Reality beckons as I work on a dossier on the astrological factors behind depression, but how I loved to hear about the many ways people created the space for the healing of the earth on Tuesday. At ancient temples, meadows and lavender fields, communing with sacred mystical poets, in solitude in candlelit homes…Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t recommend walking a spiral on Parker’s Piece in the rain, but it was very meaningful: to think of all that love and goodwill interpenetrating the earth, air, fire and water. Some of us too have felt that there has been a subtle shift since that time, enabling us to make decisions we hadn’t dreamt possible before, and whispers from the Cosmos of choice and co-creation. It was backed up by the sextile of Mars and Uranus last night (“Could that have been divine design?” asked Felicity), bringing anticipation to fever pitch over the launch of the last Harry Potter book!

The week begins and ends with a Mars aspect, so it’s Mars week. Time to dust down your Inner Warrior costume if it doesn’t get out much, and see if it needs pressing, mending or embroidering. Monday’s square between Mars and Chiron recommends we do that, because if we are not conscious of how we are using our Mars energy we can cause havoc. So tomorrow (16th) could bring a healing crisis, triggering the need for such a review. Why not get in ahead, and start now. Sit on your deckchair on the beach (wearing your rainhat), reading “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman. I must confess I have never read it, but love the title and quote it often. Now you’ll need the Eco-Warrior within for Tuesday (17th), in order to join in the Fire the Grid attempt to heal the damage we have caused to the Earth. I am assuming you will do it, because why wouldn’t you? In case you have spent the last week on another planet, read Shelley Yates’ account on the web of her miraculous escape from drowning and her son’s miraculous revival, reasons enough. I will be on Parker’s Piece in Cambridge, wearing my carnation and waving my banner, and then healing for all I’m worth at 11:11 GMT, that’s 12:11 Cambridge-time. Mars is in Taurus right now, so that helps to channel energy into the earth. The Moon will be conjunct Venus at that time, so there may be a gentle shift to reverse the tide of thoughtlessness. Wednesday would be a good day to conduct a further re-evaluation of your Inner Warrior. How was Tuesday for you? What have you learned about your Mars energy so far this week, how can you refine it, and what might you need to change to get the best out of Friday’s (20th) Mars sextile Uranus? There’s an aura of excitement about this aspect, and an electrical energy in the air (thunderstorms often occur when Mars connects with Uranus). Things to do: Celebrate life; Plan a surprise for someone; Go out of your comfort zone; Conduct a telepathy experiment; Feel the fear and do it anyway (another book I haven’t read but like the title of). Friday night is not a night for couch potatoes.

Perhaps the next few days will see, in the Fire the Grid project, a more subtle uniting of people than in the recent Concerts. It is inviting people of all religious and spiritual persuasions to join in pulsing healing into the earth. The chart for 11:11 GMT on Tuesday 17th July, when we are to focus our efforts, shows the North Node on the cusp of the 6th House (environmental healing), the Moon conjunct Venus (a fusion of the feminine forces, and healing through harmlessness) in addition to the powerful link with the Galactic Centre. And on the fringes of our understanding, there is a sextile of transiting Quaoar in Sagittarius to Chiron, which could signal a real hope for the healing of our planet Earth. That was a tip off, from a friend.

It may be no coincidence that Shelley Yates is urging us to Fire the Grid on Tuesday, or rather the Light Beings who are helping her. Pluto is a powerful planet in terms of shaping mass thoughtforms and it seems powerfully placed at the Galactic Centre. So environmental efforts on behalf of the planet would seem a good way to harness that source of energy. In addition “Starlight Elixirs” by Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld point to creative and unifying qualities in the Galactic Centre: “The centre of the galaxy is an origination point for energies of creative force. After these energies have manifested in the physical, what is left are guiding lights, gentle influences, more ideas, more potential, but not things that are forced into consciousness…Knowledge, wisdom, art, and the things that are the highest and best of humanity are then integrated and combined in the person. Cross-cultural stimulation is the current form for this.”

Verity: “Sorry to be ignorant but what is the Galactic Centre? It sounds like Dr. Spock ought to be there”. Sharon replied knowledgeably: “The Galactic Centre is the Centre of the Galaxy”. This was a fine line between a blog and a blag…and Sharon knew it. Pluto was said to be at the Galactic Centre over the next few days, and though it sounded important, she did not have a frame of reference for it. The last time it had happened was in the middle of the 18th Century, and that was during one of her non-astrological incarnations…

Someone asked me yesterday what was coming up in the week ahead…I had to confess that I wouldn’t know until this morning. Apart from the broad sweeping aspects like the Saturn-Neptune opposition we have just negotiated, I don’t get involved in the aspects until they are upon us. As I write this on Sunday morning, Mars is exactly sextile with the North Node, bringing a day when you can go for your karmic mission, both individually and collectively. What’s your role in the divine plan? Are you a wannabe Madonna or an Al Gore? Weigh up realistically what you can and can’t do. This evening’s events are a good opportunity to resolve long-term relationships, to put goodbye or hello in a positive frame. This is because Venus trines Pluto in the early hours of tomorrow morning. If the main event is tonight, then be as honest as you can be for your own sake as much as for others, and set the record straight. If tomorrow is a time of stock-taking in relationships, this can take the form of a dialogue or an internal process, sifting through the past. Many of us have been impatient for Mercury to stop vacillating and for our communications and tele-communications to go back to their normal working functions. So wait only until Tuesday (10th) when Mercury goes stationary. If your phone or your commuter route hasn’t returned to normal by then, just give it a little more time for the re-orientation. You shouldn’t need to call on Uri Geller to mend your watch, Mercury can and will do it. By Wednesday (11th), you’ll be canceling the appointment with Uri, and be able to bend your own spoons or whatever phenomena you would like to achieve under the smiling trine of Uranus to the Sun. Telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation…just do it yourself. Dispense with the expert. The New Moon in Cancer on Saturday 14th at Noon helps us to re-formulate our relationship to our family life, and also look beyond that to our global tribe. One week on from Live Earth, are you still calculating your carbon footprint? Is your recycling going to plan, or like me are you still rubbish at it? Venus leaves behind its glitzy side in Leo later that day, and enters the more demure sign of Virgo. Some of us can see both sides in our make-up, but it will be easier to express the Mother Teresa within under this influence. My last word is a call to start working with the potential of the Saturn-Pluto trine in about a month’s time. I’ll write more later, but as it connects Leo and Sagittarius it also connects two areas of your life and you can enhance the effect of the mutual support of these two planets. Maybe I should be organizing the Concert….

Here’s wishing you all a happy 07/07/07 tomorrow! I’m no Numerologist, but isn’t 7 everyone’s favourite number? Astrologically, Neptune vibrates to the number 7, so it’s a good day to practise your Spirituality. The Sun is aligned with the fixed star Sirius, which makes it a good day to put your efforts towards earth healing. There’s a lot happening: Al Gore has been inspired to create the Live Earth Concerts, Felicity Cook (see link on Contacts page) is leading a workshop of Developing your Soul Sound in Bury St. Edmunds, and the Moon will also be celebrating by making a link with Jupiter. So have a good day, while sparing a thought for those involved in the London events of 2 years ago.

Hope you’ve had the sense to look at this blog early on Sunday this week, as there is a panoply of aspects queuing up for you to deal with, even if you are not the new Prime Minister. Today Venus is conjunct Saturn, which is a bittersweet conjunction like a chocolate with two sides. If your focus is more on the Saturnian side of rules and commitment, Venus can soften your stance. If you are an open-hearted Venusian, Saturn can firm you up and even make you think about your boundaries, if not act. For some it could mean sadness in relationship, but for others it could mean a new relationship or commitment. It’s a complex combination, and made all the more complex by yesterday’s opposition to Venus from Neptune, which may have left some of you scratching your heads. Next in line is Mars sextile Mercury which requires or assists quickness of thought and action. Presence of mind could bring about some useful work. And the Sun is trine with the North Node, so early in the week there could be some Karmic Justice for some. Now if you blink you could miss these aspects, for extraordinarily there are no more aspects for the week, so you’ll have to make that box of chocolates last. There will be plenty to think about and digest and act on arising from the start of the week, and if you’ve dealt with the issues, you can lie back and think of England. And the fact that there are signs that the Rufus Wainwright movement seems to be taking off…

Tomorrow’s smoking ban in enclosed public places in the UK is an opportunity to look at these issues karmically. I find in regression work that many spiritually evolved people still have an attachment to smoking when they also have a strong soul lineage in the North American Indian tradition, where smoke is sacred. So here’s a cue to look at whether you or someone you know may have this karmic pattern. It may be time to release it or shake some of it loose. Why not try Hopi Ear Candling? It comes from the Native American Indian tradition, is non-addictive, and as my friend June Chase says has “all the smoke and fire”. You can find her website link on my Contacts page.

This evening brings the arrival of Mars in the sign of Taurus. For those with a strong emphasis of Taurus in their charts, its presence will stimulate their creativity over the next six weeks. If new ideas for creative projects present themselves to you this week, you may be an honorary Taurean or responding to this effect on a universal level. Therefore get cracking while the enthusiasm is still fresh, and know that you have about six weeks before completion. Tomorrow brings a more serious and reflective mood with the return of the opposition between Saturn and Neptune. This could be the time when you will need to resolve once and for all the tug between two areas of your chart and life which have been plaguing you over the last few months, for Saturn will soon be pulling away from this relationship on its journey to the new pastures of Virgo in late Summer. There’s a feeling of this can’t or won’t go on, and you may need to cut your losses on one side if you can’t resolve the polarity on a higher level which benefits all. Thursday (28th) gives us a conjunction between the Sun and Mercury in Cancer. Time to experience mental clarity about emotional minefields, or really see how the land lies after the major aspect on Monday. Visualize where you go from here, and keep a record of this crystal moment. Saturday afternoon (30th) delivers a double punch-line in the form of two oppositions: The Full Moon in Capricorn opposing the Sun in Cancer and Venus opposite Neptune. The first aspect will be about emotional balancing, and if you have been recording the effects of the Moon’s phases in your life, you may have an idea what to expect, or not. The second aspect speaks of emotional confusion, or even deception, and you will need to unearth that record of crystal clarity from earlier in the week to help your perspective on the issues which could be complex. I feel I need to end on my usual note about Rufus Wainwright or aubergines, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome on location at Predator Design HQ. So please excuse this hastily cobbled-together blog and hope it helps you through…