The Greek Island Summer School 2020 – Spreading the Cost
Courses are steadily booking up for next year. If you’d like to reserve a place you can spread the cost. If you opt for flight only you can book your hotel room through me, and this is payable on arrival. The course fee can also be paid on arrival.
Once you’ve decided on a particular week the most important thing is to book your travel – flight only OR package (flight and accommodation together), and there are some bargains available at the moment. Contact me for details.
This is especially important for the first week of the season, the Talking Tarot week, flights in on Wednesday 6 May (Friday 8 May is a bank holiday), return flights the following Wednesday 13 May. As it’s the beginning of the season there won’t be a full schedule of flights available into our local airport of Preveza (eg TUI Thomson don’t start midweek flights until 20 May and BA from Heathrow 27 May) so at the moment it’s just Easy Jet coming in on 6 May. Some of the tour operators also use this flight so if you want a seat it’s best to book it now, especially while the seats are still good value at under £200 return. Easy Jet as you probably know have a policy of gradually increasing their ticket prices up until the date of departure.
The Astrology Blog 14 October 2019
The Cost of Collusion, How to Speak up and Thinking Long Term
“When there is a problem there is not something to do, there is something to know.”
– Dr Raymond Charles Barker (August 31, 1911– January 26, 1988) author of The Power of Decision
First Word to Mercury
Mercury – Hermes, winged messenger of the gods – is the planet of communication and everything that comes under that umbrella, from pens to paper, emails to media, thoughts to decisions. In some ways we can say that everything starts with Mercury as so much of what we do starts with our thoughts and ideas. This planet also rules early learning, the acquisition of language itself and the discovery of knowledge. One of the main reasons that we are here at all is to learn.
The water sign of Scorpio is associated with all depth issues and power. So “the power of decision” is an apposite tag for Mercury in this sign (since 3 October), doubly so as one of his aspects this week is to Pluto (co-ruler of Scorpio). However, Scorpio also nearly always carries a tag of secrecy or privacy. So this is not a Mercury that announces its plans to the world or wears its heart on its sleeve. Keep important things under wraps and think twice about what you post on social media. Sensitive issues are about to get even touchier and this is not a time to upset anyone unnecessarily or to make enemies.
Scorpio can symbolize that which poisons us so try not to give anyone “earache” or vice versa. Guard against getting caught up in other people’s issues if they’re of the destructive kind eg someone who’s always angry, vendettas, bitchiness. A milder version is the person who’s always complaining. Being on the receiving end of any stream of negativity is not only depressing, it’s unhealthy. Try your best not to collude! We collude with someone when we appear to agree with them either because we don’t know how to challenge them or because it’s easier not to. The price is that the issue not only doesn’t go away, it can grow arms and legs.
collusion. n. in psychotherapy, the process in which a therapist consciously or non-consciously participates with a client or third party to avoid an issue that needs to be addressed
https://dictionary.apa.org/collusion
The Mute Signs
Collusion is a greater risk when Mercury is in what traditional astrology calls the “mute” signs – the water signs of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, ie the creatures who do not have an audible voice. This can translate into difficulties in knowing what to say or how to say it. If this is an issue for you at the moment then try to find language you could use. For example, could you simply say, “I think I would have to challenge that”… and see where the conversation leads. Eek! But Mercury in Scorpio asks us to be brave.
On the theme of muteness Scorpio is also associated with the realms of the unconscious – the underworld of our psyche – so while Mercury travels through this sign look out for themes of soul searching, knowing your own mind, recognizing what is best left unsaid, and reaching a deeper understanding of your own motivations or agenda rather than being controlled by someone else’s. This Mercury is also a sleuth so information gathering, deciphering, reading between the lines, screening and selecting your confidantes carefully, interpreting your dreams, progress through psychotherapy, psychic readings or any kind of talking cure can all be added to the list. Scorpio/Pluto rule the 8th House which is also the domain of surgery.
Such themes are momentous or even daunting in themselves, there’s nothing lightweight or superficial about Scorpio, but on this occasion everything is further underlined as Mercury has just started to slow down in readiness for turning retrograde at the end of the month. This is known as the Shadow period and here’s how it works –
- 12 October – Mercury entered shadow, arriving at 11 degrees Scorpio
- 31 October – Mercury will turn retrograde at 27 degrees Scorpio
- 20 November – Mercury will turn direct at 11 degrees Scorpio
- 7 December – Mercury reaches 27 degrees of Scorpio for the 2nd time, leaves shadow
- (9 December – Mercury changes sign and enters Sagittarius)
To put that in clearer perspective when Mercury is travelling at full speed he can whizz through a sign in a couple of weeks. But when Mercury is slow moving, appearing virtually at a standstill when turning retrograde and then direct again, the journey through one sign then takes a couple of months, being made in loops rather than in straight lines. As above, so below, something that would normally blow over quickly could get messy or protracted, or feasibility issues will loom larger than usual, such as waiting for a date for an operation or an answer/approval for a loan/time off etc. So this is not a time to look for immediate answers or solutions, or simple ones. Scorpio demands effort. Be willing to go the extra mile and dig deeper if you want to unearth the buried treasures of what makes you or someone else tick.
I’ll be talking a lot more about all of this in the coming weeks but for now just clock what is showing for you at the moment in relation to Mercury/Scorpio themes and keep an open mind. Nothing is set in stone, even if it looks as if it is. Mercury makes three aspects this week which may give you clues to emotional issues, information about situations or dilemmas, or start paving the way to any goals –
Monday 14 October
- Mercury 14 Scorpio sextile Saturn 14 Capricorn 07.57 BST
Tuesday 15 October
- Mercury 16 Scorpio trine Neptune 16 Pisces 23.46 BST
Saturday 19 October
- Mercury 21 Scorpio sextile Pluto 21 Capricorn 23.19 BST
All of these aspects are harmonious but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re easy in all respects. The first one was included at the end of last week’s blog as it was exact earlier today, but to repeat, note that “get it together” Saturn is strong by being in his own sign and also through having recently switched from retrograde to direct (18 Sept). Things that are still slow moving are at least not unravelling. Look out for serious discussion, reality checks and agreement seeking in terms of terms, conditions, deadlines and so on, or it’s equally good for deciding on what you don’t want or seeing what won’t work. Even by harmonious aspect Saturn is still Saturn, and often makes us realise our limitations. For example this weekend I had to decide to cancel a trip to Cyprus in February as the logistics, for myself and friends, just got too complicated. This doesn’t mean I won’t travel, but it will be to somewhere else.
Unfinished Business
Mercury’s following aspects after Saturn as listed above to the outer planets of Neptune (empathy, fusion, receptivity, escapism/fantasy in the inner world, all water related issues in the outer world, like plumbing or bad weather) and Pluto (finality, insights, and all the Scorpio type themes already mentioned) paint an ongoing picture but, yes, you’ve guessed it, they’re not the final version. Mercury turning retrograde at the end of the month means he’s coming back again to make these aspects a second time (when retrograde) and a third and final time (when direct again). Dates for your diary, including this week’s –
- Mercury 14 Scorpio sextile Saturn 14 Capricorn – 14 October
- Mercury 16 Scorpio sextile Saturn 16 Capricorn – 13 November
- Mercury 18 Scorpio sextile Saturn 18 Capricorn – 30 November
- Mercury 16 Scorpio trine Neptune 16 Pisces – 15 October
- Mercury 16 Scorpio trine Neptune 16 Pisces – 13 November
- Mercury 16 Scorpio trine Neptune 16 Pisces – 28 November
- Mercury 21 Scorpio sextile Pluto 21 Capricorn – 19 October
- Mercury 21 Scorpio sextile Pluto 21 Capricorn – 10 November
- Mercury 21 Scorpio sextile Pluto 21 Capricorn – 3 December
These sequences are important for all of us but if you’ve got planets at between 14 and 21 degrees of Scorpio – or the opposite sign of Taurus – then these Mercury contacts will be especially significant for you and you may already have an idea of what they’re about. With any three-legged transits it’s often the middle (retrograde) contacts that bring events to pass, and then the third and final contacts signal closure. Think long term, focus on what you would like an outcome to be.
With Mercury turning retrograde on Brexit Day it’s impossible to ignore Boris Johnson! With his natal Jupiter at 15.45 Taurus he’s got Saturn transiting this planet by trine and Mercury opposing it for the first of three hits. If nothing else this signals that the arrival of the Brexit deadline won’t mean the end of negotiations or bring final versions. With this astrology going on it’s a dead cert that the first few weeks are going to be utter chaos. But let’s not go there!
What else is Happening this Week?
There are two more aspects in the second half of the week, but they’re adding to the picture already described rather than saying anything particularly new. Jupiter picks up a minor aspect to Pluto (exactly one sign apart). Look out for things linking back to the weekend as we had the Full Moon last night (Sunday 13th) at 20 Aries – trine the Jupiter and square the Pluto. That fits with foreign travel (Jupiter/Sag) being cancelled or changed (Pluto). One of Pluto’s jobs is to take us back to the drawing board and make us start again. Jupiter likes to think big but his enthusiasm, for now, can only take us so far. We have to look at logistics and implications.
Thursday 17 October
- Jupiter 21 Sagittarius semi-sextile Pluto 21 Capricorn 06.26 BST
Venus continues to follow in Mercury’s footsteps and will make the same sequence of aspects, only as Venus isn’t going to turn retrograde, these are one offs –
Sunday 20 October
- Venus 15 Scorpio sextile Saturn 15 Capricorn 15.00
The trine to Neptune and the sextile to Pluto follow next week. So basically we can add Venusian issues into the mix. Venus is the love and money planet, and rules all of life’s pleasures, but she’s in detriment in Scorpio and is definitely a factor in piling on the pressure with regard to any intense emotional or financial matter. The good news is that, as I said last week, we now have what is called a Mutual Reception between Venus and Mars – ie they are now in each other’s signs –
- Venus in Scorpio – Mars’ sign
- Mars in Libra – Venus’ sign
When two planets “receive” each other it indicates collusion of the helpful kind, the chance to cooperate, working closely with another person in a way that is mutually beneficial, reassessing the division of labour in the home or office, organizing things that play to your own and another person’s strengths rather than being stuck with the jobs that are not your forte and never will be. We can’t be good at everything! Reacting in a Venus Scorpio way (intensely emotional, the extreme being resentfulness or vengefulness) is just that – reactive. Does it solve anything? Or does it just fling fuel on the fire? Resentment is acid to any relationship. The Mutual Reception suggests that we can get proactive – what is this telling us, how can we make this work better, how can we arrive at the best possible compromises?
Next week the Sun will move into Scorpio and we’ll be heading for a New Moon in this sign slap bang opposite Uranus, that unpredictable rug puller, so the more we can get things onto an even keel this week, the better.
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna