{"id":1541,"date":"2012-04-01T11:50:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T10:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lanawooster.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2012-04-01T11:50:15","modified_gmt":"2012-04-01T10:50:15","slug":"aspects-for-the-week-beginning-1-april-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lanawooster.co.uk\/?p=1541","title":{"rendered":"Aspects for the week beginning 1 April 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bradford Spring<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

George Galloway is back on the political map, currently starring in a Bradford by-election victory at the helm of his political party Respect.\u00a0 He hails his victory as momentous and sensational.\u00a0 According to the Guardian:\u00a0 ‘\u2026But he never held back on the religious imagery. Reflecting on his victory in the early hours of Friday morning, he said we had witnessed something “miraculous” \u2013 in the biblical sense of the word. “And as a religious man, I have to believe that there is some divine intervention in this \u2013 the retribution of the main parties for the treason against the country and against their supporters that they have visited is something sacred. Justice has been done.” ‘<\/p>\n

Here is how George himself sees the victory, writing in the Guardian yesterday:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis peaceful, democratic uprising comes from the same wellspring of discontent and alienation that fuelled riots in British cities last summer.\u00a0 But it is a positive counterpoint \u2013 bringing forth a new generation of political leaders, not another cohort trapped in the criminal justice system. Every politician should take notice, as they did not last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Andrew Rawnsley writing in the Observer today observes:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026ungorgeous George proclaims himself to be the herald of a \u201cBradford Spring\u201d.\u00a0 It is a very advanced form of narcissicim to view a byelection upset in a parliamentary democracy as the equivalent of the moral courage displayed by those who have risked their lives in uprisings against entrenched tyrannies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the book \u201cChavs: The Demonization of the Working Class\u201d by Owen Jones, published in 2011 (Quick book review: this book and its author talks a lot of sense) the background of the niche George Galloway has found for himself is analyzed:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe left continues to champion the most marginalized groups in society \u2013 as indeed it should \u2013 but all too often this has been in search of something \u2018to replace\u2019 the working class with.\u00a0\u00a0 A classic example is\u00a0 the Respect Party founded by George Galloway as a left-wing, anti-war alternative to Labour.\u00a0 Respect rightly took a stand against the rampant Islamophobia that has gripped Britain in the era of the \u2018war or terror\u2019.\u00a0 But Respect\u2019s electoral base was overwhelmingly in Muslim areas, such as East London and parts of Birmingham.\u00a0 It did not pitch to working-class people as a whole; instead, it substituted them for a Muslim community that was understandably particularly angered by the brutal invasion of Iraq.\u00a0 Class politics was abandoned for communalist politics. \u2018The left has accepted that it\u2019s still class based, but it\u2019s gone off on single-issue campaigns and not related them back to the class issue,\u2019 says left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Galloway is a showbizzy Sun in Leo (purrrh!), with Sun conjunct Pluto on his Ascendant, so he comes with a serious message.\u00a0 He has the Jupiter-Uranus entrepreneurial conjunction, which tends to take political opportunities (e.g. against Oona King in East London in 2005\u2026and in Bradford this year) if not financially-focussed opportunities.\u00a0 He has an uncanny ability to read the sensitivities of society, with Moon conjunct Part of Fortune in Pisces trine Jupiter in his 11th<\/sup> House.The win in Bradford comes as transiting Jupiter trines his natal North Node in Capricorn (a political karmic mission), so surprisingly it is a karmic reward of sorts!\u00a0 Maybe it is that the Lords of Karma find him to be a lovable rogue\u2026But as with Jeffrey Archer who also has Pluto on the Ascendant, his life is full of ups and downs, and he should make the most of this opportunity, and learn the lessons of his failure to deliver to the people of East London.<\/p>\n

The Aspects<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As it is April Fool\u2019s Day look out for the deliberate mistake… The\u00a0week starts with a semi-sextile between the Sun and Jupiter on Tuesday\u00a0(3rd) morning (UK time). You could receive a modicum of success in an\u00a0ongoing venture so start the day with a swing, whether you are on the\u00a0golf course, at the park, or working in your chosen profession. It may\u00a0not be entirely smooth-sailing, as it may entail a movement off-piste\u00a0to mix my sporting metaphors…later on, in the afternoon, Venus will\u00a0enter Gemini and this will add even more lightheartedness. Venus in\u00a0Taurus has been heart-centred but more serious. You might be starting\u00a0to trust the Spring sun, let down your hair a little and share your heart. Some stargazing may also be a welcome activity on 3rd<\/sup>.\u00a0 According to the Guardian, at 15.00 Hrs Venus will be 0.5 degrees South of the Pleiades (\u201cBinoculars give the best view as it brushes past the Pleiades early in the month, lying only 0.4 degrees below-left of Alcyone, the cluster\u2019s brightest star, on the 3rd<\/sup>“), and at 18.00 Hrs the Moon will be 6 degrees South of Regulus.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday (4th) –\u00a0 oh the relief! – communications start to\u00a0unblock as Mercury is stationary prior to turning direct. Remember to\u00a0write in your Mercury direct journal what you learned from this recent\u00a0retrograde period. Has the phrase “Mercury retrograde” reached the\u00a0Oxford English dictionary yet, I wonder?<\/p>\n

Bask in the free air of Mercury\u00a0direct for another day, before tackling Friday’s (6th) square between\u00a0Venus and Neptune which takes place in the early hours, and which may occur in your dreams. It is an aspect which finds difficulty\u00a0distinguishing between reality and illusion in relationships and may\u00a0be something you need to examine in your personal life. If it occurs\u00a0in your dreams, you may have such a vivid dream that on waking you may\u00a0wonder if it was a dream or reality. On some level the event may have\u00a0taken place. The tension and wonder may carry through for the rest of\u00a0the day, working towards the early evening Full Moon in Libra, for\u00a0which the theme is still relationship dilemmas. If you are not\u00a0focussed on relationships the relationship dilemma may be lie within the\u00a0self. A recent book has highlighted the hidden strengths of\u00a0introversion (\u201cQuiet: The Power of Introverts in a World which Can\u2019t stop Talking\u201d by Susan Cain) and we all need to work on our inner journey, which\u00a0always enhances the outer journey. A little goes a long way on such\u00a0journeys, and this Full Moon also highlights the difference in the\u00a0East and West pathways of consciousness, and how they might be brought
\ncloser together, a marriage of the Right and Left Brain. For more information and inspiration, take a look at\u00a0the website of the East West Sanctuary, linking different philosophies in holonomic enquiry, http:\/\/www.eastwestsanctuary.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Results of Poetry Competition<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s Venus sextile Mercury Poetry Competition yielded a winner!<\/p>\n

The result is a debut poem by Sarah Berry, entitled \u201cHealing Process\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0 Be inspired by her poem, which now graces the Poetry page of this website, especially if you are on a healing journey.<\/p>\n

Stop Press!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oops!\u00a0 Missed a bit!\u00a0 Very late on Saturday (7th) Venus squares Mars – Socially that means inappropriate behaviour: in other words, “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”.\u00a0 But it’s up to you…As it is very late on the Saturday night, this will also apply on Sunday morning.\u00a0 It’s a good job Friday night is binge-drinking night in the U.K.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Week in Bullet Points:<\/p>\n