London Events 10 to 15 August
Early Bird Payments
Just a reminder that the deadline for London early bird payments is next Monday 8 July.
Here’s a look-see at what’s coming up, with direct links to the London events, and Greek Summer School below –
Tarot Workshop 10 August
Astrology Workshop 11 August
Astrology Summer School – a choice of 1 to 6 modules
London Astrology Summer School
WORKSHOP AND SUMMER SCHOOL FEES & HOW TO BOOK
DEADLINE FOR EARLY BIRD BOOKINGS – 8 JULY
Elisabeth Brooke is banker for all London events. Please contact me directly by message from this site or better to joannaw@otenet.gr for the bank details and Elisabeth will send you a receipt and confirmation of the events you’ve booked.
Workshop fees
- £65.00 – per day
- £55.00 – Early Bird
Summer School fees
- £35.00 – per module
- £30.00 – per module for up to 4
All of these fees carry a further 5% discount for early bird bookings – payments to be received by 8 July, so –
- £33.25 – per module
- £28.50 – per module for up to 4
- £23.75 – per module for all 6 (142.50)
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT OWING TO THE SUBSTANTIAL COSTS INVOLVED IN SETTING UP THESE EVENTS THAT ALL WORKSHOP AND COURSE FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
The Greek Island Summer School
Tarot courses in August and September: £325 per course
Talking Tarot Beginners course 28 August
Working with Tarot Intermediate course 11 September
The Astrology Blog 1 July 2019
Mirrors, Courage & Eclipses
“Tending to and cultivating the most important relationship in our lives – the one we have with ourselves – is what brings us true happiness and is the foundation from which we create beautiful relationships with others.“
“Every Relationship is a Mirror” – spiritual mentor, writer and speaker
It’s amazing how quickly Sundays roll around, the day I write my blog! This last week has flown by as am now in serious summer routine, getting up earlier to beat the heat, working till the sun hits my study windows at about 2.30pm and then escaping to the beach in the afternoons. Not as hot as France and Spain though! But this is why I don’t run courses from mid June to very end of August…
If you enjoy the blog do send me a few words about what it means for you – joannaw@otenet.gr I’m collecting feedback to use for marketing and to add some comments to my fabulous new website – thank you for all your hard work Lynne Stainthorpe!
Thank you too to my very spiritually aware friend Eleftheria for the conversation a few days ago about relationships as mirrors. The imagery of mirrors is extensive in any kind of personal development and therapeutic work – eg the importance of the mother mirroring her baby, holding him/her in front of her, copying facial expressions with strong eye contact, is recognized as a crucial element in bonding.
We talk about the eyes as “mirrors to the soul” – what do our eyes reflect back to another person? Ever wondered why Scorpios in particular have a penchant for the darkest sunglasses?! Ask Anna Wintour. Have you ever talked to yourself in front of a mirror? It’s powerful stuff.
In psychology we use the phrase “holding up the mirror” to something, a metaphor for finding truth. This sounds paradoxical at first as what we see in the mirror isn’t real, it’s an image that isn’t an exact replica (not going into the science of that one, too complicated for my brain!) but in fact apparently none of us can ever see exactly how we look to others. But holding up the mirror has come to mean looking at something from a new perspective, for reflections and revelations.
“People don’t learn from experiences, they learn from the reflection on their experiences.” Rosie Guagliardo, life and career coach
Unhealthy Narcissism
Mirror, mirror, on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of them all?
Thus chanted The Evil Queen to appease her vanity and dread of ageing, until the day that the Mirror breaks it to her that Snow White has toppled her from that throne. The rage of the narcissist is thus unleashed and you know the rest of the story! Only the destruction wreaked by the narcissist in real life doesn’t usually make for a fairy tale ending.
Neither can we think of mirrors and reflections without thinking of Narcissus. There are various versions of the myth but the classic one is that Narcissus, after rejecting the nymph Echo and breaking her hopeful heart, was then punished by Nemesis the goddess of revenge:
“… the goddess lured him to a pool where he leaned upon the water and saw himself in the bloom of youth. Narcissus did not realize it was merely his own reflection and fell deeply in love with it, as if it was somebody else. Unable to leave the allure of his image, he eventually realized that his love could not be reciprocated and he melted away from the fire of passion burning inside him, eventually turning into a gold and white flower.” (Wikipedia)
In Stendhal’s Le Rouge et le Noir (1830) there is a classic narcissist in the character of Mathilde. Prince Korasoff warns Julien Sorel, the protagonist:
“She looks at herself instead of looking at you, and so doesn’t know you.”
That is a brilliant observation. If we’re overly conscious with how we look, and how we’re perceived, the ego gets in the way of building authentic relationships, of really getting to know another person. Have you ever been chatted up/cornered by someone who’s all out to impress you? Have you then ever been chatted up/cornered by someone who wants to know all about you? Spot the difference! The Narcissist invites and courts admiration. The non Narcissist gives admiration.
When is narcissism destructive to the point of sending our alarm bells clanging?
In some form or another we’ve probably all heard of NPD – Narcissistic Personality Disorder – often rooted in early experiences of insecurity or humiliation that have never been processed or resolved and which are therefore projected onto that great big mirror called “Other People”. The main hallmarks are:
- an exaggerated sense of self-importance, entitlement and superiority
- an inexhaustible need for excessive admiration
- an inability to recognize the needs and feelings of others
- perceiving just about everything as criticism, with anger as a first response
- belittling others
In other words, for someone who is narcissistically disordered, it’s all about them. One client told me that when she told her boyfriend about a leg problem he said, “Oh we can’t have that. We need to fix it. I need someone who can go sightseeing with me!” Unfortunately she still married him because the other hallmarks are charm and charisma, someone who’s exciting to be around. But in the ensuing years he systematically destroyed her financial security and sexual confidence. She had a lucky escape when he ran off with someone who was “better” than she was. She learned the hard way but she’s now in a great relationship.
Healthy Narcissism
We tend to use the word narcissism in a pejorative sense, sometimes to the extent of denigrating anything that smacks of self-love, but this is a throwback to an old way of thinking. These days loving oneself is recognized as being healthy rather than selfish.
Back to this week’s quote from Jennifer Kass, her article “Every Relationship is a Mirror” is beautifully written and thought provoking. Read the full length feature here – Here’s an excerpt:
“The universe will perfectly align us with those who mirror back to us the areas in which we need to heal OR they will mirror back to us the space of self-love that we’ve created… I began to look within myself and I could see how all of the challenges in my relationships were a reflection of my loveless thoughts and the lack of connection I had with myself… Everything I was withholding from myself I was looking for to the other person and was not getting it.”
In a nutshell, her feature presents us with the simple truth that making our relationship with ourselves our primary one, and basing our relationship with ourselves on loving care, especially the kind that we probably easily extend to others but withhold from ourselves, leads to a radical shift. We can then stop repeating old wounded patterns. She doesn’t say how long it took her!
The Astrology of Narcissism – the good and the bad!
Both the love planets Venus and Mars change sign this week, opening new cycles. We start with Mars moving into Leo which correlates perfectly with this week’s theme. Leo rules the 5th House of the individual and personal creativity, opposing Aquarius and the 11th House, ruling the collective –
Tuesday 2 July
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Mars ingress Leo 00.20 BST
As with all combinations of planets and signs there are two sides to the coin! Mars in the Sun’s sign is royal, commanding, creative and powerful. As a natal placing these individuals have forceful personalities and their talents are usually expressed in a centre stage way. Their self belief is wholehearted but they need others to believe in them too, so they’re highly motivated by praise, recognition and adulation. The Mars drive coupled with the Leo knack for drawing a crowd creates a showmanship quality, charismatic performers and “the show must go on” work ethic. In business this is the archetype of the Managing Director and the Entrepreneur, such as Donald Trump.
This placing often bestows an excellent physique – statuesque types such as Charlene Princess of Monaco, supermodels Yasmin Le Bon and “The Body” Elle McPherson. Amongst the men think Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars or as the intrepid Indiana Jones, and “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen whose best-known albums “epitomize his penchant for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily life.” (Wikipedia)
Overall red hot Mars exiting watery Cancer (his sign of “fall”, most difficult placing) and entering a fire sign is good news. Look out for a positive shift of energy, from avoidance and going around in circles to a “can do” attitude, and getting bossy about it if you have to. The best embodiment of Mars in Leo is not to think that we’re suddenly entitled to everything we want and to be hell bent on getting our own way, but to step into our own authority, tap into our own courageous streak, to honour our own needs and to stop being a wimp.
Mars will be travelling through this sign until 18 August (the day I return from London) but don’t dally. It’s even more important this week to get things done – especially to shift the things that have been stuck or that you’ve been putting off – as Mercury is poised to go retrograde, the last point on this week’s blog.
Before we get to that turning point though we also start the week with a Solar Eclipse
Tuesday 2 July
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New Moon/Total Solar Eclipse 10 Cancer – 20.17 BST
Eclipses work in pairs so we’ll have the Lunar Eclipse in two weeks time on the Full Moon (16 July at 24 Capricorn). Eclipses get mixed press but basically they’re points of change that often involve power issues and/or the crux points of triangular situations (symbolized by the intricate relationship between the three bodies of the Sun, Moon and Earth). Who is going to overshadow whom? There is often a flavour of death/rebirth symbolism – the light disappearing and coming back on again. In this respect, Eclipses can fall into the category of omens, unbidden phenomena that signal fated change in the life of an individual or a nation.
The last time we had Eclipses (they fall approx every 6 months) a client asked me if a partner who had left her for another woman was going to come back. The Eclipse at the time had fallen on her Descendant (the angle marking the beginning to the 7th House of relationships and partnership). The short answer was “no”. She had been “eclipsed”. Matters that evolve under an Eclipse tend to be irreversible.
If you have planets or angles at or close to (within in 2 to 3 degrees) of 10 Cancer then be on the alert for key developments in any situation that is about change, and establishing a new order. It may not be easy but when the shadows lift a new landscape is revealed.
Going back to the astronomy for a moment Eclipses occur when a New or Full Moon is also conjunct the Moon’s Nodes. The North and South Node are not heavenly bodies, they are the imaginary points at which the Moon cuts across the Ecliptic (from which we derive the word Eclipse) which is the apparent path of the Sun’s motion as seen from planet Earth.
In traditional astrology the line of the Nodes (always exactly opposite each other) symbolizes a dragon. The Sun and the Moon (the Lights) are the eyes of the dragon, and the dragon “eating” the Lights refers to the phenomenon of eclipses.
- The North Node Caput Draconis – the head of the dragon is regarded as fortunate, as this is where the dragon feeds and gains nourishment. Good karma.
- The South Node Cauda Draconis – the tail of the dragon is regarded as unfortunate, being where the dragon excretes, ie where shit happens. Bad karma.
The Moon’s North Node is currently at 17 Cancer. Saturn is currently at 17 Capricorn and is therefore exactly conjunct the South Node. As Saturn is known as Lord of Karma the fated quality associated with Eclipses would appear to be underlined.
Midweek brings Venus’ change of sign –
Wednesday 3 July
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Venus ingress Cancer 16.19 BST
This is not one of Venus’ recognized, traditional signs of strength but, from my own observations over the years, I’ve found this to be a beautiful combination. The other feminine planet is the Moon, and Cancer is her sign of dignity, and Venusian qualities also sit well with this water sign, the domain of protective care and nurturing. Venus will be travelling through this sign until 28 July so I’ll be talking more about this combination in the next few weeks. It won’t all be moonlight and magnolia as there are some tough aspects to come when she opposes Saturn and Pluto both plodding on through Capricorn. But for now Venus makes two minor aspects, the first one to Mars, and these signal gentle new beginnings –
Friday 5 July
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Venus 2 Cancer semi-sextile Mars 2 Leo 11.33 BST
Sunday 7 July
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Mercury 4 Leo semi-sextile Venus 4 Cancer 07.27 BST
The semi-sextile occurs when two planets are exactly one sign apart. These aspects can symbolize connections with those who are very different from us yet with whom we feel a subtle connection. I’ve noticed many times in my own life that when Venus is involved in these aspects that girlfriends tend to pop up, everything from let’s go for lunch to helping with something just at the right moment.
The second of these minor aspects involves Mercury, which would normally indicate pleasurable things such as offers, invites, happy news, love talk, meeting someone you’d like to see again, but on this occasion the aspect is formed just as Mercury is about to turn retrograde, the exact turning point being just as the UK clicks into Monday –
Monday 8 July
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Mercury turns retrograde 4 Leo 00.16 BST
This doesn’t reverse or negate everything you hear or might be planning, but it does throw a big question mark of uncertainty into the mix. The picture will change again in at least some details. Chiron will also be turning retrograde on the same day at 6 Aries. More next week on both of these events.
Back to my earlier point about not dallying this week, it was one of my first teachers Maggie Hyde who taught me that things can be “tricked through” as Mercury (the Magician and also the Trickster) is slowing down in readiness for the turning point. I’ve often found this to be true. So put some energy into your to-do list, especially the things that need other people’s involvement or decisions, or you may miss the moment and then have to wait again until Mercury turns direct 1 August.
For now, as the Greeks say on the 1st of each month, Kalo Mina – have a great month,
With love from Greece
Joanna