Firstly a huge thank you to my lovely, lovely students who’ve just been over to do the Synastry course. Ali, Chris, Elizabeth, Emma, Hilary, Julie, Linda, Lynne, Rasha and Suzan – you all worked so hard and we finished the week on a real high with some amazing astrology emerging from everyone’s individual charts. We also had a lot of fun, such different personalities yet everyone gelled, delicious taverna dinners and some great conversations, it’s what Summer School is all about – it’s going to feel very quiet this week without you all!
If Greece is too far for you to come, and if the astrology of relationships is of interest to you, then the weekend of Halloween might be a date for your diary – all details below.
Relationship Astrology workshops London
Lust, Love, Loss and Longing
Saturday 31 October & Sunday 1 November
The Astrological Lodge of London, 50 Gloucester Place W1U 8EA
10am-5pm
£85.00 per day, or £150.00 for both
(13 of 25 places available on either or both days)
Join us for an exciting weekend of relationship astrology in London, designed to be suitable for all levels. The two days are completely different but are designed to complement one another, so you can choose to do either day, or both. I’ll be joining forces with Ingrid Hoffman – astrologer and Imago Practitioner, founder of Trueheartwork, for this magical weekend. You can read more about Ingrid, and her beautifully crafted and insightful blogs, on: http://blog.trueheartwork.com/
Ingrid will be leading the therapeutic Saturday workshop, designed to explore Venus and Mars through the signs, and to show you how to:
• Understand the wondrous duality of male and female, within yourself and in your relationships
• Revisit and connect with the powerful attractive energy of Venus in your psyche
• Step into the assertive Mars energy that is being sapped by stress or financial worry
Bring attraction and assertion into balance so you can begin to manifest the love you desire
• Learn new ways of connecting and communicating with you partner or partner-to-be
I will be leading the Sunday workshop, in which I’ll be teaching how traditional horoscopy lies at the heart of assessing and understanding the synastry between two individuals:
• What kind of partner do you attract and why?
• How can astrology tell you when an attraction is mutual and beneficial, and whether or not you are compatible?
• What is a “cosmic marriage” and how do you know if you’re with a true soul mate?
• Why can you live easily with one person but not another?
• How to compare the all important Moon signs in terms of emotional natures and needs
• How to use astrology to answer all types of love questions, including how to handle conflict
We’ll also look at timing measures of transits and New/Full Moons to predict dates for meetings, marriages and significant milestones within a relationship.
You’ll be working on your own horoscope on both days so please have your data to hand when booking – your date, place and time of birth. Your own chart will be drawn up by me in advance but you can also bring along one other horoscope of your choice, either a partner or a key person in your life, if you wish.
The Greek Island Summer School 2016
The next events in Greece will be next May and June –
• Combining Tarot & Astrology week, starting Monday 23 May with guest tutor medium and tarot expert Avril Price
• Discovering Astrology week, starting Monday 6 June
What’s happening this week? The Astrology Blog 14 September
All times posted in BST
Well no sooner have we kissed goodbye to Venus in retrograde motion than it’s Mercury’s turn. At least we won’t have to contend with retrograde Venus for another year and a half, but Mercury’s backward journeys are more frequent – three times a year for three weeks at a time. He is currently “stationing” – slowing down in readiness to mark the change of direction –
Thursday Mercury Stationary Retrograde at 16 degrees of Libra (19.10)
Mercury will turn direct again on 9 October at 1 degree of Libra, so if you have natal planets or angles in the first 16 degrees of this sign, or the opposite sign of Aries, then this will be an especially sensitive time for you. Here’s the usual link to check your horoscope:
http://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html
For all of us though retrograde planets carry a universal message, and now’s the time to bear in mind the text book interpretation of “problems with communication and transport” and all related matters. We live in a world in which we often need to be in two places at the same time, in which communication is relentless and response time is virtually immediate. Retrograde Mercury periods are however often characterized by waiting on others, or dealing with issues to which we can’t expect immediate answers. As I said last week the themes of retrograde Mercury are likely to be more pronounced than ever given that this meandering journey is happening in the air sign of Libra, sign of The Scales, known for fairness and cooperation but also for deliberating and procrastination.
However, taking a long time to make up your mind about something may be exactly what’s needed. At the very least rushed decisions are definitely out, discussion and information gathering is in. Don’t allow yourself to be badgered into doing anything that you feel instinctively or logically to be wrong for you. Here’s the usual checklist for the “backdrop” of the coming three weeks:
• Try to operate by “re” words – review, revise, research, reappraise, rethink and so on
• Buy yourself time wherever needed
• Write things down – forgetfulness, being distracted, inattention etc can be a troublesome theme
• Back up all your computer work
• Getting back to ideas on the back burner
• Getting back in touch
• Rest and relaxation, give the brain some time off
• Keep options open
• Assume nothing, double check everything
• When in doubt, check it out – second hand opinions are a dead cert for getting hold of the wrong end of the stick – and don’t believe everything you hear
• Keep a close watch on all belongings – especially keys or anything linked to communication such as phones, laptops, tablets, cameras etc and don’t even think about buying new ones for the time being
• The same for cars – never buy any mode of transport under a retro Mercury
• Plan any journey with extra care and don’t trust to luck
• Kill your speed when driving – allow extra time for getting there slowly but safely
• Take extra care with form filling/signing on dotted lines
• No matter how certain a situation might seem there is a good chance that it will morph into something else over the next couple of weeks – the “x” factor is at work
Mercury’s change of direction coincides with two huge astrological events –
Thursday Jupiter opposite Neptune (07.57)
This aspect happens approximately every 13 years – the last one being September 2002 when Jupiter was in Leo opposing Neptune in Aquarius. Since then slow moving Neptune has changed sign, so this opposition happens at 8 degrees of Virgo/Pisces respectively.
This seems an apposite moment to address an issue that always comes up during a course, and often in consultations too if the astrologer makes the mistake of using too much jargon. The natural question in response to any kind of astrological statement is, “What does that mean?” The answer to that question lies at the heart of understanding how symbolism and divination actually work. If we change the question to, “What MIGHT that mean?” we shift our perspective in a way that then leaves us open to possibilities rather than becoming fixated on “boxing” symbolism and insisting that it must means something specific in advance. Those who do the Tarot know this. All the 78 cards have traditional meanings (manifest meaning) but it’s the reader’s “take” on a card when seen in a specific spread and within the context of a question that brings it to life (latent meaning).
Astrological symbolism works in exactly the same way. So this major opposition (challenging, at full stretch) between Jupiter (planet of expansion, ruling faith, justice, all things foreign, beneficence and good fortune) and Neptune (planet of spirituality, encompassing the imagination, dreams, illusion, escapism, suffering, compassion and idealism) has huge implications for all of us. Robert Hand calls it the aspect of conflict between “the real and the ideal”. At a universal level this aspect strikes at the heart of humanity itself and poignantly captures the migrant crisis in Europe, as thousands of frightened souls are washed up on the shores of new countries in the search for safe harbors. Note also that these big aspects are active for weeks as they are “applying” (building up to their point of exactitude) and then also take several weeks to draw apart and separate.
Whenever Jupiter is in the picture you can start with the word “BIG”. Neptune is also associated with inflation, being god of the seas in all their depth and boundlessness. So this Jupiter – Neptune opposition signals feelings and scenarios that are overwhelming, over the top or which have the propensity to become blown out of all proportion. Big feelings, big dreams, big emotional conundrums – etc. In tandem with Mercury turning retrograde the advice of “keep it real” is probably the best, even though that may not be completely possible. Also bear in mind that this is a highly seductive picture if someone is trying to win you around to their way of thinking – don’t be coerced or conned! It’s also sob stories – listen out for the hallmark of “poor me” and wise up to where you’re being influenced or persuaded to act against your better judgment. Psychologically this aspect paints the archetype of the Rescuer, which is fine if a loved one is genuinely in need, but when our resources of love, time or money are in danger of being plundered we have to try and put in some boundaries.
The final big event of the week is a major planet changing sign –
Friday Saturn ingress Sagittarius (03.48)
Saturn first entered Sagittarius on 23 December last year but only got as far as 5 degrees before turning retrograde on 14 March. He then slid back into Scorpio on 15 June and turned direct again on 2 August. This time he enters Sagittarius for real and will be travelling through this sign until the end of 2017. So I’ll be talking a lot more about this combination in the future but for now note that Saturn is entering Jupiter’s sign, and this new cycle is part and parcel of the unfolding of world events that affect us all.
Until next week,
With love from Greece
Joanna