The Astrology Blog 19 October to 8 November
I’m off to London this Wednesday 21 October – you can scroll down past the following UK info to go straight to the blog, which is in a slightly shorter format as it covers the next three weeks, ie the dates I’m away, as above.
What’s happening in London?
There are 2 of 6 slots still available for private consultations so do get in touch asap if you’d like to book a one to one chart reading with me – joannaw@otenet.gr All appointments will be in Gloucester Place W1.
There are also a few places left for the Venus and Mars workshops:
Relationship Astrology Workshops London
Lust, Love, Loss and Longing
Saturday 31 October & Sunday 1 November
10am-5pm
Venue: The Theosophical Society, 50 Gloucester Place W1U 8EA
£85.00 per day, or £150.00 for both
(8 of 20 places available on Saturday, 5 of 20 places available Sunday)
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.
As with all workshops there will be mixed levels so group work will be arranged according to beginners – intermediate – advanced. Ingrid Hoffman and my colleague, astrologer Grant Davis, will both be joining us on the Sunday to assist with the group work and guidance on everyone’s individual horoscopes:
• 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
• PREDICTIVE WORK – How to use the 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 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.
What’s happening for the next three weeks?
Mercury is the main player this week. He’s been picking up speed since turning direct on 9 October (at 1 degree of Libra) and will end his “shadow period” next Saturday (reaching the degree at which he originally turned retrograde, 16 Libra). As above, so below, this is the light at the end of the tunnel with regard to all Mercurial issues – communication and transport, and everything that comes under that large umbrella. In particular, final resolutions or new information are likely to show at this time.
These however may not be of the easy or expected kind as Mercury also makes two difficult aspects at the end of this week –
Thursday Mercury square Pluto (22.21)
Sunday Mercury opposite Uranus (23.00)
This is the third and final square – the first two were 9 September and 24 September – all at 13 degrees of Libra/Capricorn respectively. If you have planets or angles at or close to this degree/signs – or the other cardinal signs of Aries and Cancer – then this finale is likely to be especially significant for you. The opposition to Uranus three days later happens at 18 degrees of Libra/Aries. This is Mercury’s last aspect before changing sign at the beginning of November, so this is also part of a grand finale. The nature of Pluto – Uranus is to bring changes of the inevitable but also unexpected kind, so look out a sequence of events ending in a way that you probably couldn’t have anticipated, or something you’ll be relieved to see the back of, or for events characterized by the “x” factor that will change the way you see the immediate future, including the possibility of ditching an original plan as A Bad Idea.
Also remember that Mercury involved in difficult aspects also signals isolated events of the kind that we normally associate with retrograde Mercury – in trouble making mode – such as cancellations or crossed wires. Increased vigilance helps at these times, so it doesn’t hurt to double check arrangements and to be more mindful about your personal belongings when out and about, and generally not taking your eye off the ball.
Here are the usual links for checking the position of your own planets and angles:
http://www.alwaysastrology.com/birth-chart-calculator.html
You can also try this calculator, which lists all your planets and angles rather than bringing up the visual of the horoscope, so for non astrologers it’s easier to use.
http://astro.cafeastrology.com/cgi-bin/astro/natal
The other key player this week is Venus, as we mark the end of British and European Summer Time –
Friday Venus trine Pluto at 13 degrees of Virgo/Capricorn (08.41)
Sunday Venus conjunct Jupiter at 15 degrees of Virgo (20.04 GMT)
In other words, Venus is playing into the trine (harmonious, 4 signs apart) between the two major planets of Jupiter and Pluto that was exact for the first time on 11 October (to be repeated 16 March and 26 June next year). The themes to look out for are –
• Venus – love, money, women and children, life’s pleasures
• Jupiter – expansion, luck, opportunity, generosity, travel, education, anything or anyone that makes your life a bigger and kindlier place
• Pluto (by good aspect) – those who empower us, finding your own power and authority, embracing total change in a fearless way, constructive endings, clearing out the old to make way for the new
Again, as Venus has recently spent a period of time in retrograde motion, going backwards and forwards, the trine to Jupiter is the third of three, the other two being when Jupiter was still in Leo (1 July 21 degrees of Leo, 4 August 28 degrees of Leo). As these two planets are both known as the Benefics in traditional astrology, this is arguably the most beautiful of all possible conjunctions. There is no better time for resolving love issues, or for meeting someone new. Pay close attention to anything or anyone coming into your life over this particular weekend.
Note that the Sun also changes sign at the end of the week –
Friday Sun ingress Scorpio (18.48)
Week beginning 26 October
All times stated in GMT
It’s a quiet week in the heavens with only two major events –
Tuesday Full Moon at 4 degrees of Taurus (13.06)
I always round up to the nearest degree but on this occasion it’s worth noting that this Full Moon falls exactly at 3 degrees and 45 minutes of Taurus (in other words, 3 and three quarters of a degree). Every planet has its sign of “exaltation” (the sign in which the qualities of that planet are most powerfully expressed) and the Moon’s sign of exaltation is Taurus. Furthermore, each planet also has its own degree of exaltation – in other words, the one out of the possible thirty degrees which is the ultimate position of strength. The Moon’s degree of exaltation is 3 degrees of Taurus. From Be Your Own Astrologer –
With the Moon’s 28 day cycle and connection to women, conception and nurturing it makes symbolic sense to find that she is exalted in the fixed and fertile earth sign of Taurus. Here all the lunar sensitivity and changeability is held, contained and nourished. Individuals with this Moon often have strong family roots and a deep connection with one or both parents. As a result they in turn tend to take to parenting in a natural and hands on way. The emotional nature is generally contented and not given to drama. They have a great deal of perseverance and don’t mind getting their hands dirty. This is Mother Teresa’s Moon, the ultimate Earth Mother.
With Taurus’ connection to the 2nd House of the horoscope (personal money and possessions) this is also potentially an extremely prosperous Moon. Look out for financial opportunities or developments of all kinds. If you need to invite abundance into your life, events unfolding around the time of this Full Moon could be packed with gifts and clues.
The end of the week brings the Sun’s first aspect after moving into Scorpio –
Friday Sun trine Neptune (21.07)
• Sun – life force, health and vitality, enlightenment, men, especially fathers or male role models
• Neptune (by good aspect) – empathy, easy emotional connections, magical/spiritual experiences, the power of the imagination, dreams, visions and glamour
Looking ahead this is the night before the workshops weekend so I know exactly what I’ll be doing – staying in a hotel, probably watching telly (which I hardly ever do in Greece) and getting an early night. Neptune rules film and sleep – so this definitely fits with the plan! Earlier that day I’m also meeting with the lovely Avril Price who is coming out here to Greece next May to run a course with me. Avril is a tarot expert and medium, so she’ll be teaching the tarot, along with how to develop your psychic faculties, and I’ll be teaching how to add the string of astrology to your bow to enhance your readings and to add a reliable time frame to your predictive work. So, having a lovely lunch with someone I easily connect with and planning next year’s course also definitely fits the Sun – Neptune theme.
Universally, these themes are especially linked to our emotional lives, intimate relationships and spiritual awareness, especially as this aspect is being formed in water signs – Sun at 7 degrees of Scorpio and Neptune at 7 degrees of his own sign of Pisces. Hopefully you’ll be enjoying some dreamy togetherness with your partner or meeting someone special. In the bigger picture, remember to go easy on your loved ones and don’t hold on to hurt feelings. Forgiveness and understanding will resolve any difference of opinion or any kind of conflict much faster than an argument. In terms of events, good Neptune aspects also often show for live music as well as film, and also for pubs/wine bars – the things you can lose yourself in. Neptune loves that urge to merge, whether it’s with someone else or your own inner world.
Week beginning 2 November
This week starts with Mercury changing sign, which in this instance is a big deal as, because of the recent retrograde period, Mercury has been going backwards and forwards through Libra since the end of August. At full speed Mercury can whizz through a sign in just over a fortnight, as is going to happen now – he’ll enter Sagittarius on 20 November – so this gives you an idea of how against the grain it can be for this planet to spend over two months meandering through one sign. So this is the opening of a significant new cycle for all Mercury’s concerns – think Hermes, winged messenger of the gods, the mind planet, how we do or don’t communicate and so on. From Be Your Own Astrologer here’s a flavor of what’s to come with this new combination –
Mercury in Scorpio
Mercury in Mars’ feminine sign of intense and secretive Scorpio is, as with the opposite sign of Taurus, associated with silence. Early experiences often carry the hallmark of repression in which speaking freely is disallowed, discouraged or frightening. These individuals are incredibly deep thinking but have to learn how to communicate authentically rather than clamming up or resorting to the classic sting in the tail type of sarcasm. They can be overly critical or controlling of others until they learn to subject their own nature and behaviour to the same scrutiny. Self awareness is vital for this placing.
How we do or do not speak about Scorpio’s taboo subjects, with sex at the top of the list, is this Mercury’s domain. Meg Ryan did as much for women’s sexuality as she did for her own career with her faking an orgasm scene in When Harry met Sally. Only a Mercury in Scorpio gal could do that justice. Writing about sex is also perfect symbolism for this Mercury. One of my clients has made her fortune by writing steamy books for the Mills and Boon Black Lace series.
With Scorpio’s link to both healing and death this Mercury is the “talking cure”, the archetype for the sex therapist, bereavement counselor and all types of psychoanalysis. The theme of muteness is still in evidence. A therapist attends to what is not being said, and interprets the coded language of dreams in order to dredge up the precious silt from the teeming riverbed of the unconscious. Mediums and psychics are found here too, the conduits between this world and another.
As with the Sun, Mercury’s first aspect after moving into Scorpio is to Neptune –
Friday Mercury trine Neptune at 7 degrees of Scorpio/Pisces (13.40)
See Sun/Neptune above for the same themes. Also note that less than 24 hours after Mercury’s change of sign we have Venus and Mars in another union. Again this is the third of three although this time the conjunctions are spread over a much longer period of time (22 February at 1 degree of Aries, and 1 September 15 degrees of Leo). If you look back to either of these dates, or any previous dates given for aspects that are repeating and part of a sequence, and see what you were doing/what was happening it can give you an idea of what to expect. This third conjunction –
Tuesday Venus conjunct Mars at 24 degrees of Virgo (01.11)
These two planets are popularly referred to as the love planets so the conjunction is textbook symbolism for union – everything from hitting it off with someone you meet for the first time to getting married. The net also spreads wider than romantic relationships though. In my own life the last two conjunctions have clearly coincided with special events that have been linked to friends, family and celebration. Also note that this conjunction is important by virtue of the fact that it’s Venus’ last aspect before changing sign, as she moves into her own sign of Libra on Sunday, and I’ll be talking more about this next time.
The only word of warning for this third week is an awkward line up between two major planets –
Thursday Jupiter quinqunx Uranus (22.01)
This aspect is formed when planets are five signs apart, this one with Jupiter at 17 Virgo/Uranus at 17 Aries. This is considered to be a minor aspect, and it’s fairly common amongst the fast moving planets, but when it’s formed between two slower moving planets as above it’s more important to clock it, and especially as this one falls on Bonfire night in the UK. The quinqunx is notorious for blind spots and, at a physical level, is therefore linked to accidents. Uranus rules explosions, including fireworks. It is not the job of an astrologer to be an alarmist but the message here is loud and clear – I would stay away from any fireworks event that is not being properly organized.
At a psychological level this blind spot aspect signals issues of dispute, of “ne’er the twain shall meet” variety. Jupiter by difficult aspect loves to blow things out of proportion so try not to get drawn into arguments that neither side can win! With the exception of this aspect however, and Mercury’s challenging aspects at the end of the first week, the general picture for this three week period is looking pretty good, especially in terms of real progress rather than that feeling of running on the spot. I’m looking forward to my UK trip and will be blogging again on my return for the week beginning 9 November,
Until then take care,
With love from Greece
Joanna
