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?

Today the Mean North Node enters Capricorn, moving backwards from the sign of Aquarius.  If you want to read more, I have a blog posted on 5 July if you can find it.  In the blog I have contrasted the placement of the North Node in Capricorn with the signs either side, saying: “The new karmic requirement as denoted by North Node in Capricorn will be that of acceptance and of working with what is, without frills and flourishes”.  It is also the Mayan New Year and “We are urged to celebrate the Day out of Time, the Day of Point Zero, a day of forgiveness and compassion.”  You may still be working out issues from last week arising out of the eclipse, but today does mark another new beginning if you can cope with another one.  We start the new working week tomorrow Monday (27th) with a trine between Venus and the triple conjunction in Aquarius (Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron).  It is a chance to bring together the harmonies of the triple conjunction, especially if you are conscious in your life of what that represents.  Later in the week, Mercury will bring an opportunity to work with the tensions (we live in a balanced Universe).  So, seizing the opportunity brought by Monday’s Venus trine Jupiter, pop open the champagne and think of something to celebrate.  It’s time to socialize and party.  Might be difficult if you are back at work, but resolve to work hard and play hard.  Do lunch with an old friend, then return to the grindstone refreshed.  Psychologies magazine gave an excellent tip last month, which I have been following.  If you have an afternoon slump at work, drink liquorice tea instead of coffee.  It works for me.  The next leg of the Venus trine is Chiron, and that is specifically concerned with the healing of relationships.  Perhaps you have been nursing wounds and will be able to talk things through.  The third leg of the Venus trine comes on Tuesday (28th) with Neptune.  Paranoias are reassured, and depending on your level of illusion this may be permanent or temporary.  You may be able to access great inspiration in music and art.  Relationships are graced with a sense of spiritual communion.  In the second half of the week, you will have a chance to analyse these sublime experiences and form conclusions about them.  But for now, later on Tuesday (in the evening in the UK) there is a turnaround of mood, a sense of detachment brought by a square of Venus to Uranus.  You may look at the events of the last two days from a different perspective.  Perhaps you wore more of your heart on your sleeve than usual, and feel embarrassed.  But it’s all good stuff and part of the hologram.  If you are the analytical type, you’ll enjoy picking everything apart mentally on Thursday (30th) when Mercury begins its opposition to the triple conjunction.  Just don’t take all the juice out of the experience, unless you are determined to be a complete rationalist.  Mercury first opposes Jupiter, so you’ll be on google finding out if it really was possible that you had a close encounter, or whatever you had.  You will want to know all about it, until you experience information overload.  Then on the same day Mercury opposes Chiron, so you may give yourself a headache with over-analysis.  If so, a spot of meditation could coalesce and reconcile all viewpoints, and bring mental healing.  That may also set you up nicely for Friday’s Mercury opposition with Neptune, which confuses and clouds travel and healing efforts.  If you are travelling to a health-related appointment, set out two hours earlier than planned to compensate for detours, and make sure you ask the right questions when you get there.  Making a list may help to anchor your consciousness.  Finally, on Saturday 1st august Venus takes the spotlight again, entering the sign of Cancer after leaving outgoing but flighty Gemini.  Your domestic cat may act as a barometer of this, having been independent of late, but now settling into becoming a cosy lap cat again.  At the very end of the day (again with UK time – please adjust) Venus opposes Pluto and someone in your circle (it may be you) is saying au revoir and moving onto pastures new.  But it has been an important week for reviewing emotional and mental experiences, especially in relation to some of the bigger things going on in your life (the triple conjunction, and Pluto in Capricorn) so don’t dismiss any important insights you have had in the rush to be so over this week.

Jonathon Porritt, a world-saving hero of mine from the time he first came into the public eye, has had an eventful eclipse week: two near fatal cycling accidents, and a career change.

Born in 1950, this has been the year of his second Saturn Return, and Pluto is coming up to an opposition with his natal Uranus.  But this particular week, as well as the eclipse, transiting Pluto has been exactly square to his North and South Nodes.

He’s a Cancerian Sun sign with a sensitive conjunction of Mars and Neptune, and so I see him as a guardian to Mother Earth.  Traditionally Virgo is associated with green, ecological and environmental issues (and he may have a Virgo ascendant – his birth time is not available).  But his approach has much of his Sun sign of Cancer about it, when focussing on environmental factors in relation to  children.  He himself is a father of two daughters.

“I didn’t really come into environmentalism through a love of nature; I came into environmentalism through looking at what happened to children whose lives were blighted by there being no nature” – he said in relation to his early career as an inner-city teacher.

Of his campaign to restrict population growth, another Cancerian-related issue, he is quoted as saying: “I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate.”

This week, he stepped down as government advisor at the Sustainable Development Commission, after 9 years in the post.  He plans to continue working for Forum for the Future, and hopes to have more time for campaigning, for green issues but also for human rights.

His natal North Node (karmic mission) is at the beginning of Aries and to some degree conjunct with the caretaking Moon, depending on his time of birth.  His future plans are in line with this, and the current Pluto square to this conjunction shows a need to break away from his current position where he may have done all that is possible.  I hope that he still holds to sentiments he expressed in 2005: “We have a very strong rule about working with the positive energy in people.  If you work with the positive energy, you will see a faster process of change than if you bludgeon people into doing things.   You need to get connected.”  Next February, he has a Jupiter Return in Pisces, which may bring opportunities to fulfil some of his hopes.

Last week brought a high death toll for the U.K. in Afghanistan, losses from swine flu, and the loss of the world’s oldest man Henry Allingham, who died of natural causes yesterday.  What was the secret of his longevity?  “Cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women” he once joked, but if you were coming into incarnation and wanted a long life, what sort of birthchart could you choose, from what we can glean from his chart?  He had 5 planets in Gemini, which included a conjunction of Sun and Pluto, not an aspect you would normally associate with longevity.  He had witnessed harrowing scenes as a serviceman, but his life force battled through, past the cusps of two centuries.  His close Sun/Neptune conjunction was squared exactly by Saturn at his end.  We do not have a birth time for him but the chart for the time of his departure (excarnation?) shows Pluto exactly opposite the Ascendant.  But as for the most telling aspect depicting his longevity, I would plump for his exact trine between Mercury (his Sun ruler) and Chiron (his inner healer) which were in excellent rapport.  At the other extreme another Gemini Sir Edward Downes chose to end his life in Switzerland, together with his wife Joan who was terminally ill.  At his end, Jupiter was exactly conjuct with his South Node (a karmic choice indeed).  Moving on to present time, the theme of this week is change and surprise, both chosen and imposed (on some level).  The day’s main event is Sun trine Uranus, which ushered in the week just past midnight in the U.K.  It may prompt you to make a big bold statement or resolve to do things differently.  Stagnating on the couch is not going to be allowed today or this week.  Tomorrow (Monday 20th) Mercury in Leo is in sextile conversation with Mars in Gemini.  They talk of cutting edge procedures, are slightly confrontational but stopping short of actual conflict.  They may sizzle with anticipation and excitement, and may not just be all talk, but could rise to action.  On the following evening, Tuesday (21st) Venus squares Saturn, which is a whole different conversation, on a feminine and feeling level.  It’s a conversation which acknowledges loss, and is the first step towards coming to terms.  Just a few hours later, in the early hours of the morning in the U.K. Wednesday (22nd) we have an eclipse of the Sun, and a New Moon in the last degree of Cancer.  In the afternoon of the same day, the Sun enters Leo.  All this activity around the cusp of Cancer and Leo is about creating, self-creating and co-creating; parenting, self-parenting and co-parenting.  There is also an element of  nurture and nourishment.   Something or someone may come up from the past.  If your birthday is around this time, the eclipse is going to be even more meaningful to you than most.  Eclipses in general can be turning points: the end of something and the beginning of something else.  Like the end of cynicism and the beginning of innocence.  I have a mandala on my Poetry page which I painted earlier to represent the cusp of Cancer and Leo, and also a poem written many years ago on the Cancerian New Moon.  The experience of the eclipse, though it happens mid-week, may resonate through the rest of the week and beyond (they often shape events for months to come)…Your own experience may hold the soulfulness of the sign of Cancer, the joyfulness of the sign of Leo, or it could be both.