This is a copy of the fortnightly free newsletter – if you’d like to receive this straight to inbox just send me an email address to be added to the mailing.
RESEARCH
Today am starting with a few questions –
- How often do you Google for astrology related material? Daily, weekly, occasionally?
- What were the last two to three subjects that you looked for? Eg was it an aspect, such as Venus conjunct Pluto, or was it something particular to your own chart, or was it a daily forecast?
It would be really helpful to have some feedback as I’m going to be making some changes to what you’ll be able to find for free on my website. Thanks in advance!
THE VENUS – PLUTO CONJUNCTION
It doesn’t matter how we might try to dress up these conjunctions of the personal planets catching up with the outer planets, they’re never easy. The current picture is all about Pluto, heavily underlined by the fact that he’s newly arrived in Aquarius.
Anything at 0 degrees is a “critical degree” – super sensitive, beginnings, the other critical degree is 29, all about closure. Mercury entered Aquarius and caught up 5 February, Mars on 14 February Valentine’s Day and this morning it was Venus’s turn.
Here’s a reminder of what Pluto’s very slow journey looks like now and for the rest of this year, crossing 29 Capricorn/0 Aquarius not three times but five –
PLUTO | |
23 March 2023 | Ingress Aquarius for the 1st time |
11 June | Returned to Capricorn |
1 January 2024 | Starts the year at 29.21 Capricorn |
21 January | Ingress Aquarius for the 2nd time |
2 May | Turns Retrograde 02.06 |
1 September | Returns to Capricorn |
12 October | Turns Direct 29.38 Capricorn |
19 November | Ingress Aquarius for the 3rd and last time |
And here’s the series of conjunctions that we’ve been working through over the last couple of weeks. Mercury the Winged Messenger led the way, which was when the news (Mercury) broke about King Charles being diagnosed with cancer (Pluto as illness, and symbolically relevant for the Scorpio monarch) –
Monday 5 February
- Mercury ingress Aquarius 05.11
- Mercury conjunct Pluto 0 Aquarius 12.57
Tuesday 13 February
- Mars ingress Aquarius 06.06
Wednesday 14 February
- Mars conjunct Pluto 0 Aquarius 06.02
Friday 16 February
- Venus ingress Aquarius 16.06
Saturday 17 February
- Venus conjunct Pluto 0 Aquarius 08.47
So how’s the Venus – Pluto going for you so far? Venus is all that we love, she rules everything to do with women and the feminine. She also rules money, the means with which to buy our pleasures and live comfortably.
Pluto could hardly be more different. Here is the god of black holes and his job description includes things like loss, absence, surgery, the latter obviously being in the name of transformation, beloved keyword of the textbooks. Mostly however Pluto is a transformative process, not an overnight sensation.
One exception to that earlier in the week was a story that I put on one of my Facebook – Instagram posts, which was a friend having major spinal surgery that carried the risk of paralysis, but as he could hardly walk anyway he decided it was a risk worth taking. He was right. The surgery was so successful that he was sent home the next day and I’ve since had photos of him on the beach. Before the surgery he couldn’t get to the end of the drive.
Back to the Venus – Pluto though, today (Saturday 17 Feb) hasn’t been easy. I had a slot come up at the vets for one of my female strays to be spayed first thing this morning, I managed to bag one of them – Rosie – and Evie from the cat sanctuary took her in and returned her a couple of hours later! Amazing keyhole surgery happening here, no stitches or collars or pills, no visible wounds and a single 15 day antibiotic injection for their full recovery time.
Venus (women and babies) Pluto (endings, surgery) is perfect for sterilisation and no more babies. Pluto can be ruthless though and am not sure that I would have actively chosen this date. The nightmare bit was that because she’s a stray, and no experience of being confined, I managed to keep her in the bag in my warm study for a couple of hours and then she started going nuts. I locked the dogs in the house and let Rosie out in the garden. Sunny day here thank goodness.
She took off like a bullet from a gun. She was still post op wobbly so lay panting in the garden and then next time I looked had disappeared. Have since located her in the field next door but she won’t come anywhere near me. I am obviously now the Wicked Witch of the West.
Also this morning out shopping I ran into my former neighbour, I used to rent an apartment from her parents and in fact was in that apartment for 12 years and they lived downstairs. I was treated like family. Her parents Zois and Tasoula died within 9 months of each other last year, both in their late 80’s.
We shared our bereavement (Pluto) tales of those we loved (Venus) as today is also the 7th anniversary of losing my beloved twin sister. Some of you have already seen my FB or Instagram photo from this morning and sent lovely messages. My post basically said that I have no idea how I have lived 7 years without her, the person I used to talk to every day. If you’ve suffered a major bereavement then my heart is with you.
So these personal planets all arriving in Aquarius and culminating with the Venus – Pluto has been heavy going, and why this newsletter is out so late in the day, but this is how we learn about astrological symbolism.
Go back to your own chart and locate the dates when you had major Pluto transits. You’ll find that these correlate with life experiences that carry the Pluto symbolism.
ALEXEI NAVALNY
On the international front, last night my FB post was about Alexei Navalny, the news of his death sandwiched between the Mars (men, warriors) and Venus (women, the loss for his wife Yulia) conjunctions to Pluto.
In last week’s blog I was talking about the importance of aspects for you personally if you have the same planets in any sign and in any aspect. So for example, today, if you have Venus and Pluto in any aspect in any signs then today’s big conjunction would count more strongly for you than others.
Looking again at Navalny’s chart while writing this newsletter I note that he has not only Venus and Pluto in aspect with each other but also Mars. These three planets are in a tight formation – Venus at 10 Gemini trine a 1st House Pluto at 9 Libra, with Mars at 10 Leo making sextiles either side to both.
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Alexei_Navalny
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-68316979
Here’s a copy of my post –
I wrote at length about Alexei Navalny back when he was first sentenced. The news has just broken about his death. I’m actually in tears. What a waste of a brave and brilliant man.
On the week of the Mars (14 Feb) and Venus (tomorrow, 17 Feb) conjunctions with Pluto newly arrived at that “critical degree” of 0 Aquarius we had to expect news of this kind – some key figure in the world was going to be wiped out, and it’s Navalny. My heart goes out to his wife.
He has natal planets at 0 degrees, including Chiron the Wounded Healer at 00.21 Taurus in the 8th House, where we locate death. He’s died for his cause, we can only hope that some good can come of it, sometime, somehow ….. RIP Alexei Navalny
In scenarios of abusive regimes Pluto stands for the corruption of power and there is no doubt in my mind that he was murdered.
Navalny himself knew that his life would be at risk by returning to Russia after being treated in a German hospital for the poisoning attempt on his life in 2020, but he chose not to be a political exile. He paid the ultimate price but I think he knew that his destiny was caught up in this inevitability.
NEXT WEEK’S BLOG
Next week is a lot easier, hurray, not that that would be difficult after all this Pluto. In fact I commented somewhere this week that it was a shame that Valentine’s Day wasn’t this coming week as we have the Venus – Mars conjunction. The two together are known as the love planets and now that they’ve both struggled past Pluto they’ll come together in the middle of the week at 6 Aquarius.
Never forget that planets are gods and that down here on planet Earth they represent people. So the two love planets coming together is amongst the best symbolism for two people coming together. I’ll be talking about this and other relationship astrology factors, what to look for and how to interpret them and, crucially, time them. If our first question is what or who, our next question is always “when?”.
Countries have their own horoscopes and I’ll also be talking about the horoscope for England. Does the upheaval of King Charles’ cancer diagnosis show in this chart? Yes, in my view it does. And includes that super sensitive Jupiter – Uranus conjunction degree. These two planets are currently getting closer and closer as Jupiter picks up speed, and will unite at 21.50 Taurus on 21 April.
As I commented in last week’s blog this conjunction symbolism is already making itself felt and this degree is jumping out at me all over the place, in all my client work and in all of the other charts I’m looking at, for friends or for my own interest.
In Navalny’s chart he has Jupiter at 16 Taurus and Mercury at 25 Taurus. That conjunction will therefore fall in the middle of those points, conjunct both of those natal planets and the looming international (Jupiter) outcry (Mercury) and implications of Navalny’s death could have a lot of impact. This wouldn’t be the first time of seeing a chart working on beyond the point of physical death, which is another fascinating subject.
If you’re not already a subscriber to the weekly blog it’s very easy to join the mailing list at any time. It’s recognised as a resource of learning material, which is why I call it the Teaching Blog, and there’s always something each week for you to take away and test out for yourself –
- The weekly blog has now been going out every week for over 15 years, following current astrology and relevant horoscopes, every Monday, minimum 3k words.
- Annual subscription £57 works out at £1.09 a week
- Monthly subscription £5.95 works out at £1.37 a week,
- You can sign up via the PayPal box on the home page of my website https://joannawatters.com/
- Or email me joannaw@otenet.gr or WhatsApp 00306976296085, the other option being to arrange a bank transfer and I can you immediately to the mailing list at this end.
VENUS IN AQUARIUS
Continuing the series of Moon signs you’ll find my write up on Moon in Sagittarius next, but firstly here’s my take on Venus in Aquarius, travelling through this sign from 16 February to 11 March.
Both of these write ups are taken from my book Essential Astrology (previous titled Be Your Own Astrologer) which has been relaunched under the new title by Cico Books. Here’s the link for the paperback or kindle version on Amazon –
Venus in Saturn’s masculine sign is an enigma. As discussed in Chapter 1 there is a double-sided nature to Aquarius which can essentially be described as the conventional (Saturn) versus the unconventional (Uranus). This split also shows when expressed through the other planets and, in my view, especially through Venus.
Here we come up against the straitlaced, repressed or asexual nature, or the person who is into wild experimentation and up for anything. Both types struggle with connecting with their authentic feelings and often find it hard to express themselves with passion, even when they privately feel very strongly.
The most successful relationships for these Venus people are those that spring from friendship and a meeting of minds. They admire brains and ideas, and are especially drawn to a mate who shares both their intellectual interests and their social scene. Unhappiness is usually the result of overriding compatibility issues. They are quick to recover from disappointment however and tend to keep ex partners as friends.
With the Aquarian concern with the collective these Venus individuals can do a lot of good when they swing their searchlight out into the world. Oprah Winfrey has the Sun and Venus almost exactly conjunct each other in this sign.
This Venus is also a hallmark of the political woman. BBC news, June 2014, “The International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde has said she is flattered to be suggested for a role in the EU as her next post, but it was more important to focus on the institution than the individual.”
MOON IN SAGITTARIUS
The Moon in Jupiter’s masculine sign is cheerful, immediately friendly and often a rolling stone. With a natural clownish streak they make for hugely entertaining company and they can break the ice at the most stilted of occasions. You would pay them to come to your party.
Truth is a big issue for this Moon but, unlike the Sun Sagittarian, they do not always pursue it at the cost of all else. The knee jerk reaction of steering clear of anything “heavy” can make them shy away from deep truths, about themselves, their partners or their upbringing. They would rather not admit that their mother fell hopelessly short of noticing their real needs and the “ignorance is bliss” option enables their denial.
When the inevitable crisis arrives, usually in later life, they wake up to the fact that happiness is inextricably linked with self awareness. After a love affair went devastatingly wrong one woman in her late forties went on a learning mission, signing up for residential therapy courses and reading everything she could get her hands on. There is no doubt in my mind that she saved her own mental health. At the other extreme I once lent a Moon Sag guy the brilliant Dorothy Rowe book Beyond Fear. He read the first page in my presence and announced, open mouthed, “Oh my god, this could have been written for me!” He returned it three months later, unread.
Emigrating, periods of living abroad or, especially for the men, living with a foreign partner are also common stories for this Moon.
GREEK ISLAND SUMMER SCHOOL 2024
There are four courses to choose from and we’ll be welcoming back tutors Elisabeth Brook (in June) and Chris Mitchell (in Sept)
There are definite bookings for all of these weeks so they are all going ahead. Please just get in touch with me if you want to put your name down for a place or find out more after reading the course descriptions which are now up on my website.
All courses are £375.00
Contact me for the updates on how to book your flight and accommodation
Private courses for your own group – fees variable depending on numbers, contact me for possible dates
5 June – with Joanna
https://joannawatters.com/
12 June – with Elisabeth Brooke
https://joannawatters.com/
4 September – with Joanna
https://joannawatters.com/
11 September – with Chris Mitchell
https://joannawatters.com/