23 December 2023
This post is a copy of the free fortnightly newsletter. If you’d like to receive this straight to inbox you can subscribe here – and new subscribers to the free newsletter also automatically receive a copy of the weekly blog free of charge, as your introductory offer, which is mailed out every Monday. All blog details and PayPal links on the home page of this website.
SUMMER SCHOOL 2024 – OUR 23rd SEASON
I can’t quite believe that it’s year 23 coming up. I realise that I’ve been very quiet about next year’s courses, I’ve had a bit of a crazy year with Uranus on the loose and a new book on the go, but it is definitely going ahead. For those who want to do flight only, one of the delays has been waiting on accommodation info from my contacts who disappear to Athens for the winters!
But I’ll be sorting out all the options in the New Year as well as taking a look at what packages are on offer. The travel and learning planet Jupiter goes direct on NYE, hurray, so already stationing for the Big Turn. Mercury turns direct in Jupiter’s sign of Sagittarius two days later, so there’s the theme. Bring it on.
Separate mailing coming soon then, but for now here’s a quick look-see at the current state of play for next season. The numbers are based on those who have booked a definite place and paid a deposit, if you’ve “pencilled in” for any of these weeks you’ll still need to confirm –
5 June – Tarot & Astrology with Joanna
5 of 10 places available
12 June – Questions, Questions – Horary Astrology with Elisabeth Brooke
7 of 10 places available
4 September – Intermediate Astrology – How to do Readings with Joanna
5 of 10 places available
11 September – Medieval Astrology with Chris Mitchell
7 of 10 places available
ELISABETH BROOKE
The ever popular Elisabeth will be returning for just the one week in June. If you’re not familiar with Elisabeth’s work here’s a link to her current blog and the rest of her website –
https://elisabethbrooke.com/2023/12/17/talking-trash-taylor-kanye-and-kim/
You can now follow me on Instagram for free daily astrology posts –
https://www.instagram.com/joannawattersastrology/
So here’s the last fortnightly newsletter of the year, coming to you on the Winter Solstice, when we have the shortest day and the longest night. The Sun reached 0 degrees of Capricorn in the early hours of Friday morning, the tipping point of the daylight hours switching from shortening to lengthening, the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere of course.
Either way it’s the Sol (Sun) Stice (standing still), a time to take stock even if you’re racing around in those ever decreasing retrograde Mercury circles and trying to get ready for Christmas.
Here’s my offering for the standing still and reflecting bit, which I posted on Instagram on Friday …
Is it just me, or is social media on total overdrive with everything connected to visualising, manifesting, attracting, whether it’s wealth or health, and every single way imaginable of attaining the perfect body, the perfect diet, people who seemingly have all the answers, bombarding us with the only way to understand spiritual laws, get rich, find your soulmate, all with the subtle unwritten subtext that if you don’t manage to achieve all or any of these things then it’s either your own fault or you’re just an inferior being and not doing it right ….
It just goes on and on and on …. So much pressure, especially on the younger generation.
The reason I love astrology is because our chart is us. It’s not “out there”, it’s “in here”. Your horoscope reflects back to you all your strengths and weaknesses, all your gifts and imperfections, all your struggles and all your triumphs, all your humanity and all your spirituality, all your good days and all your bad days.
And you don’t have to DO anything. You are your chart, your chart is you, same thing. If you like, your horoscope is responsible for you, not the other way around. You don’t have to keep asking or wondering “how” to use it. Just keep watching it, it will unfold and speak to you.
This applies at a universal level too, in other words the current astrology always reflects what’s going on around us, in our wider circle or out in the world. On Thursday my Instagram post referred to the annual Venus – Uranus opposition, including my observation –
And have you ever noticed that when Uranus is in the picture then your Aquarius friends are too? Listen out for their news or needs in particular
I have several close Aquarians, two of them family, and I heard news about nearly all of them, news which carried the Uranus hallmarks of suddenness or the unexpected.
So what are we watching at the moment? This year the Solstice is underlined as it coincided with the Sun – Mercury conjunction (approx. every 2 months) and the monthly Moon – Jupiter conjunction –
Friday 22 December – times in GMT
- Winter Solstice, Sun ingress Capricorn 03.28
- Moon conjunct Jupiter 5 Taurus 12.55
- Sun conjunct Mercury 0 Capricorn 18.55
Saturday 23 December
- Retrograde Mercury goes back into Sagittarius 18.55
In every weekly blog I give you the daily astrological events and times, as the above example shows, so next week’s blog will start with Christmas Day. It probably won’t run to the usual 3.5k words and am aiming to get it out tomorrow rather than Monday – we’ll see how my own running around in circles goes, never make a plan under a retro Mercury! – but it will include –
- The last week of Venus aspects – to Neptune, Mercury and Pluto as she finishes her journey through Scorpio
- The Full Moon in Cancer, coinciding with the second of the three Mercury – Neptune squares, and also falling in trine to Jupiter, getting ready to switch to direct on New Year’s Eve
- Another big turning point with Chiron the Wounded Healer turning direct at 15 Aries, has been retrograde in this sign since 24 July
If you’d like to start receiving the weekly blog UK bank details on request or you can find the PayPal links on the home page of my website – https://joannawatters.com/
The subscription fees are designed to be affordable for everyone –
- Monthly subscription of £5.95 – or £1.37 a week
- Annual subscription £57.00 – or £1.09 a week
A note on yesterday’s Moon – Jupiter conjunction, extra important because Jupiter is SD – Stationary Direct –
- Yesterday’s conjunction fell at 5 degrees and 42 minutes of Taurus
- The turning point on NYE from retrograde to direct is 5.35 of Taurus, so only 7 minutes of arc away (an eighth of a degree)
- If you have any natal planets or Angles at or very close to 5 Taurus – or the opposite sign of Scorpio – then this particular turning point will be significant for you
- The monthly Moon – Jupiter conjunctions on the way will be 18 January at 6 Taurus, 15 February at nearly 9 Taurus, 13 March at 13 Taurus – looking at the sequence we can see Jupiter starting to pick up speed (will enter Gemini 26 May)
Jupiter the Greater Benefic is, amongst other things, the peace and liberation planet. This feels like a powerful omen, to see this planet turning direct on NYE, ushering in 2024 with the world willing the war to stop, especially for the children and hostages.
Elisabeth Brooke wrote eloquently about this suffering in her newsletter yesterday, and also about the Solstice moving us into phlegmatic season –
What to do? How to be? Water gives us a clue, water flows, dissolves and adapts itself to circumstances. The strength of water is its flexibility, its mutability. Water can shapeshift, ice, steam, rivers, raindrops, tsunamis and snowflakes, each one different, each one unique. We can, with our own personal talents and aptitudes, make a difference, even if it is only sharing on social media or marching in the rain.
A good time to let you know that Elisabeth’s new book Ageing Gracefully is being published by Aeon Books who are offering a pre-publication discount code AG20:
https://health.aeonbooks.co.uk/product/ageing-gracefully/95239
It gives 20% off the book and is valid until 30 April 2024.
Elisabeth will also be teaching an ONLINE MASTERCLASS on Ageing Gracefully February 21st 7-8.30 pm and you can book here
You can also see from the list above that the Sun – Mercury conjunction also fell on the same day as the Solstice, and was therefore at 0 degrees Capricorn – a “critical” as in important degree for beginnings – but then they move in different directions. Mercury slides back into Sag later today, reaching the other critical degree of 29, as in endings.
That is one topsy turvy picture, hard to see what direction something is going in, what looks like an ending might be a beginning, but watch for themes that relate to the past. Ask Andrew Ridgeley! It was announced on Friday that Wham!’s Last Christmas has been crowned this year’s Christmas number one, 39 years after it was first released.
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
For readers who are not already subscribers to the weekly blog, but would like to be, why not add this to your Christmas wish list? Or if you want to buy a monthly or annual subscription to the blog as a Christmas present for someone else then do get in touch to let me know the name and email address.
I can add new subscribers myself at this end without having to go through the sign up boxes on my website, so it’s easy to arrange your gift, as a surprise if preferred.
You can do either an annual subscription or any number of months of your choice – eg a gift of 3 months, 6 months etc subscription, whatever you like.
UK bank details on request or you can find the PayPal links on the home page of my website – https://joannawatters.com/
The subscription fees are designed to be affordable for everyone –
- Monthly subscription of £5.95 – or £1.37 a week
- Annual subscription £57.00 – or £1.09 a week
READINGS
You can also buy readings as a Christmas gift, or for yourself. As I said last time it’s been a crazy year so I haven’t been allocating particular weeks for readings as I usually do, but with the new book now nearly finished that’s at least one major time bandit out of the way.
My rates have hardly changed since pre pandemic so they will be going up in the New Year. But all bookings taken by 31 December will be at the current rates, taking bookings now for January and February appointments –
- A first horoscope reading, natal interpretation, reference to the past and key features for the coming year – one hour and a quarter £135.00
- Subsequent readings, if you’re already a client – one hour £95.00
- Tarot with reference to your horoscope for the next 6 months, ideal for specific questions – one hour £95.00
- YOUR YEAR AHEAD 2024 – a detailed report of transits from both the outer and personal planets, progressions and lunations for the next 12 months. We can also cover any specific questions – £245.00 for all prep and a 2 hours consultation. I’m now scheduling these from mid January, 2 of 6 slots available
ASTROLOGERS CALENDAR 2024 by JILL SHEARER
Another lovely Christmas idea is Jill Shearer’s beautifully crafted astrologers’ calendar that she produces every year, a bargain for £18.00, you can order from her Etsy shop with a delivery time of about 3 days, here’s the link –
Thank you for being a regular reader, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, see you in 2024
With love from Lefkada
Joanna
MOON SIGNS – CONTINUED
Taken from my book Essential Astrology I’m serializing the Moon signs, continuing today with Leo.
Essential Astrology (previous titled Be Your Own Astrologer) has been relaunched under the new title by Cico Books –
NATAL MOON IN LEO
The Moon in the Sun’s sign is perfect symbolism for a female monarch – this was Queen Elizabeth II’s Moon – and there is something of “royalty” in the manner of all these individuals. Every Leo Moon needs their adoring public and special attention. If you are in a relationship with a Leo Moon person you can get away with anything as long as you spoil them, appreciate them and worship the ground they walk on. The moment they feel as if they are no longer Top Cat, the relationship usually withers and dies.
At work and at home these Moon people are central, competent and efficient. You can throw pretty much anything at them and, after the initial drama, they will step into their creative mode and find a way to cope. They believe wholeheartedly in their own abilities and, as a result, tend towards bossiness. When it comes to giving orders they like to be in charge, rather than on the receiving end, and do not take kindly to being told what to do. They loathe being ridiculed and the knee jerk response to any embarrassment is to stand on their dignity.
Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister, is a Virgo but with her Ascendant at 24 Leo, Venus at 25 Leo and her Moon at 29 degrees of Leo, the position of a fixed star called Regulus – known as the royal star and associated with supreme success and recognition. This symbolizes her own elevated status through the sister destined to be Queen and the creative mother who made a fortune through her own party (Leo/fifth house) business.
OTHER CELEBS WITH MOON IN LEO –
This is a very strong Moon and the list of examples was noticeably a lot more extensive than other signs I’ve looked at. Here are my top 20, several of them with links to royalty – being in a royal family, UK prime ministers (weekly visit with the Queen) or actors known for playing royal roles –
- Barbara Streisand
- Charlene, Princess of Monaco
- Charlize Theron
- Clint Eastwood
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- David Bowie
- Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband
- Elizabeth Debicki
- George Michael
- Helena Bonham-Carter
- Jane Fonda
- Julia Roberts
- Mahatma Ghandi
- Margaret Thatcher
- Megan Fox
- Paris Hilton
- Paul McCartney
- Renée Zellweger
- Tom Hanks
- Winston Churchill (Moon at 29 Leo, conjunct Regulus as described above)
