What is your peace lineage? And where are we going with the cultivation of peace as a human race? These are the questions I have been asking myself in the week leading up to World Peace Day. I have always thought of myself as a pacifist, though I have heard and digested the powerful contrary arguments. Among the most persuasive is Alice Bailey’s concept of the will-to-good being beyond the will-to-peace as particularly applied to the necessity for the second World War of the 20th Century. Here in the 21st Century the human race established a climate of war early on, with the terrorism against the Twin Towers on 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our choice of war or peace is still hanging in the balance. My own peace lineage as I look at it now is that I took a vow of peace at the Siege of Montsegur back in 1243, then carried that through a couple of incarnations in the hallowed halls of Tibetan lamaseries, only to get sidetracked on a downturn of the evolutionary spiral by Napoleonic fervour on the cusp of the 18th and 19th Centuries. In this lifetime, I have carried a peaceful heart, but done little actively to promote peace, other than a few years collecting subscriptions for CND in Watford in the 1980s! So I have found the new peace website (see next blog) a welcome opportunity to state my relationship to peace, and renew my hopes for it. Astrologically, I would look for tendencies to peacefulness in a birthchart in terms of a prominent Venus (the relation of Venus to peace is the desire to unite in harmony) or a well-aspected Neptune (the relation of Neptune to peace is the desire to bring the spiritual peace of the soul into conscious awareness). Where there is an absence of peace in the world or in a personality, it’s a symptom of spiritual disconnection. In our eternal Souls, we all have peace. In our personalities, deep down we all crave peace.

To make the most of tomorrow’s aspects you will need to gather the following ingredients: a notebook, a cafe, and like-minded friends. It has all the atmosphere of writers, philosophers and poets meeting in cafes on west banks to thrash out their angst. Select your equipment and venue in anticipation…The conjunction of Mercury and Venus at 18 degrees Libra actually occurs in the early hours of tomorrow Monday 15th (UK time), so if you are looking at cafe culture in a different part of the globe, please adjust accordingly. Later in the morning comes a Full Moon in Pisces opposing the Sun in Virgo. This may be felt as an emotional pull over two areas of your life. It’s important to notice what this brings up because it may highlight the two areas involved for you in November’s forthcoming opposition between Saturn and Uranus (see previous blog). A trine between Mars and Chiron ensures a healing thread at this time, and a constructive purpose. The rest of the week focusses on trines to Neptune, which can be sublime but for some it may mean going through illusion first before coming into clarity. The first trine occurs on Wednesday 17th at lunchtime, and involves Venus. If there is a romantic reunion planned for that day, your heart will be warmed while your head may be in the clouds. On Saturday 20th Mercury trines Neptune, and if you found your head was in the clouds on Wednesday, you’ll be seeing the clearer light above the clouds by then. If you were inspired artistically on Wednesday, you may be able to analyse the source of your inspiration on Saturday. Saturday’s trine is in the middle of a series of three trines, for next week Mars will trine Neptune. The accumulated effect could be quite stunning, especially in artistic realms and perhaps also in terms of group efforts. So create a buzz in your local cafe this week!

It is less than 2 months until the Saturn-Uranus opposition, on the day of the US Elections. This is being seen by Astrologers as a close contest between the New (as represented by Obama and Uranus) versus the Old (as represented by McCain and Saturn). I feel inadequate to see past the posturing, and do not feel qualified to comment about this unprecedented line-up and crew of candidates. There’s no denying the importance of the consequences of America’s choice on the day, but there will also be other things going on in the world, and in people’s lives. The Saturn-Uranus conjunction of 1988 was a friendlier version of the aspect occurring that day, and played its part in events prior to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall (which actually occurred during a subsequent conjunction of Saturn and Neptune). The Berlin Wall as a symbol or construct and as representing inner fortresses (a phrase borrowed from a friend) seems a good place to start as a concept when considering the upcoming aspect. In your own birthchart, the aspect will represent a long-term construct across two areas of your chart. Tomorrow’s Full Moon may highlight these two areas for you as the Sun and Moon oppose each other in the same signs, Virgo and Pisces. If a wall is involved it may be due for dismantling or renovation, especially if it represents a separation between two parts of yourself or between yourself and family or friends, which is being used to cover fear and paranoia. Trust and surrender are likely to be the antidotes and keys to breakthroughs, survival, and release in such a climate. The November event will occur around 18/19 degrees of Virgo and Pisces, so if any features of your chart are in those degrees the events could be momentous for you. Many of you have been leading double lives (and by that I don’t mean in the French farce sense) and you may be acting as a bridge or emissary between two places, two countries or heaven and earth. Some of you may be caretakers, translators and supporters of those scenarios, especially if you are spiritually or karmically rooted to a particular place. These bridges will be important at the time of the Saturn-Uranus opposition, because the separations need to be bridged at a deeper level than at the time of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Still others will be experiencing this aspect entirely inwardly, and may be finding that existing psychological or lifestyle structures don’t allow their Authentic Selves to flourish. When such cracks appear, it allows the divine to enter in more easily. And we all need to be caretakers, bridges, and carriers of the healing hologram.

Here we are at the midpoint of Virgo and it’s still raining! It’s difficult to rustle up some cheer, but if you are a Virgoan who is interested in healthful dining and have a sense of humour, why not try the new website by Pete Vincent on Raw Humour? Very timely, very much needed at the moment, especially with the UN climate chief realizing that we should eat less meat. All very Virgoan issues. Today’s a day to get passionate about issues, with Mars square Jupiter at tea-time in the UK. There will be a battle royal perhaps over whether meat should be on the table, or whether it should be a meat substitute such as Quorn, or for the Virgo purists a totally raw vegfest. Heated but all in good humour hopefully with the involvement of Jupiter. There may be some throwing of food, but it could be time to let your hair down. Jupiter is at the hub of some of the shenanigans of the week, and is one of the two planets set to turn forward this week. Tomorrow (Monday 8th) morning sees Jupiter turn direct, which will enable progress in some affairs to take place where you might have felt you were swimming against the tide since May. If for instance you felt you lost your sense of humour around then, you may get it back this coming week. Shortly afterwards, Jupiter is involved in a square dance with Mercury, and if you are exaggerating the truth, you’ll be brought to book and required to state the facts without embellishment. There’s more to come tomorrow (so, so much more): tea-time brings a conjunction between Mercury and Mars (at 12 degrees Libra) – look out for health and safety issues, especially taking care as you are chopping or slicing the raw vegetables. There may also be a war of words, or incisive repartee, across the dining table. The main aspect of the week takes place later still, late in the evening, when Jupiter trines Saturn. This is the most major aspect to take place between now and the US Election in November, so make the most of it with my earlier blog on the subject. In case you’re too busy to read it, in a nutshell it is about balancing two areas of your life and balancing extremes in general. This is followed in the early hours of Tuesday (9th) morning by Pluto turning direct, and it’s a day for psychological reorientation. If you have spent since April dredging through your subconscious for clues about who you are, you may feel you are making headway with Pluto beginning its journey back to Capricorn and pulling away from the Galactic Centre. Just give a respectful nod to the Galactic Centre and acknowledge all we have collectively been through before you take a deep breath and intone “onwards and upwards”. There’s a more frivolous way of looking at things at tea-time on Tuesday, with Venus squaring Jupiter, and the humour this evening may turn silly and verge on slapstick (carrot batons at the ready), but again, that may be what is called for at the moment. By Friday morning (12th), Venus will have found a new playmate, Mars, and it’s a conjunction, not a square, so things could turn intense in the romantic department. What started as a bit of slapstick at tea-time a few days ago, could turn into some slap and tickle in these early hours. Finally, on Saturday (13th) Sun opposes Uranus so the unexpected will rule at the weekend, plans are up in the air, and if you need a tool to get by, it’s telepathy.

Here’s an opportunity this week: finding balance. Jupiter at 12 degrees Capricorn trines Saturn at 12 degrees Virgo. These two in themselves represent optimism and realism respectively, and other such extremes. But this is no aspect for extremophiles: the harder you push towards one extreme the more there is a backlash from the other end. As Newton put it: “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. This line-up enforces a balanced outlook because the two forces involved may be realizing they are in a stalemate situation – they have to acknowledge each other’s existence. The forces may be within your own personality, within two areas of your life, or may be seen playing out on the world stage. That process in itself may be pulling at you as they are opposite forces trying to come together in harmony. Not through blending or merging (which it would be if they were in polarity or opposition, or involved with higher consciousness processes represented by Uranus or Neptune), but in balance and in acknowledgement of each other’s worth and uniqueness. If you noticed and worked with the conjunction between Sun and Saturn and their trine with Jupiter last Thursday, you may have some idea what these principles are referring to in your life and at this time. Compromise and negotiation may be needed to find the poise and balance at the centre of the scales or the maelstrom. Find that marker and use it as your reference point for the relationship or project over the next few weeks. At some point, the energies will give way to the opposition of Uranus to Saturn which takes place on November 4th and colours the US Election (and is already being felt), but there is some mileage to be gained by this trine beforehand. It might just be a victory for commonsense.

This week offers you a chance to build up your stamina and put life into key projects, especially if you were flattened by last week’s squares. You need first to assess what you learned from those squares and their reasons for being. Otherwise part of you will still feel flattened and unable to commit to the astrological goodies that lie ahead. With the first major aspects of the week occurring on Thursday, another source of rumination would be last night’s Virgo New Moon. This is another aspect, which if digested properly, can be a springboard to positive change during the forthcoming week. Depending on where it fell in your chart, it would have a different message for you. If you don’t know what segment it was in, then look at the events of last night, what was created in your life, and how you reacted to it. These may provide symbolic clues to the potential of the New Moon for you this week. Early next week there is a trine between Jupiter and Saturn which balances two areas of your life, and can bring about the fruition of some of these New Moon seeds. So this week is cradled between the positive markers of the New Moon and the Jupiter-Saturn trine. For some of you, there is no need to do anything in order to benefit from their outworking. Some of you perhaps have even tried to do too much lately! Just allow yourself to be cradled and sense what tweaking the Universe may require in order to bring about the desired outcomes next week. Less is more, and efforting is out this week. So Thursday (4th September) is the day to watch this week, in fact it is the only day. It begins with Sun conjunct Saturn, a serious note: something is pinning you down and requiring that you commit to a project, a person or a principle. Having done all the chilling out required earlier in the week, you’ll probably be in no mood for fighting, you’re likely to shrug and surrender and sign on the dotted line (unless you have a tremendously fiery birthchart). Even so, just check in with your intuition for a moment in case you are in the wrong role, and may be the one intended to call the shots. Check the script for the plan for humanity, and your contract before you incarnated. By teatime (in the UK) you will probably be heartened by a sign that you made the right decision when the Sun trines Jupiter, a rainbow after rain. This is also the time to monitor the progress of any long-term projects, especially those which accrue next week. If you doubted you were in the flow this morning, you will feel yourself to be in the flow now. You may be asked to take a step forward to assist the success of your plans, which you may be able to do by remote control from your hammock. Even if you are back in your office or school groove, and even if the projects of your heart lie elsewhere, you feel you are contributing to overall progress. Motto: “Just be”

Another week of having to think on your feet, for it’s a week of disruption and dissonance. With the opposition between Uranus and Mercury-Venus coming up to a T-square with Pluto, some of you will feel out of your comfort zone this week, like you’re playing musical chairs or appearing in an episode of Wife Swap. With people on holiday, and displaced cats in catteries, you could experience the following scenarios: temps arriving in offices with no one to show them the ropes, holidaymakers arriving in cottages without instruction manuals, and meat-eaters finding themselves under a vegan regime (read Jonathon Porritt’s blog for August). Issues of dependency and abandonment are rife. Fret not, It’s all designed to make you more spiritually flexible for the New Age. You could start Sunday (24th) with some country ramble, yoga or meditation to put you on a wholesome plane, pondering futures building an ecologically sustainable lifestyle or looking at forthcoming college courses along those lines. You can feel the climate change in the air, and as such you need to plan for a new year style regime change soon (academic or religion-wise) incorporating maybe some more ethical features. Thursday (28th) brings to a head the first challenging aspect of this week, in the shape of Mercury square Pluto. Did you set your terms earlier in the week? If so you’ll be less confused or thrown by this aspect which asks you for decisions and choices based on your core beliefs. If you got clear on those earlier in the week then you’ll know exactly what to think, say and do in the now. For Friday (29th) picture Bryan Ferry (whose planets cluster round the cusp of Virgo and Libra) slinking into a room, and you’ll get the sense of Mercury going into Libra. This would bring more pleasure into work routines and more harmony into conversations were it not for the major aspect of the day Venus square Pluto which overshadows it and counteracts the usual suave style of Mercury in Libra. Mercury will have to wait a little longer in order for his smooth operations to take effect, but it will be monitoring how to achieve things in the background, perhaps even crooning, while we grapple with the heart issues that Venus squaring Pluto brings up. Don’t say anything in relationship that you will regret, but conversely don’t fail to say anything you meant to. My advice would be to put on an Ella Fitzgerald CD…she had a double dose of heart with Sun conjunct Venus in Taurus and could sing her heart, empowered by a favourable sextile of Pluto to that conjunction. Therefore she was able to express Venus-Pluto in a healthy way and the dilemmas of the human heart. Saturday (30th) afternoon UK time sees Venus follow Mercury into Libra, and with such a strong Libran line-up it’s time to sing along. Can’t sing won’t sing? Allow the inner child full rein in the art studio instead. The week will have been a long inner journey (how else could you process such aspects?) but in the evening a quiet New Moon steals in at 7 degrees Virgo, reminding us of ecological promises we made, and encouraging us to renew our vows, hopes and wishes.

The main forces of the day, both the inspirational and the challenging, may have taken place while you were sleeping or during the night’s revels. Venus trining Jupiter early on encourages social get-togethers, reunions and celebrations. There will have been a bitter-sweet flavour to last night’s eclipse though, with Mars squaring Pluto which releases long-smouldering resentments and in some cases leads to physical confrontation. The positive way of looking at it is that energy is released, and freed, to be recycled. If you are in a group situation, be aware of and responsible about what you are contributing to its harmonies and tensions. Tomorrow (18th) Mercury trines Jupiter, so yesterday’s tussles may have paid off with an expanded awareness, a broadening of horizons, and a sense of freedom and enlightenment. On Tuesday (19th) Mars leaves Virgo and arrives in Libra, so it’s a good day to put the finishing touches to projects started at the beginning of July, and to turn your energies to relationships and how peace can be achieved. Use the struggle for peace in your own relationships as a metaphor for peace between nations, then turn back and forth in your understanding of both. For Mars will be in Libra until early October, and it is the positioning of the diplomat who understands both war and peace, who sits on the fence and sees both sides of the story. Thursday (21st) is the most weightily constructive day with Sun trine Pluto, Mercury conjunct Venus and Moon trine Sun. If it’s your birthday, you’ll be greatly honoured by this planetary line-up. Words will take on an eternal meaning today, and diplomats and politicians will enjoy the gift of the gab. It is a good day for articulating what is in your deepest subconscious, for putting words to music, for that heart-to-heart you have longed for with a dear one, and for balance between inner male and female. The Sun enters Virgo on Friday (22nd) – leave behind the pleasure-seeking of Leo, there’s a job to be done now during the Sun’s passage through Virgo! What is the service which is being asked of you now? Relish the task, and put your best energies forward. Saturday (23rd) will show you the obstacles to your plan or task so that you know the complexity of what you are dealing with, for Uranus opposes Mercury and Venus on that day. Uranus opposes Mercury at breakfast, and controversial words could be spoken at the breakfast table over unusual combinations of leftovers from the night before. Mid-afternoon Uranus opposes Venus, so unusual feelings could be allowed to surface and given expression over tea and cake. Make sure the cake is a completely new, never-before tried recipe with flavours and ingredients such as to impress John Torode and Gregg Wallace. Give it the wow factor. You need to distract the judges today and even raise a smile on their faces. For on Saturday, all your fine words and plans could temporarily go out the window, as you learn to think on your feet and provide solutions from the infinity of your intuition. Got a problem? Find the solution that’s twinned with it.

Do you have trouble choosing what to wear in the morning? Then look no further this week, and tune into the astro-colours of each day. I have often noticed that two or more people in my office turn up spontaneously wearing the same colour on a particular day, which turns out to resonate with the Moon’s sign. So this week I am offering a guide to your wardrobe based on the aspects for this week. Today, healing indigo can safely channel the energy of Mars square Pluto. If you are more inclined towards pastels, then use powder blue, though it may be too gentle and miss the mark. Monday (18th) wear turquoise to fan the flames of the Mercury-Jupiter celebration of communication. Mars in Libra on Tuesday (19th) intensifies the bluer end of the turquoise so deepen the colour. On Wednesday (20th) the Moon is in Aries and you’ll also need to rebalance after all the indigo, turquoise and blue, so red is the colour. Combine gold and indigo for Thursday (21st) to honour the Sun’s last rays of Leo combined with the deepest insights of Pluto. The Sun’s entry into the first degree of Virgo on Friday (22nd) highlights the shades of olive green if you are working on a practical level, or lime green if you are working on more ethereal tasks or beginning spiritual projects. And Saturday (23rd) brings the opposition between Uranus and Mercury/Venus – just slop out in your casual gear, because anything goes. Or if you would like to work with the karmic healing aspect of the current conjunction of North Node and Chiron, the alchemical colours of silver and gold could be most useful. As for me, I’m almost permanently operating in pink ‘n turquoise at the moment, right down to the scrunchie! The motto: “I wear what I am”

At the last eclipse, I found myself kissing the Blarney stone…it remains to be seen whether it’s had any effect on my blogging! It is a good time though to assess the events of the last eclipse on Friday 1st August because the next eclipse later at the end of this week will see the culmination or denouement of those events. In between, we have been processing the 08-08-08 gate, glued or not to the Olympics. The number 8 seems to correlate with the planet Saturn, so maybe this period of time between the eclipses is a foundation stone for something in your life, a new foundation of sorts. There’s a lot going on…the star we are in alignment with this week is Mirak (or Merak) in Ursa Major. Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld say of this: “This is a shift away from domination and the concentration of power in the hands of those who would abuse it.” With Chiron conjunct the True North Node now and the Sun conjunct the South Node in Leo, it’s an important time to reassess power within and without. They go on to say: “If the context is shifted from one of power to dominate into power to create, power to invite, and power to free, then this deeper awareness in a person of who they are and their connection to God and other people is enhanced.” Mercury goes into Virgo this morning, which signals the totem animals of Bee and Ant to come in and start some productive work towards new goals. It suggests that maybe some of the leaders (Leos) can go back to the shop floor and help with the groundwork, and assist the project from that level. Venus conjuncts Saturn at 9 degrees Virgo on Wednesday (13th), time to put heart into your work, combine love and duty, and commit in some way. Paradoxically, it can also be a time when you are required to let go of aspects of a relationship that don’t work, and accept the things that you cannot change. Venus and Saturn are not an easy mix, but if you are focussing on the care of the elderly, focus on the softening pink of love rather than the inexorable greying of hair. Breakfast or commute-time on Friday morning (15th) brings Sun opposite Neptune, so there will be a mist over the proceedings. Note that Mercury the weather planet was opposite Neptune at the start of the Olympics, and you couldn’t fail to notice the smog. As Friday is close to the Full Moon and eclipse, there may be a haze of confusion in relation to the climax about to take place. There may be underhand methods of gaining ground in power play and competition, in jostlings for position, for instance. Early evening however Mercury conjoins Saturn, which is a good aspect for detectives sniffing out any deceptions. Saturday is the final day of the blog week, and the Full Moon in Aquarius and Lunar Eclipse takes place at 21:16 Hrs (UK time). Try to approach this outcome with a positive attitude, and look for the treasure within each situation. With a lurking square between Mars and Pluto (balancing your inner victim and victimizer), it’s the best way to clear the collective astral smog.