How does the new landscape look? Last week held its challenges, but these also brought new solutions, as we raise our game. Relationships may have deepened, for Tuesday (5th) brings the establishment of a new level of understanding between you and your loved ones with the peak of a trine between Venus and Pluto. Venus at the end of Leo signifies spiritual love, and Pluto at the end of Sagittarius signifies a deeper understanding of life – a great combination. New connections may be forged and existing ones strengthened. Enjoy this level of love, for on Wednesday (6th) morning Venus enters Virgo and will carry out a different agenda. Venus in Virgo supports good taste in food, art, and friendships. Standards in all of these will be scrutinized and analysed and sifted until they pass the test. Gordon Ramsey, Damian Hirst and Spice Girls watch out! Try to get to grips with this one early in the day, for at tea-time (in the UK) there are TWO oppositions within two minutes of each other! First to ruffle our feathers is Mars opposite Uranus, which can be incident-prone: time to get out of Gordon’s kitchen now! The second is Mercury opposite Neptune, which can make you fall asleep on the job, or on the way home. With Uranus and Neptune playing up, there may be some strange weather conditions. The events of Wednesday could give food for thought, with unusual phenomena. Phew! We end the week (on Saturday 9th) on a helpful aspect as Mercury trines Pluto. If you found the Venus-Pluto trine constructive emotionally, you’ll build on that with the profound benefits that Mercury-Pluto will bring, but translated to the mental realm: deep conversation, soul-knowing, and important journeyings. Make an effort to visit someone you haven’t seen for some while or who has been living an isolated existence, and link souls.

The working week (Monday 28th) begins with Venus conjunct the South Node at 19 degrees Leo. If your focus is on your workplace, you may discover the karmic connections which have brought you to your office. If you are in holiday mode, your holiday destination may have past-life resonances or karma to clear in a gentle and harmonious way. If you are voluntarily on a permanent retreat lifestyle, then you may discover inner cosmic connections. You’ll begin to sense that useful items this week could be antennae, a tuning fork, a steering wheel and a compass. On the evening of Tuesday 29th (UK time) a conjunction between Sun and Mercury at 7 degrees of Leo crystallizes the mental qualities of your inner lion or lioness in what are still the early days of the Leo month. Some of you found it hard to rouse your inner lion(ess) last week, perhaps you had put it away for a whole year. Tuesday is another chance to bring out your fun-loving streak and reveal your inner light. It’s also a suitable time to meditate on your alignment with your authentic self, so that you are absolutely right on for the total solar eclipse in Leo later in the week. Eclipses usually are turning points in people’s lives, and you want to be sure that you are coming from source and know where you are going. Leo is the sign for leadership, and if you’re in that role, it’s a chance to focus on the true path, so that you will not be misleading anyone. With his Mercury and Sun in the relevant sector of Leo, it will be a crucial eclipse for Barack Obama. Along with the rest of us, he needs to search his soul that he is taking the right direction now, but especially so given his potential responsibility. So with our inner compass set to true, Thursday afternoon and early evening builds up to Friday’s eclipse. Firstly on Thursday (31st) afternoon Venus opposes Neptune, another chance to test out your route. Will Friday’s planned route be a red herring, or truly a direction which serves you and those around you? The combination of Venus and Neptune could test whether you are in illusion about your intended path, and especially in terms of who you are able to put your trust into – are your expectations of someone fair for instance? Welcome the test, as it will help to show you the truth. Look for inner confirmation, rather than picking a card at random. The next event, early evening on Thursday, is the Moon’s entry into Leo joining three other planets. This is an opportunity to test the emotional waters and feel whether you have set the emotional tone right. Finally, on Friday (1st August) in the morning, the eclipse arrives. Hope it’s a good journey for you, and you find yourself in the right place in the cosmos and in your psyche.

If last week had you in Whale mode, this week will have you in Lion mode. For the inner lion or lioness is right now waiting in the wings (the later degrees of the sign of Cancer) for his or her grand entrance into Leo on Tuesday (22nd). What preparations are going on in your life at the moment, waiting to be unveiled? Are you perhaps re-decorating, ready for a housewarming or officewarming on Tuesday? Are you auditioning for your next pantomime? Are you putting the finishing touches to a portrait in oils? There is sure to be a sense of panache and a flourish about what is shown and demonstrated and unveiled on Tuesday, with the Sun going into Leo. And later on that day, there is a trine between Mercury and Uranus in water signs. This is a change of mood, and focus, from the earlier events of the day. It’s a reprise of the Whale, so the holographic consciousness you perfected last week will stand you in good stead. That means spectacular breakthroughs, inventions and discoveries, original systems of thought. Remember to visualize your sonic plume…There’s enough there that day to dine out on all week, and leftovers from Tuesday are needed to bridge the gap until the next set of aspects which don’t arrive until Saturday (26th). If you enjoyed Tuesday, Saturday is a replay of sorts, because again we have a planet entering Leo (in this case Mercury) and then later in the day another trine (in this case between Mars and Jupiter). This week is about having a second chance to build on or perfect what you have achieved. Mercury entering Leo brings the head (or mane) count to three: Sun, Venus and Mercury all in this hedonistic sign. Even if you don’t have an ounce of Leo in your birth chart, you could get caught up in the carnival atmosphere. And finally, the riotous trine of two fire planets Mars and Jupiter living it up on a Saturday night! Could be a fling to remember, when you are involved in demanding new work routines later in the year.

As we start the week, our collective Sun is aligned with one of the Heavenly Twins, Pollux. He is the half which represents the right-side intuitive brain and the processing of inspiration. Bernadette Brady in her book on the Fixed Stars points out that we need to use both twins together (i.e. incorporate Castor the logical one too), and that is part of the process which brings inspiration into practical use. Make the whale your animal totem this week. As Chris Griscom says: “Whales have exactly the same brain as we, except seven times larger. They have made the catapultic leap into holographic thought. Whereas we are caught in our linearity, they use sound as the medium of holographic consciousness and are thus able to digest immense quantities of information simultaneously.” Mull over that today, and there’ll be plenty of opportunity tomorrow (Monday 14th) to utilize and put into practice your holographic thought, for the planets of the higher (Uranus) and lower mind (Mercury) are both splendidly aspected. If you live in the UK the morning delivers a sextile between Mercury and Saturn, so if you have made plans they should hold firm. If you live in the US you may receive a plan in your dream life. If you live in the Orient, you’ll be implementing the plan at the end of the day, and if down in Oz you’ll leave it till the laid-back afternoon to work itself out, no sweat. That’s the more left-brain (Castor) side of the bargain. The afternoon (UK time) brings a flash of intuition, electrifying and maybe out of the blue from a trine between Sun and Uranus. If you’re the creative kind and on a spiritual path striving to be so, you could conceive the bigger picture now. That’s the right-brain (Pollux) side of the bargain. Tuesday (15th) evening gets the action going with Mercury sextile Mars. This favours combining physical energy with logical thought, or “energy follows thought” as the saying goes. You can follow through on Monday’s ideas and foundations. In these heady energies you may also sense the impending Full Moon tension coming up to Friday (18th). This Full Moon is in Capricorn, opposing the Sun in Cancer. If it is your birthday that day, it is a fine balancing act between reason and emotion which you might just be able to pull off. Unlike the heavier connotations of last month’s Full Moon, this one leaves you (and us) free to manage only your own emotions and be less likely to get caught up in group shenanigans. Saturday (19th) ends the week with a not unpleasant opposition: that of Mercury and Jupiter. You might have to travel to fulfil its brief, or broaden your mind, but it shouldn’t cause too much havoc. If you are inconvenienced by a travel detour for instance, something you encounter along the way will cause you to appreciate the silver lining. If you’re caught in a rainstorm, you’ll anticipate the rainbow. It’s a reasonable mindset on which to end the week.

This week is looking good, in relation to some we have had lately. And today is looking especially good, with two trines going on. Sometimes trines don’t work for you if they catch your chart at an awkward angle. But these two trines catch each other at an awkward angle, so if one of them catches you awkwardly, you will probably benefit from the other! The critical degrees to get excited about are 22-23 of the signs, if you have anything placed there. The trines in question are Mercury trine Neptune, and Venus trine Uranus. The first occurs late morning in the UK, and brings ideal conditions for mediumship, channelling or mystical practices. The second aspect occurs at tea-time, and provides ideal conditions for Self-Help Groups, especially those with a musical or artistic focus. With Venus still in Cancer, there is a maternal feel to inter-group relations. If you have not already set up such a group, text out the invitations now and be sure to include at least one Aquarian, as they know what the purpose of group energy is for. If you are going out, make it an unusual venue or a different diner. You could meet interesting new people, and raise a glass or an eyebrow. If you’re having a night in with your guides, they may club together to provide new information about relating, or introduce you to a new guide. Well all that sounds like a healing basis to start the week, and enthusiasm may build towards Wednesday (9th) when the morning brings an energy burst of Sun opposite Jupiter. Try restraining the Leos and Sagittarians that day – they will be metaphorically bouncing up and down on a trampoline. It will be down to the Virgoans and Capricorns of this world to encourage them to come down to earth for some reality checks. Virgoans, especially those born at the end of August, could have a special role to play this week in arbitrating arguments, bringing fire signs down to earth, and reminding everyone there is a job to do on the planet. Thursday (10th) is the best day to observe this role, because Mercury (ruler of Virgo) opposes Pluto, Mars conjoins Saturn at 5 degrees Virgo, and Mercury also changes signs. Normally quiet Virgoans could be driven in desperation or frustration to become more forceful and vehement in their opinions that day on the subjects they really care about. Listen to them, for their thoughts about pollution and the environment come from integrity, and they may hold the key to solutions or ethical practices. They will be extra intense, and have a sense of urgency about their mission. Warning to Leos and Sagittarians: get off the trampoline now, as the Virgoans need to dismantle and recycle it. Mercury, as mentioned, changes signs on Thursday, commuting from Gemini to Cancer. The purely mental analytical approach of Gemini and Virgo will give way to the more sensitive outlook which brings into account other people’s feelings. OK, the Virgoan may allow one more bounce on the trampoline out of compassion for the firesign egos, before getting to grips with the job. The final astrological event of the week is set for tea-time on Saturday (12th) with the entry of Venus into Leo. Leos will be happy to get of the trampoline for the sake of a new (or old) love interest, or narcissism. Sagittarians will carry on trampolining in their mind. For other signs, the compassionate focus of Venus in Cancer can give way to Leonine adoration especially towards children (the prodigal one may return), and creativity will capture the essence of beauty. For goodness sake though, pay some attention to that Leo, and mirror back the self-love.

People are sensing a momentum of energy at the moment, and maybe wondering why. It’s the gathering of forces towards Monday’s (30th) Mars trine Pluto. This can be felt and experienced on all sorts of levels, and inwardly and outwardly. On an extreme physical level, it can be the meeting of conflicting forces, not exactly peacefully but fairly constructively. It’s not exactly peace, but the realization in meeting that conflict is futile which may stop the warmongering in its tracks, and could act as a basis for future peace or negotiation. Psychologically, it can mean the release of instinctual forces, energies from the id or subsconscious, which come up for airing. If you are going about your life purposefully, it may give you a chance to launch a pet project with gusto. If preoccupied with an intense relationship, passion may be on the cards. Even a trine between Mars and Pluto needs caution, however, so remember to practise safety checks and safe texts. This really is the event of the coming week, so I have sketched out a rough guide in a separate blog. Tuesday (1st July) sees Mars change signs and mood. Perhaps satiated by its recent expression of energy and going out of Leo like a Lion, it now comes into Virgo like a lamb. You could really feel the energy change quite markedly on Tuesday afternoon, and the difference may almost feel like a vacuum or absence of energy. Mars in Virgo has a live-and-let-live philosophy: quietly going about its business and even serene in this, if scores have been fairly settled on Monday, objectives accomplished, no offence meant or taken. It’s a helpful atmosphere to nurture Thursday’s (3rd) New Moon in Cancer, where hearth and home are the centrepiece of existence and there is a need to touch base. Despite a Venus-Jupiter opposition on the same day, there is a good chance of achieving some of this cosy security, for Venus and Jupiter are fairly friendly and more likely to bring out gentle teasing, humour and playfulness with each other than the earlier double act. Saturday (5th) winds up the week with a square between Mercury and Uranus. Travellers could indeed get wound up, and communication end up as gobbledegook. Don’t try any telepathy experiments, they would just bring mixed messages and your antennae could be picking up interference from planet Zog. Do try new mind maps by all means, but keep your existing circuits until you have tested them out thoroughly and are sure of your ground. Just going to google to see if there really is a planet Zog…

The Mars-Pluto trine on Monday 30 June brings a chance for two areas of your life to act as a locomotion.If you know your Ascendant sign, it is likely that the following will apply, because Mars and Pluto are at the very end of two signs, at 29 degrees of Leo and Sagittarius respectively.The energy will be high and intense as always when these two planets come together, but especially so in these fire signs:

Ascendant in Leo with Mars in 1st House, Pluto in 5th:

a burst of energy in creative projects and passionate engagements.

Ascendant in Virgo with Mars in 12th House, Pluto in 4th:

unconscious drives for perfection, centred around home projects and psychological issues around the family.

Ascendant in Libra with Mars in 11th House, Pluto in 3rd:

energy channelled into social activities, and team work, with meaningful dialogues.

Ascendant in Scorpio with Mars in 10th House, Pluto in 2nd:

projecting yourself forcefully in the world, with high financial stakes.

Ascendant in Sagittarius with Mars in 9th House, Pluto in 1st:

adventure and exploration beckon, physically or mentally.

Ascendant in Capricorn with Mars in 8th House, Pluto in 12th:

go gently on yourself for you could tire yourself out with inner work. If undertaking to express this through writing for instance, make sure you pace yourself and take regular breaks.

Ascendant in Aquarius with Mars in 7th House, Pluto in 11th:

you will be forceful in relationships, but also need to take account of the needs of the group.

Ascendant in Pisces with Mars in 6th House, Pluto in 10th:

you’ll channel this energy best at work or in healing, and may obtain insight into the nature and meaning of your career.

Ascendant in Aries with Mars in 5th House, Pluto in 9th:

energetic pursuit of leisure or sport, with foreign links and possible study or publishing connections.

Ascendant in Taurus with Mars in 4th House, Pluto in 8th:

releasing intense emotions around family and shared resources, and an awareness of the cycle of rebirth around this.

Ascendant in Gemini with Mars in 3rd House, Pluto in 7th:

action takes place in your local environment and with nearest and dearest.

Ascendant in Cancer with Mars in 2nd House, Pluto in 6th:

some necessary spending may be on the cards, and expenditure of energy on working conditions too.

As with last week, there isn’t a major aspect until Wednesday, so you will have time to commune with the Fixed Star which is aligned with our Sun for the beginning of this week: Tejat, a star which is one of the feet of Gemini. According to “Starlight Elixirs” by Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld (yeah, yeah, I know, I am always quoting them) there will be “a stimulation of the seventh and eighth chakras”, so as you do your regular early Sunday morning Yoga routine, open up those chakras. As those of you who used to belong to the “North Watford Society of the Thousand Petalled Lotus” (NWSTPL 1981-1995) will know, the 7th Chakra is also known as Sahasrara (I like to mull that over as a mantra, myself). These members are now scattered as far afield as Norfolk and Salisbury, but there are some original members in Watford itself. Starlight Elixirs tells us: “This star can gently and easily increase the ability to bring spiritual ideas into clear and expressible form as mental concepts and direct ideas to be shared with others.” After yoga, it would be recommended to begin reading “The 8th Chakra”, a book by Jude Currivan. You can read it over three days. All that will set you up nicely for the middle of the week, when Sun sextiles Saturn on Wednesday 25th. Here is a marker for your spiritual progress, a taking stock of what you have achieved over the last week or two wrestling with all those Neptunian and Plutonian aspects, and your Inner Saboteur Archetype. Dry your tears, give yourself a pat on the back, and really acknowledge yourself for how you have come through. Here’s a time when you don’t need to re-hash the past, just let those unresolved issues go and start afresh from where you are. It is a good place to be, and you have done enough. Friday 27th brings the U-turn from Uranus, going first stationary then retrograde. Uranus is the spanner in the works, so expect surprises that day, like some unravelling of your knitting stitches. You may have recently got your communication issues straight with Mercury being back on track, and Uranus could unseat them again, especially modern methods of communication such as I.T. and mobile phones. Snail mail should be unaffected, so hasten unto ye olde Poste Office threatened with closure and buy a book of stamps which could come in handy. If you found last week’s Pluto oppositions dramatic, what you learned from them will start to benefit you now, ahead of next week’s trine between Mars and Pluto. So the end of the week sees some limbering up for next week’s action-packed movie. Yoga mat at the ready!

The first half of this week we are digesting the lessons of Pluto’s reverse entry into Sagittarius yesterday. I found that people were analyzing where they might have taken a diversionary route, and needed now to re-trace their steps. It’s time for reflection now, with the lunar energy rising coming up to the Full Moon on Wednesday, and the last songs of Spring, coming up to the Summer Solstice on Friday. There are three main categories of experience with the Full Moon: you dread it, you love it, or you have transcended its effects. Even if you are in the last category you can still get caught up or triggered by someone crying out loud in a group situation. Approach it calmly and meditatively, and organize a group Tai Chi session for Wednesday. Wednesday (18th) itself kicks off with Venus opposite Pluto, which I think of as a tug-of-love situation. The organizer of the Tai Chi group session has an emotional crisis that morning, and rings in to say that she can’t bring in the Fair Trade organic decaffeinated teabags for the late afternoon tea ceremony, because her ex-husband can’t take the 5-year old to school, and she won’t have time to go to the Revital health food shop in Cambridge. This of course sets off a chain of events, because someone else will have to get them. Still in the morning (UK time) Venus enters Cancer, and ushers in our collective maternal instinct. The single parent looks lovingly at her child on the way to school, and feels compassion for everyone including herself and the workers in the third world who are producing the Fair Trade tea. Everyone is her family, including the ex-hubby. Straight from work, the Tai Chi session starts, at 5.30 p.m., the time of the Full Moon at 27 degrees Sagittarius. The Sagittarian Full Moon has global implications, and coupled with Venus entering Cancer, promotes and encourages thoughts of the world as family, free and fair trade, and generosity of spirit. The Tai Chi session is calming for the participating group, as well as for those who have turned out to watch, and who knows where that ripples out. It’s always good to channel the Full Moon energies into constructive group meditation: not too late to look up your nearest Alice Bailey Full Moon Meditation Group in your Yellow Pages. It is too late to join Moon Pod’s research group, which you may have noticed has completed its karmic mission. Full Moon now over, some of you may hail with a sense of relief the motions of Mercury that follow. On Thursday (19th) it goes stationary, prior to turning direct and moving forwards like a normal planet on Friday (20th). For those of you who have been registering and recording all the communication and travel havoc its retrograde motion has caused since 27 May, you will be longing to express unrestrained and undisrupted communication, and there will be long conversations about it on the commuter run. Lee, winner of the Apprentice, will be able to turn to Sir Alan once more and say: “That’s what I’m talking about!” Friday (20th) may also see re-runs of some of Wednesday’s dramas, for the Sun opposes Pluto, and enters Cancer. The emotional charge of the Full Moon will have eased though, and nature will be celebrating the Summer Solstice. Sun opposing Pluto may bring power battles, rather than emotional tussles. There may be more cut-and-thrust debate about the rights and wrongs of the issues over civil liberties, as highlighted by David Davis. Could another party declare an interest? On a more personal level, there may be a dispute over who stepped on whose foot in the group Tai Chi session. Sun entering Cancer ensures that on a higher level, we are all closer to singing to the same group hymn sheet. But the opposition with Pluto means that at the same time, many will cling to their smaller family groups and patriotic divisions. Unless they have looked over the mountain and seen the dream of the Sagittarian Full Moon. Winding down, there are still the aspects of Saturday (21st) to play for: Venus sextile Saturn, and Mars opposite Neptune. Venus sextile Saturn can bring stability, or at least a temporary welcome plateau, in human relationships. Mars opposing Neptune could see some personal or political attempts to deceive, and weatherwise possible flooding, but otherwise there is the possibility of people balancing their use of energy and sensitivity to good effect. It holds the possibility of people helping each other out and reaching out in kindness. And after a long ramble from me, you can log off now and practise your Tai Chi steps.

Having seen David Davis on our breakfast screens this morning informing us with passion that it is the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, I feel I must share my vision of the modern re-enactment of this historical drama. First of all, David Davis has natally Sun trine North Node, which gives him a great sense of destiny. At the moment, he feels empowered because Pluto links in with this trine: it is conjunct his Sun and Saturn is trine his Sun now. But he is being pushed to unorthodox actions with Pluto opposing his Uranus. By nature he is conservative, being born on 23 December at the beginning of the sign of Capricorn. And I can’t help thinking his sense of compulsion at the moment is karmic in origin, perhaps as the return of the Soul formerly known as King John, who was born on 24 December and whose Sun is within one degree of his. Maybe he has come to balance some karma now. The story goes that King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta by the barons and by Archbishop Stephen Langton, spurred on by Pope Innocent III. Enter more dramatis personae: the picture of Kelvin MacKenzie being spurred on by Rupert Murdoch to throw his hat in the ring and stand against David Davis, suggesting their possible roles. Alternatively, Gordon Brown (who was in a very coercive mood last week with Uranus transiting his Mars, and Mars transiting his Pluto) – could he have been a leading player in the medieval power play? This is undoubtedly a Soul level issue for David Davis, who was quoted as saying about the vote on liberties last Wednesday night: “I was hoping that we would win, but when I saw the nature of the victory, the shenanigans that went on, the iron entered my soul. I do not think the Archangel Gabriel could have talked me out of it at that point”. I will continue to look into this intriguing scenario…