The Summer Solstice, Venus back in Circulation & 2023 Summer School Schedule

The Astrology Blog 20 June 2022

All times in BST

 

“A sense of humour is a sense of proportion.”

Kahlil Gibran

https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Kahlil_Gibran

 

“Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart.”

Aung San Suu Kyi – 19 June 1945, turned 77 yesterday, currently incarcerated on trumped up charges of corruption

 

https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi

 

SUMMER SCHOOL 2023 – 21st SEASON

You’ll find full course descriptions after the blog section, but here’s your “at a glance” list of choices for next year –

• All courses start with flights in on the Wednesday stated, return flights the following Wednesday. The study days are Thurs/Fri and then Sun/Mon
• All astrology courses include work on your own horoscope so please have your data to hand when you’re ready to book – your date and place of birth, and time of birth as accurately as possible – so that your tutor can prepare your chart in advance
• There are 10 places available on each course and I’m already taking bookings. So please let me know asap if you want to put your name down for any particular week

As usual there are three courses in May/June and then another 3 courses in Sept. Summer School does not run during July/August – too hot and too expensive!

• WEDNESDAY 17 MAY – Unlocking the Secrets of Medieval Astrology – with Chris Mitchell

• WEDNESDAY 24 MAY – Questions, Questions – Horary Astrology with Elisabeth Brooke

HALF TERM – Monday 29 May to 2 June

• WEDNESDAY 7 JUNE – Tarot & Astrology – with Joanna

SEPTEMBER COURSES

• WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST – The Astrology of Relationships – with Joanna

• WEDNESDAY 6 SEPT – Secrets of your Sun Sign – with Elisabeth Brooke

• WEDNESDAY 13 SEPT – Cards on the Table – Intermediate Tarot with Joanna

 

ELISABETH BROOKE

Elisabeth has already run two courses here so far this year and will be back Wednesday 7 September to teach the fascinating Astrology, Destiny & Karma –

https://joannawatters.com/course/astrology-karma-destiny-course/

This course is suitable for all levels. There are 4 of the 10 places available so do get in touch with either Elisabeth or myself if you’d like to find out more about the course or reserve a place – elisabeth_brooke@hotmail.com

Elisabeth is extremely well known in her field as both astrologer/herbalist and is a prolific writer with many books under her belt. If you’d like to get to know her work here’s the link to her latest blog –

https://elisabethbrooke.com/2022/06/19/teflon-tony-and-his-sleezy-mates-the-dark-side-of-air/

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?

So we start the week under the auspices of a harmonious alliance between Mercury and Jupiter. All aspects are at their most powerful when they’re “applying” – ie two planets getting closer and closer until they reach the same degree and same minute of the same or respective signs. This morning’s aspect is the benefic sextile, formed when planets align exactly two signs apart, and was exact earlier this morning, so at the time of sending out this blog it’s just “separating”.

Monday 20 June

• Mercury 6 Gemini sextile Jupiter 6 Aries 08.45

Does it still count? Yes, this particular alliance will be “in orb” until the coming weekend, after which Mercury will be speeding on ahead. And as stated at the end of last week’s blog this is Mercury at his best – dignified in his own sign of quick and versatile Gemini, just out of shadow and first aspect on this new journey is to Jupiter the Greater Benefic –

• Mercury ingress Gemini 1st time 29 April
• Mercury reached 5 Gemini and then turned retrograde 10 May
• Mercury returned to Taurus 23 May
• Mercury turned direct at 26 Taurus 3 June
• Mercury ingress Gemini 2nd time 13 June
• Mercury “out of shadow” (back to 5 Gemini the degree at which originally turned retrograde) 18 June
• Mercury sextile Jupiter 20 June

This sequence is important for all of us universally but it will be especially significant for you if you have planets or Angles at or close to the degrees/signs listed above. The most important point now is that anything that has taken a long time to take shape, or anything that has been confusing or drawn out, or somehow unraveling or feeling back to front, should be sorted.

I really felt the coming out of shadow as the Summer School schedule for next year, which I’d been thinking about for weeks, just suddenly came together over the weekend. My Sun is at 9 Sagittarius, the sign opposite Gemini. The two visiting tutors (Mercury in Gemini, the Twins) Elisabeth and Chris put their ideas into words (Mercury), we agreed on dates and I decided on my own topics. And of course Jupiter rules everything to do with long distance travel, overseas and education – anything that expands our horizons, mentally or geographically. And my friend and colleague Sally Kirkman arrived last night for a week’s holiday with me.

Astrology can be hilariously literal. My CD player in the car had jammed which was a nightmare for me, I hate driving without music, and I tried everything to get at the stuck CD as the eject button refused to work. The last time this happened I did it with tweezers! In the end I went to the local car electrician, I was rather gratified to see him also approach the problem with tweezers except king size ones, and the jammed CD emerged from the shadows. Hurray! So it’s a great time for things literally coming into the light of day, have one last hunt if you’ve lost something.

THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

Tuesday 21 June

• Sun ingress Cancer, the Summer Solstice 10.15

The Solstice is when the Sun appears to stand still, here’s the Wikipedia definition –

The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still”), because at the solstices, the Sun’s declination appears to “stand still”; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun’s daily path (as seen from Earth) pauses at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction.

So the Summer Solstice is the Longest Day and the turning point to start the journey towards the Winter Solstice, the Shortest Day. This is possibly the closest the Sun ever gets to any kind of retrograde symbolism. In terms of the as above, so below principle pay close attention to any kind of turning point of your own and also find some stillness. Happily I’m on holiday this week and plan to be finding my stillness on the beach!

Also let’s not forget that the Summer Solstice is the arrival of the Sun in the Moon’s sign of Cancer. The top qualities of this sign are care, kindness – and humour. Hence the choice of quotes this week. And the Cancerians I’ve known in my life, whilst definitely fitting the sensitivity bill, have all had a quick wit and been able to make me laugh. In particular Cancerians are known for their mimicry talents – eg Meryl Streep, and apparently Diana Princess of Wales was also a very funny mimic.

VENUS – THE LOVE & MONEY PLANET

Venus is reaching the end of her journey through her own sign of Taurus and has one last aspect to make, exact tomorrow morning, before changing sign –

Tuesday 21 June

• Venus 28 Taurus trine Pluto 28 Capricorn 09.22

Thursday 23 June

• Venus ingress Gemini 01.36

So Venus is going to follow Mercury into Gemini and her first aspect will also be the sextile to Jupiter, exact next Wednesday (29 June), same day as the New Moon so I’ll be talking more about this combination next week.

For now the Venus alliance with Pluto is something of a finale so whatever you need to wrap up or finalise in the love or money departments then waste no time. Pluto links to endings so this positive aspect is great for finishing touches or closure of any kind.

It isn’t just opposite signs that carry the opposite qualities. Consecutive signs also work as opposites in their own way so, although Venus is “dignified” in her own sign of Taurus, this is the sign of Fixed Earth and can start to get a bit heavy going or inflexible. Gemini is the sign of Mutable Air and is a breath of fresh air, up for change, variety, full of ideas and great at finding all the options.

One of the top keywords for this sign is circulation, mutable air has to move or become stagnant, and Venus will be dancing through this sign until 18 July. So if you’re still suffering from not enough social life (Covid made hermits of us) now’s the time to put yourself back into circulation or you may just find that this happens naturally. Say yes to invites, organise a girls night out and explore all money making ideas. Seize on anything that grabs your interest or sparks your imagination. There’s nothing like new ideas to shake us out of the doldrums or lazy habits.

Read on to see the full description of all the new courses now available for next year and do get in touch if you have any questions or if you want to put your name down,

Until next week, with love from Greece

Joanna

 

SUMMER SCHOOL 2023

So here’s the full schedule and course descriptions for the 21st season of The Greek Island Summer School. You can pencil yourself in for now on any week, so this doesn’t commit you but gives you first dibs, or you can secure your place with a deposit of £50 which is non refundable but transferable.

The most important thing for starters is to let me know if you’re interested in any  particular week so that I know to contact you if that week starts filling up.

WEDNESDAY 17 MAY – Unlocking the Secrets of Medieval Astrology – with Chris Mitchell

Suitable for all Levels

I’m delighted to announce that Chris Mitchell has accepted my invitation to teach at next year’s Summer School so our 21st season will start with a brand new course. Chris’s area of expertise is the history of astrology and he’s a tutor on the Cultural Astronomy and Astrology MA course at the University of Wales, so this is a wonderful opportunity for new or returning students.

Chris writes:

As modern astrologers, we’re used to drawing up charts in seconds on a computer, and using numerous techniques, outer planet transits and a psychological language to work with our clients. Ours is a rich and subtle art. How, then, did medieval astrologers manage with just seven planets and five aspects? Was theirs simply a limited cut-down version of what we have available to us in modern astrology? How did a society rife with political intrigue and power struggles, and the Black Death, do meaningful astrology without Pluto?

In this course, we’ll discover some of the richness of medieval astrology. Despite the lack of outer planets and modern techniques, medieval astrologers had a surprisingly large toolkit of methods lost to modern astrology. The recent resurgence of modern translations of ancient texts mean these fascinating methods have been rediscovered and can be adapted to our modern lives too. Join us and find out how you can incorporate these rich techniques into your own studies or practice.

WEDNESDAY 24 MAY – Questions, Questions – with Elisabeth Brooke

Suitable for all Levels

I’m also delighted as usual to welcome back Elisabeth for her 6th consecutive year at the Summer School. Staying with the history theme this is also a brand new course, and Elisabeth writes:

Horary Astrology is the ancient art of using astrology to answer questions. Steeped in tradition you’ll learn how to approach this craft and how to interpret horoscopes cast for any question – Will this relationship work? Will I get the job? Should I …? Where is my…? What is the matter with me?

The course will include a day on Decumbiture, another ancient art, using medical astrology to ask questions about sickness/health, how to arrive at diagnosis and then treatment with herbal remedies.

 

HALF TERM – Monday 29 May to 2 June

 

WEDNESDAY 7 JUNE – Tarot & Astrology – with Joanna

Intermediate Tarot & Beginners/Refreshers Astrology

Any client’s first questions is, What’s going to happen? Any client’s second question is, When is it going to happen? As my interest in the tarot sprang directly from my astrological work I love to use the two together, especially to show how the horoscope reflects the spread and then to introduce accurate timing.

You’ll learn the astrologer’s shorthand – the glyphs for the signs and the planets – their symbolism, and how to look up the key astrology for each reading, adding another extremely powerful string to your predictive bow.

 

SEPTEMBER COURSES

WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST  – The Astrology of Relationships – with Joanna

Suitable for Refreshers/Intermediate

The second half of our season starts with the perennial subject of relationships. Any practising astrologer will tell you that it’s virtually unheard of to do a reading that doesn’t include questions about love, marriage or affairs. On this course you will learn –

• How to locate the “natal promise” – what kind of partner does anyone attract in this lifetime and why?
• What is synastry? What does the comparison of two horoscopes reveal in relation to why you can live easily with one person but not another?
• How can astrology tell you when an attraction is mutual and beneficial, and whether or not two people are compatible?
• How to compare the all important Moon/Venus signs in terms of emotional natures and needs
• What is a “cosmic marriage” and how do you know if you’re with a true soul mate?
• What are the recognized indications for longevity in marriage?
• How to use astrology to answer all types of relationship questions, including how to handle conflict with partner, family, boss, friends etc
• How to use the timing measures of transits, progressions and New/Full Moons to predict dates for meetings, marriages, trouble spots and significant milestones within a relationship

 

 

WEDNESDAY 6 SEPT – Secrets of your Sun Sign – with Elisabeth Brooke

Suitable for all Levels

Have you ever met a wimpy Aries, a reckless Capricorn or a silent Gemini? On this course Elisabeth will look at the deeper lessons of our Sun signs which are often underestimated or overlooked.

You’ll also learn how and why people grow into their Sun signs, and how making the most of your Sun sign is central to living a successful and happy life.

Elisabeth’s material will include how to understand the Sun signs from the perspective of the four Elements – Earth, Air, Fire and Water – as well as the three Modes: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable, illustrating how their expression changes with each. Also learn how the Sun’s House position in your own horoscope shows the area in which you live out your Sun sign.

 

WEDNESDAY 13 SEPT  – Cards on the Table – Intermediate Tarot with Joanna

Suitable for Refreshers/Intermediate

So you understand the essential meanings of your cards and you’ve learned some spreads – where do you go from there?

On this course we’ll do some revision, especially around your “difficult” cards and the crucial question of how to choose the right spreads. We’ll then move on to learn more about engaging with the creative, psychic, intuitive, psychotherapeutic factors at work, and “the tricks of the symbolic trade” when it comes to uncovering the countless other meanings of the cards in actual readings. How to identify the cards in terms of who’s who and what’s what?

I don’t cover the history of the tarot, only the “how to”. So this is a hands-on, interactive course, focusing mostly on interpretation skills and how to “arrive at judgment” – ie entering the world of divination in order to find the answers and make accurate predictions.