The Astrology Blog – w/b 10 November 2014
Scroll down past next year’s course info if you want to go straight to this week’s blog.
The Greek Island Summer School 2015
11 May 2015 – The Crystal Zodiac
This is going to be a very special week as we welcome visiting and internationally acclaimed mind-body-spirit tutor and author Judy Hall, the 2014 Kindred Spirit MBS personality of the year. Judy has over 40 books to her credit including the million selling Crystal Bible (volumes 1, 2 and 3).
Judy’s books have been translated into fifteen languages and she recently appeared in the Watkins Review of the one hundred most spiritually influential authors. In this course Judy will be teaching how crystals and astrology can help you to understand and heal the past and move forward into the life your soul has planned. You will be working with your own horoscope throughout the week. Suitable for all levels.
The other good news is that as the course is running early in the new season the package prices are a real bargain. We are already taking bookings so contact me direct joannaw@otenet.gr if you want details of flight and accommodation for just 275.00. Numbers for this group may be increased but for now 16 of 20 places available.
8 June 2015 – Be a Better Tarot Reader
(8 of 10 places available)
Discover how the tarot really works, learn the traditional and modern day meanings of the 78 cards and how to choose and use the best spreads to answer all life questions relating to love, vocation, guidance and purpose. Suitable for all levels.
7 September 2015 – Synastry: The Astrology of Relationships
(7 of 10 places available)
Discover how your horoscope holds the keys to understanding the nature of your relationships. What type of partner will you meet and when? Why do you connect with one person but not another? Learn how comparing your horoscope to another’s describes your points of both conflict and compatibility. You will need some familiarity with signs/planets/houses so suitable for students who have completed any kind of beginners astrology course.
What’s happening this week?
All times stated are in GMT.
It’s an important start to the week as Mercury entered Scorpio on Saturday for the second time and now reaches 2 degrees of this sign, the degree at which he turned retrograde on 4 October. Mercury reaches 2 degrees of Scorpio at approximately midday today, Monday, and this means that he is now out of what is known as the “shadow” period.
What can you expect? This is a bit like a rerun of Mercury turning direct – which happened on 25 October – but with bells on. In other words, any matter that has been time consuming, confusing or hampered by outside factors in the last few weeks will now reach a major point of clarification or even closure. Expect that moment of achievement or finding yourself on the home stretch of a challenging project or a hard won battle. This event can also signal that sense of reaching the end of the tunnel, that moment of knowing that you’ve come through to the other side, either to leave something behind or to start afresh. Expect to make decisions or to have them made for you.
This picture will be especially poignant for you if you have natal planets or angles in the early degrees of Scorpio, or in the other fixed signs (Taurus, Leo and Aquarius). Don’t forget that if you don’t know the position of your natal planets you can find them in a matter of minutes by entering your date, place and time of birth into a chart calculator, such as this one:
http://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html
Mercury’s emergence from the shadows is always good news, no matter what sign he is in, but the rebirth symbolism is underlined even more strongly by the fact that Mercury marks this moment in Scorpio. This sign’s biggest strength is the ability to regenerate, to move out of the shadows and back into the light. Mercury’s first aspect will be a harmonious trine to Neptune on Wednesday (03.40) which in itself is peaceable and the stuff of pacts, truces and deep emotional connection and understanding. With Scorpio there is however always the sting in the tail. It may be gloves off if you have matters of truth to address. Say it how it is because now is the time to deal with the facts of a matter and not figments of anyone’s imagination, including our own! This is powerfully underlined by the fact that Neptune is “stationing” (in the process of turning direct after five months of retrograde motion) so again there is the message of the real message emerging.
Admitting we were wrong, finding the strength to walk away from a job or a relationship that is beyond salvation, facing up to situations that cannot be changed but only accepted – these are the kind of themes to look out for as Monday closes with an aspect that smacks of inevitability –
Monday – Mars conjunct Pluto in Capricorn (23.04)
These are Scorpio’s ruling planets – Mars being the traditional ruler and Pluto being the modern co-ruler – and this conjunction happens at 11 degrees of Capricorn. Mars is the stronger factor as he is in his sign of exaltation and his principle is action, but Pluto is a tough adversary, planet of endings and black holes. As I’ve commented before you will frequently read “transformation” as a major keyword for Pluto but it’s a word to be used carefully. Pluto’s principle may be transformative but Plutonic change usually starts with loss, absence or endings and is therefore not of the overnight sensation variety.
The threads of this theme continue to work their way through this week’s astrological tapestry as midweek brings two major aspects less than half an hour apart –
Thursday
Venus conjunct Saturn (01.03)
Thursday – Mars square Uranus (01.30)
So, the meeting of Scorpio’s planets of Mars/Pluto in Capricorn (Saturn’s sign) is followed by Venus conjunct Saturn (Capricorn’s planet) in Scorpio. No matter which way you look at it these aspects signal issues that are heavy going or which need stringent reality tests. In terms of textbook astrology Venus is love, pleasure and money, whereas Saturn rules limitations and likes saying no. Venus-Saturn aspects of any kind tend to bring us up against denial – the denial of our own feelings or that which is being denied to us. Mars in conflict with Uranus, planet of rebellion or the unexpected, may also throw another spanner in the works. Note that in relationship astrology Uranus rules splits.
This doesn’t mean that all of life’s pleasures are suddenly going to disappear or that your love life will self destruct but if you have planets or angles that align with these aspects then you are inevitably up against challenges. To summarize –
The Mars – Pluto conjunction – 11 degrees of Capricorn
The Venus – Saturn conjunction – 25 degrees of Scorpio
The Mars – Uranus square – 13 degrees of Capricorn and Aries respectively
The good news is that anything that is already in a tailspin will be hurtling towards an inevitable conclusion and the opportunity to bail out may actually be a relief. Similarly, if you’ve been having doubts about the wisdom of pursing any particular course of action, then events during the first half of this week will sort the wheat from the chaff. Look for and read the obvious signposts.
The second half of the week is much lighter as jolly Jupiter steps in –
Friday – Sun square Jupiter (03.06)
The square is an inharmonious aspect but is not so troublesome when the two planets involved are not troublemakers. Jupiter’s principle is expansion and under duress points to biting off more than you can chew, over doing things, overspending, going over the top – but quite possibly having a lot of fun in the process.
As mentioned earlier Neptune is stationing and turns direct at nearly 5 degrees of Pisces at the weekend –
Sunday
Neptune turns direct at (07.07)
Mercury is the first planet to capture this mood (Mercury trine Neptune early hours of Wednesday) and he now also makes a constructive sextile to Pluto, Sunday (13.56). As above, so below. Look out for things swimming to the surface, a turning point in any situation which has provoked mixed feelings, information that throws a new light on the viability of a major plan or events that put you in touch with your own real feelings, or someone else’s. This weekend picture feels very much like getting to grips with things and probably expending a great deal of energy but being happy with the final results.
Sunday closes with –
Venus ingress Sagittarius (19.05)
This is good news as the love planet exits Scorpio her sign of detriment and enters freewheeling fiery Sagittarius, sign of optimism, learning and travel – and I’ll be talking more about this next week.