The Astrology Blog 20 July 2020
All times in BST
“Humility means accepting reality with no attempt to outsmart it.”
― David Richo, The Five Things We Cannot Change: And the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them
– Born 14 January 1940, psychotherapist, teacher, writer, whose work focuses on the benefits of mindfulness and loving-kindness in personal growth and emotional well-being
PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY
There are all kinds of ways of using astrology as a predictive tool and one of these amounts to what I call “astro-snooping”. This is because your horoscope isn’t just about “you” in terms of your personality, emotional profile, life purpose and so on but is also about the other people in your world. Thus events unfolding in the life of an individual will show in the horoscopes of those closest to them, especially partners and family.
Before looking at some examples bear in mind that, when you are considering the four crucial Angles of the chart, the exact signs and degrees on these points are determined purely by the time of birth. In other words, these Angles are extremely time sensitive – eg the Midheaven moves on one degree for every five minutes of time – so they are only really worth using in predictive work when you have an indisputably accurate birth time. This is one of the reasons why using the charts of the royal family is so educational for the astrology student, their birth data is indisputable.
Here’s a reminder of the meaning of the Four Angles –
- Ascendant – beginning to House 1 – the “native” (ie, the person whose chart is. Your horoscope is your “nativity”, the celestial picture at your time of birth)
- Descendant – beginning to House 7 – the partner or any other major one to one relationship
- Midheaven or MC – beginning to House 10 – career, status, purpose, one of the parents
- IC – beginning to House 4 – roots, family, home, property, the other parent
JOHN TRAVOLTA
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/John_Travolta
An example of a major transit over an Angle is the tragic death of Kelly Preston, who died last week 12 July after two years of fighting breast cancer. Travolta has an exact birth time of 2.53 pm which gives him an Ascendant of 29.06 Cancer. Saturn has therefore just transited his Descendant (marriage angle) for the second time, the transit being exact on 14 July. To put that in more perspective Saturn has a cycle of nearly 29 and a half years, and therefore transits all our personal planets and Angles just once every 29 and a half years. This transit was exact to within 48 hours.
With Capricorn on the Descendant this means that Saturn is the significator for his partner. John Travolta also has Chiron at 25.20 Capricorn, conjunct the Descendant. Kelly passed away on the day of the Mars – Chiron conjunction at 9 Aries, exactly quinqunx his natal Saturn 9.21 Scorpio. The quinqunx is that awkward aspect formed when planets are exactly five signs apart and is associated with illness.
Travolta and Kelly Preston married on 12 September 1991 so the horoscope for the marriage itself is also going through its own Saturn Return. Saturn is currently retrograde and will turn direct again 29 September, interestingly at 25.20 Capricorn which is the exact position of Travolta’s Chiron. I would expect that to be a key turning point in his bereavement.
PRINCESS BEATRICE
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Princess_Beatrice_of_York
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Prince_Andrew,_Duke_of_York
Whatever we might think of Prince Andrew’s situation and story it must be absolutely devastating for his daughters, with whom he reportedly has a very close relationship, especially Beatrice. She was reportedly distraught after the disastrous TV interview as it was reported that she’d encouraged him to do it and had even helped to organize it. That being the case suggests that she doesn’t believe for one minute that her father is culpable.
The Covid crisis has turned out to be a handy way of avoiding more impossible decisions. How sad for a Sun in Leo lady not to have her lavish, centre of the world’s attention moment, but obviously any kind of public event was impossible. However, Prince Andrew’s fall from grace is so complete that the cheapest royal wedding in history wasn’t even announced, it was organized and conducted in total secrecy, and the father of the bride wasn’t even included in her official wedding photos.
What’s the astrology? Firstly the synastry – the comparison of two horoscopes that reveals both compatibility and points of conflict – is textbook. One of the comparison points that is top of the synastry list is to have one person’s Sun or Moon conjunct (especially to within 5 degrees) the other person’s Ascendant – Descendant –
- Beatrice Sun 16 Leo – Andrew Descendant 11 Leo
Also their Angles are exactly “flipped” –
- Beatrice Ascendant 11 Aquarius – Descendant 11 Leo
- Andrew Ascendant 11 Leo – Descendant 11 Aquarius
Note that the Queen’s Moon is 12 Leo so her own relationship with both of them will also be very close, and very painful at the moment. The tougher synastry involves slower moving planets, especially Uranus who is co-ruler of Beatrice’s Ascendant and Andrew’s Descendant –
- Beatrice Mercury 22 Leo – conjunct Andrew’s Uranus 18 Leo (echoes of the TV stuff here, and shockwaves)
- Beatrice Saturn 26 Sag/Uranus 27 Sag – conjunct Andrew’s Jupiter 28 Sag
Transits
Beatrice has her natal Mars, dignified in his own sign at 9.20 Aries. Although Mars is not the ruler of either of her parental houses he is an obvious significator for a father with a military career, Mars being the god of war. Chiron the Wounded Healer turned retrograde at 9.26 Aries 12 July and made the conjunction with Mars 14 July, just 3 days before the wedding last Friday morning. Again to put that in perspective Chiron transits our natal planets just once every 51 years.
The “wounded” theme in her own upbringing is shown by her natal Moon 4.54 Cancer, in her sign of dignity but almost exactly conjunct Chiron at 4.15 Cancer. Her Venus is there too, at 1.30 Cancer. With Moon as mother this also invokes Sarah Ferguson, so Beatrice hasn’t had just one parent fall from grace but both.
Beatrice’s triple conjunction of Venus, Chiron, Moon falls in the 5th House, where we have fun. But all three planets fell under the shadow of the Solar Eclipse at 0 Cancer on 21 June. If Moon is mother, the Sun is father, and his disgrace eclipsed her wedding day. The last Eclipse at 13 Capricorn fell conjunct Andrew’s Saturn.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
Monday 20 July
- New Moon 28.27 Cancer 18.34
- Moon opposite Saturn 18.56
- Sun opposite Saturn 23.29
No matter which way you look at it, this is not an easy start to the week. New Moons happen when the Sun and the Moon (known as the Lights or the Luminaries) come together, marking the beginning of the Moon’s next 28 day cycle. The Lights symbolize life itself. Fresh starts and seed moments are also key symbolism but on this occasion the New Moon falls exactly opposite Saturn who is traditionally known as “the enemy of the Lights”. This is illustrated in the fact that the Sun and Moon are strong in the signs where Saturn is weak –
- Sun – dignified in Leo
- Moon – dignified in Cancer
- Saturn – dignified in Aquarius and Capricorn (the opposite signs to Leo and Cancer)
- Saturn – in “fall” (weakest placing) in Aries, which is the Sun’s sign of “exaltation (strongest placing)
Before the discovery of the outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Chiron) Saturn was the end of the known universe and therefore symbolizes finality of all kinds, including death. In natal astrology the Lights in challenging aspect (square or opposition) to Saturn are recognized as being especially tough and there is always some story of early deprivation of some kind, through health issues, or themes of curtailed childhood, lack of nurturing or hardship. At one level Sun (masculine) and Moon (feminine) are mum and dad.
However, the headlines on the BBC this morning captured these themes in the best way, with an announcement of successful medical trials for a coronavirus vaccine – the New Moon opposite Saturn showing the new road ahead to lowering both symptoms and death rates –
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53467022
The use of a successful vaccine will take time – and Saturn is Lord of Time. For now, at a universal level, the New Moon in her own sign of Cancer (home, family, nurture) slap bang opposite Saturn, planet of boundaries and restrictions currently retrograde in his own sign of Capricorn, suggests the resurgence of tough lockdown measures for countless thousands of people across the world. If nothing else Saturn is the ultimate reality check and this New Moon is a powerful symbol for the vital importance of social distancing. Boundaries of all kinds are crucial, including masks, which is yet again a sign of how dangerous Donald Trump is as a leader as it was in the news earlier this week that he was refusing to recommend to the American public that masks should be worn.
At a personal level note where the New Moon falls in your own horoscope and also what/who Saturn signifies for you. This should give you an insight into the matters you need to deal with or face up to, how you can cope or how you can meet or balance your emotional and material needs.
It’s little wonder that Saturn so often gets bad press as he also rules all our difficult feelings – dread, fear, anxiety, pessimism etc. Jung said that there is something in the human psyche that disregards death, as a coping mechanism for getting on with life, but these days it’s staring us all in the face and it’s very hard to ignore. Here’s a useful article on coping with anxiety, which includes the point I’ve made before about minimizing the amount of time you spend reading the news –
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51873799
There must be something nice about Saturn? Well, the Moon is the child in us but Saturn is our adult. He helps us grow up and take responsibility for our actions, decisions and relationships. Back to this week’s quote from David Richo (Sun in Capricorn square Saturn in Aries) and his “Five Things” here they are –
“There are five unavoidable givens, five immutable facts that come to visit all of us many times over:
- Everything changes and ends.
- Things do not always go according to plan.
- Life is not always fair.
- Pain is part of life.
- People are not loving and loyal all the time.
These are the core challenges that we all face. But too often we live in denial of these facts. We behave as if somehow these givens aren’t always in effect, or not applicable to all of us. But when we oppose these five basic truths we resist reality, and life then becomes an endless series of disappointments, frustrations, and sorrows.“
He should know. Sun square Saturn is exactly that endless series and it’s a wonderful showing of astrology that Richo has made the understanding of this his life’s work. So look at your own frustrations and setbacks, and check them off against his Five Things. Remember that the subtitle of this work is the happiness we find when embracing reality, so this isn’t just a “should” thing. There are definite payoffs. If you’re more of a Jupiter type, like me, you can rephrase that with the happiness we find when embracing the truth. Boils down to the same thing. The thing I love about the way that astrology and psychotherapy overlap is that they give us a frame of reference that is meaningful. In turn this helps to stop us from taking things too personally, like a pandemic. It keeps us connected to humility rather than ego. We’re all in this life together, we matter as individuals but also as a collective.
What else? At a physical level in the human body Saturn rules the bones and teeth. Make that dental or osteopath appointment wherever possible. Tend to family and property matters, and seek expert advice where needed. Saturn is authority and professionals.
GHISLAINE MAXWELL
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Ghislaine_Maxwell
As noted a couple of weeks ago Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on 2 July, in between two Eclipses, on the day that retrograde Mercury opposed her natal Mercury and on her Saturn Return. Her natal Saturn is 28.58 Capricorn so this New Moon opposite Saturn is a double whammy. She has a history of not being reachable during legal proceedings and this has caught up with her. Last week on 14 July a New York federal judge denied her bail after determining that her risks of fleeing “are simply too great”. Bail was denied as the Sun opposed the Jupiter (freedom) Pluto (wipeout) conjunction, and exactly on the Mars – Chiron conjunction.
There’s been quite a lot of contributions about this New Moon on my group Facebook page The World of Astrology, but it’s amazing how not all but many have missed the fact that it’s smack opposite Saturn. It makes a big difference. Elisabeth Brooke wrote –
Ghislaine Maxwell has Saturn at 28 Capricorn in her 10th house of government, which suggests to me some sort of reckoning with the State, and of course, her imprisonment (denial of home/Moon comforts). The symbolism is personal to your chart, and how you have lived your chart. Saturn conjunct Saturn in her 10th could have meant career advancement and honours after hard work, not a public downfall. There is always a choice as to how we express our horoscopes.
THE SUN COMES HOME
Wednesday 22 July
- Sun ingress Leo 09.38
- Mercury 10 Cancer sextile Uranus 10 Taurus 21.26
The Sun’s arrival in his own sign of Leo is always a powerful symbol of the life force itself, so let’s hope that this bodes well for the vaccine trials and swift progress. It’s also usually a time of sunshine holidays but many will have to find new ways of enjoying leisure time. But here on Lefkada the tourists are arriving, not in hoards but enough to bring some business onto this tourism reliant island.
Unfortunately we’ve already had a case of the virus arriving with a tourist, a Serbian, who is now in hospital in Ioannina two hours away, along with all of his family. They were on a chartered yacht holiday and seemingly didn’t come ashore with their symptoms so, as with the one and only other case of the virus that happened in the spring, we may have been lucky in terms of the spread being limited. UK flights started only yesterday so we’ll have to see what the next couple of weeks bring before I make my final decisions about running any courses in September. Watch this space.
The final aspect of the week is the third and final alignment of Mercury and Uranus –
- They first made this aspect 5 June at 8 Cancer/8 Taurus
- Mercury then turned retrograde so came back to meet up with slow moving Uranus for the second time 30 June 10 Cancer/10 Taurus (same day as the second major Jupiter – Pluto conjunction)
Mercury – Uranus combinations add up to news of the unexpected or sudden kind. As noted earlier, the synastry between Beatrice and Andrew involve these two planets and came to life as the “car crash interview”. If you have planets or Angles at or close to 8-10 degrees of Cancer – Taurus (or the opposite signs of Capricorn – Scorpio) then this finale is likely to be significant in terms of closure for an ongoing event in your life.
At a universal level listen out for surprises, new information or breaking news that affects you, someone close to you or your community. Uranus rules society and the collective, so again it’s fitting symbolism for any virus related rules and regulations. Uranus rules technology too so it’s good to keep up your online connections and to focus as much as possible on working from the safety of your own home with the help of that lifesaving invention called the internet. What would we do without it?
Next week Mercury continues along the closure road with the third and final square to Mars on Monday, coinciding with some other major features including the big backdrop of the Jupiter – Neptune alliance, and I’ll be talking about this in detail next time,
Until then, with love from Greece
Joanna