!  I don’t tend to laugh if I have seen an episode of a sitcom before, but hubby can watch the same episode of “Only Fools and Horses” 10 times and still laugh as though he had never seen it before.

Open-heartedness

Because this aspect is very expansive, even to a fault, the heart may be very open under its influence.  It is not quite the compassionate heart of Pisces, but it is very warm hearted and inclusive in its affections.  Therefore, there may be a tendency to give to others more than one’s material resources would justify, e.g. it is a good time for those Christmas charity collection boxes outside the supermarket to tug at the heartstrings.  If you are a charity worker, capitalize on this!

Hope against adversity

I knew a baby born at the end of 1977 when Jupiter was also in Gemini opposing the Sun in Sagittarius.  Her given name meant “hope”, and she was born two months’ prematurely.  As is often the case with such births, there were several medical emergencies before her parents brought her home, and now she is a very capable mother of two young children.  Her own mother was very positive at the time, and this aspect is about remaining positive under crisis.

The “Gambler” Archetype

This opposition represents the gambler who doesn’t know when to stop.  Poker player, journalist and TV presenter Victoria Coren has the perfect chart for a gambler: Sun in Leo (speculation) trine Jupiter in Sagittarius (luck).  But the opposition between these two planets may eventually cause a player to topple on the side of excess.  Caroline Myss says of the shadow side of this archetype: “Relying on luck rather than hard work…a compulsion to look for the lucky breaks even in relationships, rather than working hard to make them succeed.”  She advises: “Look for the ability to follow your intuition in risky situations.”

Polarity and Beyond

An opposition always brings up a polarity, i.e. two opposite signs.  In the case of Gemini and Sagittarius, the principle is communication.  Gemini is ruled by Mercury and represents for instance magazines or short articles such as blogs.  Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter and represents deeper study and the publishing of the weightier tome, i.e. books.  Polarities can complement each other and blend, because they have a common thread (in this case communication). If you master each genre or sign, when you unite the opposites, you can have access to the hologram.  To continue the analogy, you would have access to any type of suitable communication vehicle for your own publication need.

Fiscal and Ascension Cliffs

Jupiter opposes the Sun only once a year, and it doesn’t crop up much in the charts I work with for some reason.  However, astrological financial expert Raymond Merriman tells us this aspect is very significant for finance.  He says “This is one of the most significant of all trading signatures used in Financial Astrology for timing stock market turns”.  The fiscal cliff of January 2013, long-hailed as a time of decision-making for the U.S. after the Presidential election, he feels will be brought forward in time in effect to before the Christmas holiday, to December 21^st (the same date as the Mayan Calendar experts and Ascension movement set as a time for shifts in consciousness).  Furthermore, he feels that the European debt crisis will have great significance during 2013.  To read his current blog, click on the link to his website on my Contact page.

I spoke to the founder of my Earth Healing group this week about the significance of the 2012 energies which had been feared by some, now that we are nearly through (and the Olympics turned out exceedingly well).  Her conclusion was that change is occurring, but she feels that the biggest lesson has been learning to live with chaos.  I do not feel that the western astrology supports any extraordinary precipice taking place on that particular day.  We are still in the midst of the Uranus-Pluto square and will be through to 2015, but the two exact aspects which take place on 21^st December are Venus squaring Chiron, which is uncomfortable, but not rare, and the Sun sextile Neptune, which is a harmonious spiritual attunement.  It would be good to make a wish or two for that date, perhaps a personal one and a global one, for the Sun sextile Neptune supports your dreams, and you need to keep them alive.

The week in bullet points:

• Tomorrow (Monday) – take a chance on life