For this week’s challenging aspects you will need as your manual “Heal Your Life” by Louise L. Hay.  The accompanying song, which I am hoping we will sing at Sound Pod tonight (the theme is Strength) is “Whatever gets you through the night.”  by John Lennon (1974): “Whatever gets you through the night.  It’s alright, s’alright.  It’s your money or your life, It’s alright, s’alright.  Don’t need a sword to cut through flowers, oh no, oh no…”  Venus opposes Chiron tomorrow, Monday 14.  This is looking at the vulnerability in relationship, the holding of each other’s soul, and how healing needs to be achieved.  The major aspect of the week occurs on Tuesday (15) with the third pass of the Saturn-Uranus opposition.  This is the aspect responsible for the dismantling of institutions which first occurred on 4 November last year, then returned on 5 February.  I have blogged on the bigger picture separately, but in your own life what issues were current around those times and how did you deal with them?  The issue now may be a continuation, or it may be a fresh strand to work on.  The good news  is that you will have been feeling the changes for some time, and will have some idea of what is going on for you, and aware of the need to access your intuition.  Know what you need to keep in your life, and why, and what you need to change, and why, and how that can constructively be achieved. “…Whatever gets you through your life, It’s alright, s’alright.  Do it wrong or do it right, It’s alright, s’alright.  Don’t need a watch to waste your time, oh no, oh no…”  Even if you have a handle on Saturn opposing Uranus and lifestyle changes, there are emotional complexities attendant on this day, on top of this, for Venus opposes Neptune.  If you don’t have enough emotional complexity in your life, or you don’t have enough emotional complexity in this lifetime, you can contemplate those in past lives and/or read my blog offering on the Pre-Raphaelites from a couple of days ago.  Slogging (sorry I mean blogging) on this week, the Sun opposes Uranus on Thursday (17) which may bring mini-aftershocks from the main event of the week, or if you are receptive some illumination on the issues.  Mercury also squares Pluto on that day, presenting mental challenges.  Health and ecology are very much on the agenda, plus technology and communication wrangles, and Mother Nature may choose the time to step in and make a statement of her own this week.  Be receptive to the messages of the Universe, and if the messages are negative then you need to firmly dismiss the way of paranoia after politely listening, and ask for more enlightened, all-inclusive and heart-centred ways of thinking, seeing and doing.  Finally, on the same day, the Sun conjuncts Saturn, a dose of reality and a summing up of conclusions regarding the week’s trials and tribulations.  You need to cut your suit according to the current stock of cloth oddments you might have, and get a good night’s sleep for a fresh start in the morning.  No good crying over spilt milk.  Friday (18) dawns with a little hope and possibility, we’re all older and wiser, and Mercury has moved from lyrical Libra temporarily back to prosaic Virgo, when we might be inclined to cut out the poetry (for the time being – some of us can’t live without it) and focus on what needs to be done.  Mercury in Virgo will engage brain with action at least on behalf of the planet, so it will be a good day for recycling and ecological projects.  And later in the day the New Moon in Virgo helps us to realize that in intention at least we are on purpose with our aims of cleaning up the planet, and cleaning up our personal act.  We just need to remember that when we are faced with temptation to excess, such as the row of muffins next to the coffee counter on Cambridge railway station.  You will need your rock chick armour this week, and for Lennon’s last lyric: “Whatever gets you to the light, It’s alright, s’alright.  Out the blue or out of sight, It’s alright, s’alright.  Don’t need a gun to blow your mind, oh no, oh no.”  You really don’t.  All you need is Love…

A new world order was ushered in on November 4 last year when President Obama was elected by the American people desiring real change, on the very day of the first Saturn-Uranus opposition.  If there is such a thing as a world horoscope, this was a defining moment in relation to it.  There are 5 passes altogether for this stand-off between two planetary giants: a duel between Saturn which holds the structure until the time is right for Uranian liberation.  The second pass of the opposition took place in early February, during the honeymoon period when the freshly-twice-sworn-in President of the United States was establishing his new position.  Saturn-Uranus tussles were happening all over the globe, but what of our own politics in the U.K. in relation to this opposition?  Our Prime Minister Gordon Brown was trying to take the lead (his Ascendant in Aries) on the world economy (a Pluto in Capricorn issue) and climate change (one of the issues of Saturn in Virgo), and convening world leaders to this end (the triple conjunction of Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron in his 11th House).  In this respect he has done better than within home territory.  He has often reacted to internal political crises with the confusion of an introvert in an extrovert role, who has Sun in Pisces in the 12th House of the Unconscious.  Perhaps he has too much emotional baggage from his relationship with Tony Blair to be able to express himself with the freshness and integrity of Barack Obama (representing Uranus, with his Aquarian Ascendant) who had replaced the old order as represented by George Bush Jr. (in the Saturn corner).  American Astrologers are agreed, and rightly so, for it is as plain as day, that the current pass of the Uranus-Saturn opposition represents Obama’s thrust to bring in a new health care system.  It represents the human right to health, without which quality of life cannot be lived, and protection for those in poverty.  For Saturn is in Virgo (the sign of basic physical health and healing, general practice in community health) and Uranus in Pisces (the sign of compassion, mental health, chronic health conditions and palliative care).  There does not need to be a comparison with the National Health Service in the U.K. for that is a national treasure on which we have relied, and often taken for granted, a real responsible and committed Saturn Institution.  The detractors in our Conservative Party who are allied with negative forces in the U.S. should be given short shrift in accordance with their dubious motives.  What Gordon Brown should be concentrating on, as Saturn now re-opposes Uranus on Tuesday 15 September, is bolstering and honouring our National Health Service.  The resources within it are so overstretched, for example in the fact that we need all hands to the pump and yet young doctors are faced with a shortage of job vacancies.  What Obama is trying to create is new and will serve the American people in the 21st Century.  Gordon Brown, on this side of the pond, needs to match that in dignifying our own National Health Service.  And in our own personal lives, the Saturn-Uranus opposition across the Virgo-Pisces polarity highlights the need to look after our own physical and mental well-being.  Put your health first.

The recent TV series has revived an interest in the fascinating group of artists known as the Pre-Raphaelites.  The accompanying biography by Franny Moyle, published by John Murray, and entitled “Desperate Romantics” is as gratifyingly profound as the TV series was superficial (though very watchable).  The book is in fact an Astrologer’s dream, giving dates and times of day for such detail as an annulment, a railway train caught, and episodes of paranoia.  You could happily spend a whole day printing out such charts.  If the Moon’s Nodes are the key to karmic entanglements, then the astrological evidence corroborates the picture of a huge set of triangular relationships within the group (at the last count 8), and that includes triangles of brotherhood as well as menages a trois.  I am hoping to blog about the more individual charts within the group, but for now would like to point out the role of the Nodes in securing the karmic entanglement  of some of the key figures which make up their story.  The lynch pin of the whole movement is Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painter and poet, who initially formed the brotherhood together with close friends John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt.  Hunt’s Pluto conjunct Millais South Node indicates a profound past-life link, and his North Node trine Rossetti’s Saturn showing a soul contract.  But their success and role in society also depended on the life of the critic and patron John Ruskin, whose own life story and psychology are sensitively explored in the book.  Within just these few central characters there are two triangles, which interlink.  There is the brotherhood formed by the the three painters Rossetti, Hunt and Millais, and there is a love triangle formed by Ruskin, Millais and Effie Gray.  Effie was locked in a difficult marriage for several years with Ruskin, and their natal nodal axes are reversed.  Dante Gabriel Rossetti (reliant for many years on Ruskin’s patronage) and Effie were born within 5 days of each other in the same year, and therefore Dante’s own nodal axis was also reversed with Ruskin’s.  This is the karmic kernel of the wider circle of triangles which notably included Rossetti’s link with William Morris and his wife Jane Burden.  The nature of these nodes may give a clue as to the wider purpose of the group incarnation, the most obvious reason being to promote a renaissance of the romantic philosophy, art and poetry.  Although Rossetti alludes to reincarnation in his poetry, I have never read of any concrete statements about his beliefs along those lines.  Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s North Node stands at 24 degrees 45 minutes Libra, Effie Gray’s at 24 degrees 59 minutes Libra, and Ruskin’s 23 degrees 46 minutes Aries (within a degree of opposition to Rossetti’s).  John Ruskin’s North Node in Aries (development of the individuality) is in his 3rd House, pointing to his career as a critic, and squaring his Mercury/Mars conjunction which again speaks of critique.  His patronage of the Pre-Raphaelites may be shown by his Venus in 11th House.   Rossetti’s North Node in Libra, one of the signs associated with the Arts, lies at the end of his 5th House of Creativity, reflective of his lifetime’s endeavours and achievements, both personal and in relationship to the group he founded.  Effie’s North Node is also in Libra, and she was an artist’s model, while also on a mission to fulfil herself through relationship or marriage (first to Ruskin, and then to Millais).  We do not have her birth time and therefore do not know within which house her North Node expressed itself.  Birth dates are available for most of the principal characters, and birth times are available for some.  Sadly there are no birth dates available for some of the artists’ models, such as Annie Miller and Fanny Cornforth.  However, Franny Moyle’s book yields a wealth of possibility for both astrological study and the study of interrelationship.

Last week belonged to the Moon.  With a dearth of aspects early in the week, she established her power from the beginning, culminating in Friday’s Full Moon.  A visual friend of mine looked up at that Moon, and saw a beautiful fish.  She didn’t know it was the Pisces Full Moon, and hadn’t read my blog.  Just goes to show the special role our Moon plays for us on this planet (and I have a talent for stating the obvious).   The new Japanese first lady is reported to have ridden a triangular shaped U.F.O. to Venus and found it to be beautiful and very green.  You may not need to go that far for your magic.  Meanwhile, we have until 4.44 a.m. tomorrow Monday 7th (in the U.K.) to write our letters, back up our computer files, visit long-lost relatives to say what we need to say, and pre-empt postal and rail strikes, before the next Mercury retrograde comes into operation.   So today’s the day for communication!  That said, when the retrograde period comes into force (it lasts until 29 September) don’t panic.  You’ve done all you could (written to Aunty Mary, put in your Income Tax Self-Assessment form, registered on the Electoral Roll – haven’t you?).  It isn’t the end of the world.  There is nothing more important in Astrology, and to some extent life, than timing.  The timing of events can sometimes be breathtaking in their perfection, and can turn on such little things as a spider crawling across a floor, or an autumn leaf falling on your head.  I am always drawing up charts for such things.  And we often don’t realize the reasons for delays until much later.  Sometimes it depends on the karma of others and their progress towards an event, or spiritual growth (yours or others).  How often have we said about an event “I wouldn’t have been ready, if it had happened earlier”?   So if we are left, during this retrograde period, sitting waiting by the phone, or poised at the letterbox, or pressing send and receive endlessly on our email inbox, take a moment to think about the impeccable timing of the Universe thus far in your life.  I know, you are tempted to ding the Customer Service desk to say “What about the time that so and so arrived too late?”  But the Universe always has reasons, and it is better for us to fall in with the rhythms of nature and the planets and our soul groups where the wider picture lies, than to be focussed on a smaller picture where there is only the drumming of our fingers on our computer desks and wondering where our next wheat-free sandwich is going to come from.  The next aspect occurs on Friday (11th) and is an opposition between Venus and Jupiter.  This highlights uneasy or inappropriate social interactions, such as between artists’ models and poets or vicars (sorry I’ve been over-reading on the Pre-Raphaelites).  There may be enjoyment to be had within the framework of acceptable social roles, too.  But if you are famous and falling out of a taxi in the early hours showing cellulite and cosmetic surgery scars, there will be more than usual exposure in the press.  Seriously though, something more important is happening later on in the day: Pluto is stationary, and beginning to move forward again. Pluto in Capricorn is the bottom line of our reality over the next 14 years or so, and it represents reality.   The triple conjunction of Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron will only be with us until early next year, heavenly though it has been.  Use the gift of inspiration it has given you and the creations it has engendered wisely to see you through.  Pluto moving forward means that in one sense you have gone as far as you can go in re-hashing the past, and will need to decide, before you board your space ship to the future, what you want to do with past baggage, before you move forward.  This applies also to governments, and I am sure that President Obama is deciding right now what to do with his baggage.  Saturn and Neptune make a quincunx on Saturday (12th) which is a staging post for our consciousness, to take stock of how far we have sorted out the reality wheat of Saturn from the illusion chaff of Neptune.  But Neptune also holds inspiration, dreams and hopes, and those are not to be thrown out.  Just be sensible.  It’s good timing, because next week belongs to the Saturn-Uranus opposition.

You don’t really need to read this until Thursday, as the first aspect of the week (Mercury square Mars) doesn’t appear until then.  And after that, there is only a Full Moon, on Friday.  What does an Astrologer do when there are 6 days on the trot without aspects?  Twiddle her thumbs?  Idly surf Twitter?  Attend to a 3-month waiting list?  Savour the last aspect perhaps: Friday’s sextile between Mercury and Venus…For me, it provides a chance to fill that space with the contemplation of the Fixed Stars associated with this time of year: the Constellation of the Great Bear, and this week homing in on the star Alioth.  I once hosted a Fixed Star meditation group which ran for 2 years, but there is a CD meditation series which works with the stars of the Great Bear along the lines of the Esoteric Astrology of Alice Bailey.  It’s entitled “Transforming with Divine Will” Orin Meditations by Sanaya Roman.  Each of the 7 Rays is aligned with one of the 7 main stars of the Great Bear, starting with Ray 1 (the Will to Initiate).  The Sun at the beginning of this week is aligned with the star Alioth, and if you look on the Great Bear/Big Dipper as the shape of a saucepan, Alioth is towards the beginning of the handle.  Traditional Astrology doesn’t give Alioth a good press, but according to “Starlight Elixirs” by Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld there are a number of useful areas relevant in meditating with this star: among them aspects of love, counselling those with mental health issues, metabolizing sugar and the absorption of chromium for the body in the diet.  So my text today will come from that source, starting with: “The ability to bring love into people’s hearts is very difficult because of barriers to this that are created by negative forces on Earth, by thought forms, disease structures, pastlife denials, and many other things.”  The two aspects we do have this week could be the source of some tension building up from the beginning of the week, so it is worth chilling out early on and not allowing this build-up.  A friend of mine practised this last week and found it to be beneficial.  Thursday’s (3 September) square between Mercury and Mars is a reprise from last Wednesday.  Normally, Mercury would have broken free and forged ahead, but it is slowing down for next week’s retrograde turn on 7 September, meanwhile enabling Mars to come back for another bout.  It is worth considering whether all contentious issues were addressed from last Wednesday.  For me, the issue that presented itself was animal rights.  Handy tip: one of my Astrology students managed to negotiate the T-square by addressing her own personal Mars issues – now why didn’t I think of that…?  Turning to Starlight Elixirs on Alioth again, with the issue of communication (Mercury) vs anger (Mars) in mind: “Communicating this love between people is hard because there aren’t sufficient techniques and availability in the language itself.  These beings from Alioth just want to assist or help where possible but have found that this energy blocks anything that they would do and makes it very hard for them to assist humanity in its own lessons.”  On to Friday’s (4 September) Full Moon in Pisces, which addresses the helpless in our world and society and our own vulnerability.  To borrow a phrase from A Course in Miracles (lesson 153) “In my defencelessness my safety lies”.  One of the areas of life which Pisces and its corresponding House (the 12th) represents is mental health and the unconscious.  Intriguingly, Alioth can help here too: “The use of this elixir is recommended for counsellors working with individuals with mental difficulties including schizophrenia, manic depression, and other very disturbing psychological states.” However “There will be no direct benefit to the patient; it is to assist the counsellor in the counselling process.” If this interests you and you have difficulty making or obtaining the elixir, then meditating with the star can be helpful.

At the time of today’s Sun trine Pluto, there was also a conjunction between the Part of Fortune and Uranus.  This gives an opportunity for a new way of looking at things.  If you are leaving one situation and entering another, try to ensure a smooth transition, bearing mind that most people find change difficult.  In drawing up a fresh canvas, make sure you have cleared up the painting equipment from your last one.  For the third week running Mars takes a prominent role in proceedings (I had plenty of men/car/dog stories reported for the last two weeks).  On Tuesday (25) Mars does at least change mood, moving into Cancer.  That is, slightly less pace and nervous energy than that displayed during his stay in Gemini.  He may be more of a homebody, a pipe and slippers man, but in no way has he been tamed for this week he enters into a T-square, a three-way contretemps.  The aggro may transfer from the street to the home arena and family issues.  It could be the kind of week when the hoover, the washing machine and the telly all play up.  The same day Mercury moves out of Virgo and into Libra, which would be more equable if Mercury were not also involved in the T-square, taking its position in verbally fighting the corner for justice.   Tiptoeing around eggshells will no longer work, and a way will have to be found to clear the air.  Decamp to neutral ground, such as your favourite coffee shop, assembling the significant characters or protagonists, such as the young adult demanding an increase in pocket money and the elderly relative insisting on rulership of the remote control.  Have them all sipping nice frothy cappuccinos in advance of the T-square.  Wednesday (26th) is the day the True North Node finally enters Capricorn (see my blog on the subject posted 5 July), and we are required to make some shift in terms of how we perceive and fulfil karma.  At the same time, Venus is positioned at the South Node, showing that love and forgiveness towards our past is a key component to the process.  If we can let ourselves and others off the hook to some extent, with Venus also entering the generous sign of Leo, it will be easier to forge ahead with the life purpose and karmic mission indicated by the North Node.  Bear in mind that this represents a collective issue, and we have our own personal nodal missions that we are working on too.  As a human species, we are being asked to move on.  Circumstances may dictate this on Wednesday, for the T-square arranges itself that day, with first Mars squaring Mercury (the sharp end), Mercury then squaring Pluto (psychological issues coming to the surface) and then Mars opposing Pluto (that’ll be the third thing, so make sure all the insurance policies are up to date).  But in the realms of psychological well-being, truths will be told over neat expresso coffee (no sugar), and some people may feel better for that, especially for those who comfortably and habitually drink their coffee that way.  For those of us who prefer the gentle mochas and lattes, things will have calmed down a little by Friday (28) when Mercury sextiles Venus.  Refer back to your engagement diary of 8 August when this aspect last graced our lives.   The coffee shop will now have transformed into a veritable salon of literary discussion…there may be congenial talk of restoring peace moves, and reviving earlier artistic projects.

There are two main themes this week.  Mars dominated the energies of last week, and will do so again this coming week.  Four things I associate with Mars (men, cars, rage and dogs) featured heavily in various permutations in the lives of those around me.  Meanwhile, with all the liveliness, no one I know got a good night’s sleep, and last night was no exception.  With the Sun opposing Chiron today I’m a bleary eyed blogger.  Tomorrow (Monday 17th) we have three aspects: Sun sextile Mars (strong and uncomplicated physical energy), Mercury conjunct Saturn (serious knuckling down to detail) and Sun opposite Neptune (escapism and free-ranging imagination).  Put those together and what do you get? – a day full of contrasts.  The second theme this week is that there are several quincunxes, aspects I don’t usually mention.  Whether or not you are on holiday, it’s a week to smell the roses.  Keep one eye on the details of life, and look out of the corner of your other eye at what you might otherwise be missing.  Then do the exercise reversing the eyes.    Quincunxes are not naturally harmonious, but show you where there are unexpected interconnections between people, places and events.  The first one, fascinatingly enough, occurs at (all the noughts) 00.00 Hrs in the U.K. on the morning of Tuesday 18th.  This midnight aspect is an interaction between Mercury and Jupiter, and may show you interesting information links.  Tuesday also has another encouraging Mars aspect (but don’t get too comfortable with it) – Mars trine Neptune.  Sensitive action can take place, such as meditation with movement, peaceful gestures or demonstrations of compassion.  Actions may flow, but only to a point because the next day (Wednesday 19th) Mars squares Uranus.  The day will be incident-prone, along the men/cars/rage/dog lines but with an added ingredient of electricity, e.g. check the electrical wiring on your car.  Herbal tranquillizers would be useful to carry, unless if you’re like me, they are prone to wipe your memory.  If so, just keep your wits about you.  More helpfully Venus sextiles Saturn, so loyalties will be established and understood.  Then follow two more quincunxes: Venus and Jupiter, and Jupiter with Saturn.  Venus and Jupiter might bring an invitation to revelry, but Jupiter with Saturn is the most important quincunx of the week.  It will reveal the current parameters of where you can move forward and where your current limitations lie.  On to Thursday 20th (it’s a busy week) and there’s a New Moon at 10.02 Hrs in the U.K., at 27 degrees Leo, and this time it’s not an eclipse, it’s just a plain old New Moon offering the uncomplicated fresh new start you might need.  And there’s another quincunx that day, between Mercury and Neptune.  Confused?  You will be.  But stick with it.  It’s all nervous preparation for the crescendo at the end of this week.  Friday (21st) and someone is bound to say something controversial, with Mercury opposite Uranus.  Something like: “How come my week never resembles your blog?”  The Grand Finale on Saturday (22nd) consists of Venus quincunx Neptune (some whimsy for the last-minute party decorations), then in the last hour while the party is in full swing Venus trines Uranus (23.32 Hrs).  This is an aspect of Soul Meetings (make sure you’re in the right place at the right time and receptive to Angel Dust).  It’s also the last hour of the Sun’s parade through its own sign of Leo, for by midnight the Sun enters Virgo and Cinderella needs to be back, sweeping her cinders at the hearth, but only if she lives in the U.K.

The lunar eclipse and Full Moon in Aquarius last week highlighted issues of the relationship between the individual (Leo Sun) opposing the group (Moon in Aquarius) and in particular female leadership.  Refusing to accept the current world order M.P. Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, stated: “Men cannot be left to run things on their own.  I think it’s a thoroughly bad thing to have a men-only leadership.  In a country where women regard themselves as equal, they are not prepared to see men just running the show themselves.  I think a balanced team of men and women makes better decisions.”  This proved to be controversial for some reason.  The eclipse itself gave me food for thought, and the result is my earlier blog entitled “Balance in Groups”.  We do not have a major aspect today, but I would like to plug the gap by mentioning there is a Festival of Spirituality and Peace starting today in Edinburgh, supported by the likes of Vince Cable, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Lord David Steel and Rabbi David Rose, starting at 6 pm.  As part of the action, every day at 1 pm you are invited to stop what you are doing and preserve a minute’s silence for peace.  So if you have nothing to do, or want to do nothing, or do something, that’s a suggestion, for today and the rest of August.  Details are included on the ipeace website.  Mars squares Saturn on Tuesday (11th) and if you find the day or week is not flowing, or you are trying to push a square peg into a round hole and it’s not working, that will be the reason.  You may find however that the day will flow marginally better or even better than that after observing the 1 pm minute’s silence.  Standing back and looking at the reasons why something is not working may be helpful.  You may see the antagonistic components of the situation and understand the problem more clearly.  From that point you may be able to work things out, though it may take a couple of days to implement a solution.  Thursday (13th) is much more conducive to solutions with a trine between Mars and Jupiter.  One of the previous antagonists (if they were people) may have a change of heart and turn supremely co-operative, nay enthusiastic even.  This is as good a day for the square peg and the round hole dilemma as Tuesday was awkward.  But you may have abandoned the original plan and be on to pastures and projects new and adventurous.  Seize the day, because Friday (14th) could raise new problems.  If Thursday’s project is one that you want to follow through or prolong, and not just be for the day only (such as a one-day summer festival), then you will want to take heed that there may be a tussle of interests on Friday with Sun opposite Jupiter.  For instance, one person or group may want to extend and expand the festival, and another may feel that everyone should quit while they’re ahead, take the money, and run.  There is only one plane on which to resolve this: on a higher plane…I am joking of course, because the protagonists may be in no mood for meditation and contemplation.  They may even have been hitting the Somerset cider the day before, and be hungover.  My advice is not to make any big decisions on Friday and to wait until everybody has sobered up.  There is a good chance of all’s well that ends well this week, for on Saturday (15th) we have healing overtures from Mars trine Chiron.  The week started with men behaving badly, but could end with men behaving surprisingly well.  But we still need more women in government.

With the lunar eclipse in Aquarius last week, personal issues seemed to involve membership and leadership of groups.  It is a core issue in relation to who we are.  Some of the problems which came up were:

For those involved as members in a group, the issue may have been how to hold on to one’s individuality (Sun in Leo opposing the Moon) in a group, and how far one might be expected by the group or society to conform or compromise.  The journalist Julie Burchell (Venus in Leo opposing Chiron in Aquarius) just would not.

For those who may feel a stranger within their own family, seeing themselves as a black sheep perhaps, where does the problem originate (sometimes in past lives), and the solution lie?  How far can the group or family accommodate the stranger in their midst?  How expanded is their repertoire of spiritual awareness?  The emotional field of the family is usually dominated by the mother and depends on her capacity for love, wisdom and attunement.

One of the features of New Age consciousness in groups is heart-centred female leadership, the holding of the group in a safe sapace which serves the needs of the weakest as well as the strongest of its members.

This may not have been what Harriet Harman (Mercury in Leo opposing Moon in Aquarius) in her role within the Labour Party had in mind when she was moved to put in a plea for more women in the top posts of government.  For at this point in time politicians are not known for their desire to combine their skills in practicality and expediency with the spiritual component of their nature.  But hopefully, this is what the human race is evolving towards.

If you are interested in colour healing, the olive over olive bottle in the Aura- Soma range of colour healing bottles represents feminine leadership.

Olive lies on the cusp of Leo (yellow) and Virgo (green), blending the leader and the follower.  If your birthday is on this cusp, your soul resonates to this colour on an earth level, or lime green on a more spiritual and aspirational level.  You have within you the leader and the follower, and may have an innate talent for feminine-style leadership.

The group sign of Aquarius is ruled by two colours, electric blue (representing the electricity, telepathy and interconnection of the group) and magenta, representing the organizational capacity of the leader.  Turquoise is a great leveller in communication, and can unite the dual purposes of the individual, represented by Leo, and Aquarius representing the group interest.  It can bring together the interests of individual members with the group purpose, while not violating the individual expression, needs and being.

The light generated in meditation groups can lift and evolve individual members of the group on a level where differences do not matter, beyond ego and personality.  But many of the groups we need to work with on the earth plane are not spiritually centred and also involve personality differences and karmic outworking.

In conclusion, I feel we need more teaching on feminine leadership in groups, we need men to stay in touch with their inner female, we need politicians to meditate more, and if you are still working through the after-effects of the August eclipse, then breathe in the unifying colour of turquoise.

I don’t swear myself, except when I am quoting someone, so was suitably shocked when David Cameron tried to rough up his Libran reputation this week by using the word “twat” in relation to Twitter.  His exact words were (and I am only quoting) “The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat.”  It is not yet known what effect this will have on his political career, but he was later forced to apologise.  He is under heavy pressure at the moment, with Pluto squaring his Ascendant and transiting Saturn conjunct his Pluto.  But these are more long-term transits and the short-term trigger may have been the Sun transiting his Moon, unleashing his true feelings about Twitter.  The opposition of Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron to Mercury last week may have prompted him to be a little more adventurous in his use of language.  In his own relationship with Twitter, you find Twitter’s Saturn irksomely squaring exactly his Mercury.  Is Twitter bothered?  Well Twitter is in a bit of bother at the moment as Pluto is exactly squaring its Sun and Uranus exactly squaring its Pluto, but the skirmish with David Cameron is more likely a symptom rather than a cause of its current discomfort.  Today, Mercury moves into Virgo, one of its own signs.  This happens at 23.07 Hrs in the U.K., tea-time in the U.S., and Monday morning breakfast in Australia.  It is a good time to take stock in matters of health and working conditions, and to examine small print.  Before you sleep tonight in the U.K. would be a good time to do your Louise L. Hay affirmation.  Power thought number 213 in her book of 365 Daily Affirmations is: “I listen with love to my body’s messages.  My body is the picture of total health.”   In the U.S. choose organic healthy ingredients for your tea or supper.  I know it has been “proved” this week that organic foods are no healthier than toxic pesticide-ridden foods, but cognitive dissonance tells me to keep choosing organic.  And the same goes for Australian breakfasts, keep spreading the organic Vegemite.  All this setting of standards at the beginning of the week is important, and your efforts will be rewarded tomorrow (Monday 3rd, the same day for Aussies) when Mercury trines Pluto.  You will receive some validation of your instincts around the subject of food and diet, or some important information.  On to the eclipse of Thursday (6th), the third of this summer’s series of eclipses.  My attention was first alerted to the importance of eclipses in 1992 when the eclipses featured strongly in the charts of Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales, and they separated.  The following year Judy Hall published “Astrology of a Prophet?” which is entirely about the effects of eclipses in the rise and fall of David Icke up to that time.  Whilst I am an enemy of superstition, and in my heart subscribe to the idea of eclipses being outmoded and harmless, two of the eclipses of the last year have been momentous within my family horoscope: in health matters, and in bringing about a change of lifestyle, and both necessitating a surrender to what is.  In fact, there is an air of Super Nanny Universe Knows Best about the events they bring.  So I have a healthy respect for eclipses, while trying to maintain calm and equanimity!  Thursday’s Penumbral Lunar Eclipse takes place at 00.55 Hrs in the U.K. at 13 degrees Aquarius.  The effect is felt most strongly if you have a planet or angle of your chart close to that point or in aspect to it.  So moving on to the completion of the week on Saturday (8th) we have a nice sedate Mercury sextile Venus, good for creative writing and tete-a-tetes, twittering if you will…Play it again, David?