“All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” MARTIN LUTHER KING
At this time of year we’re waiting and holding, allowing things to dissolve and re-seed so you might feel more of a need for ‘downtime’, time to relax and unwind, to dream and meditate – whatever helps you switch off all that left-brain stuff for a while. Piscean energy can also be very confusing at times – think of the myth of Odysseus – you think you know where you’re headed, but are constantly blown off course, find yourself strangely drawn to potentially dangerous situations, seduced into nearly giving up your quest – quite a list!
Both Chiron and Neptune (Pisces’ modern ruler, spending 15+ years in each sign) are in Pisces just now, along with sun, Mercury and Venus. Chiron’s energy may put us in touch with painful issues around our connectedness (Pisces) and we might feel like we’re going backwards instead of forwards (Chiron is in Pisces until 2019). Let’s keep in mind that his energy also brings an opportunity for a new level of healing and enhanced compassion for the human condition and also helps us to come to terms with what we can’t change.
Neptune’s issues are more related to addiction, obsession, delusion and deception – and he invites us (or perhaps more ‘seduces’ us 😉 ) to work with what needs to be refined and spiritualised in our lives. But remember that there’s a strong need for groundedness and protection when working with outer planet energies. With the full moon in Virgo on 2nd March, 2018 at 11Virgo23 (0hrs52), we have access to this sign’s discrimination which can help us to deal with boundary issues – knowing when to be open and with whom.
(Photo courtesy of phanlop88 at freedigitalphotos.net).
The words of Franco Santoro (below) chime in for me with those of Martin Luther King (above) – the latter born with both moon and Venus in Pisces:
“The greatest crime at a shamanic level… is to promote thoughts of hate, judgement and negativity of any kind towards others. A variety of this crime is even more serious and fatal, and at the same time harder to detect. It is about behaving “kindly” with someone… while breeding “secret” thoughts of hate and negativity towards them. This is something that happens regularly, without even being aware or with many “legitimate” ways to justify it. We believe that our emotions and thoughts are private, that we can do with them whatever we want, without causing damage to anyone. Shamanically or spiritually this is not the case.”
We don’t know the path that another is called to or what they’re dealing with in their lives, so let’s build love instead of hate and send blessings instead of negativity in these difficult times!
Helen x
“So now, as the Maiden form of the Goddess whispers to us of hope and new beginnings at the festival of Imbolc, it is on a cold February morning that you are invited to step onto the ‘Wheel of the Year’.” CAROLE CARLTON
I’m writing on 2nd February and it seemed fitting to begin with a quotation about Imbolc. It’s a time associated with, “…stepping onto the ‘Wheel of the Year'”, awakening from winter slumber, clearing out and making plans for the future. And I’m finding myself going over old ground, wondering how to move forward…
For those of us with important planets in the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) there are still three ‘heavyweight’ planets affecting the energy. Pluto in Capricorn is helping us to dredge the unconscious contents of our lives, Saturn (also in this sign) is showing us where the work needs to be done and calling for a greater integrity, and Uranus (still in Aries and due to move into Taurus for the first time since he left in May, 1942) continues to throw his periodical ‘spanners’ in the works as he prods us towards greater truth and ‘revolution’.
Saturn will be in Capricorn the next couple of years or so and both he and Jupiter meet with Pluto in 2019-20. I mentioned Roy Gillett’s words back in July last year: this combination of planets is likely to be ‘a rare confrontation with reality’ (this threesome hasn’t met in Capricorn since 2866 BCE)! Palden Jenkins also sees Saturn/Pluto cycles embodying heaviness, showdowns, and hard, cold truths (amongst other things – in his ‘Historical Ephemeris’).
This quotation from Ursula K. Le Guin (quoted in my social media post about January’s Capricorn new moon) seems to address the ‘reality’ of this energy and reminds me of the biblical ‘narrow way’: “…the truth is that as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do.”
For those of us with mutable planets and angles (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces), we still have the passage of Chiron (working on those ‘knots’ that need untying) and Neptune (bringing confusion and compassion in equal measure) through Pisces – and Mars moved into Sagittarius recently, adding some fiery passion into the mix.
Lest all this sound rather heavy, the wheel of the year keeps on turning and we now have sun, Mercury and Venus in the sign of Aquarius, helping us to move and think, network and find ways to make the world a better place for all.
And remember that the outer planets in particular are working through the unconscious and as we work to bring light to the dark places of our own psyches we enable the process of integration (and Jupiter’s presence in Scorpio is a good one for aiding this). Don’t beat yourself up for things that are out of your control and, remember that we’re all in process!
Blessings of Imbolc and love as always!
*The photo displayed above is courtesy of Ben Schonewille at freedigitalphotos.net
“And could it be… that my lopsidedness has more integrity than trying to fit into a mould that wasn’t made for me…?” HELEN TREMEER
‘Grappling’ seems to a be the word for my initial experiences of 2018, but then I have just passed through my second Saturn return (see more on that below) ;)! Added to the time spent looking after myself during the latest viral ‘thing’, I now have a problem with Word documents (no copy and paste, no way to insert photos – and no advice from the people I pay to use their services)! This section will be short and sweet and followed by recently shared posts on social media (which I’m having to type out long-hand to get onto this google document – we’ll see how it goes – lol!)
Integrity – a good, solid, Saturnian word! And Saturn rules Capricorn, which is where the sun resides at this time of year. It occurred to me, following the writing of my ‘Reflections’ below, that my former integrity is likely to have been based on how ‘little’ of me was here (thinking about how much soul loss we’ve all suffered and how the last few years of my life have been a time of healing, recouping and reintegrating parts of myself that I didn’t even know were lost thanks to the deep shamanic healing work of The Three Ravens College of Therapeutic Shamanism) – and decisions based on my old ‘centre’, therefore, need to be viewed with compassion rather than judgment. I still go with that sense of ‘lopsidedness’, though (see my own words above), as trying to fit into somebody else’s norm doesn’t work for any of us.
If you’re interested in working with me, I have a special offer running (due to finish on 6th January, but as it’s taken me longer than expected to get this newsletter off the ground, I’ll extend it to 13th January, 2018) of five 60-90 minute consultations (in person or via Skype) for £150.00 in advance or £35.00 each session (the first to be paid for by 13th January) – all five to be completed by the June solstice, 2018 (more info on what can be included in the package on my website). There’s also a workshop day looking at the aspects from an Astrology & Healing point of view on 10th March, 2018 (could be included as one of your five sessions and usually costs £45.00 – only 6 places available on this).
I would also appreciate your letting me know whether you’re happy to receive interim news of dates for workshops separately from the monthly newsletter, so that I’m not using newsletter space for that?
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We had a full moon on 2nd January (Social Media musings follow below):
I’ve been looking at the chart for tomorrow’s full moon in Cancer (2:25 hrs GMT at 11degrees38 Cancer/Capricorn). Lots of planets in earthy Capricorn (Saturn, Venus, sun and Pluto) balanced by a number of planets in water signs (Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio, Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and the moon itself in Cancer of course) – a fertile combination! My computer programme even shows a ‘kite’ formation (Grand Trine combined with an opposition – there’s a chart included in the thread of ‘Helen’s Astrology & Healing Page’ for those who are interested), but perhaps not quite close enough to ‘exact’ for the purposes of a full moon chart (let me know how you find/found it)?
A ‘kite’ sees a 360-degree flow of energy (this one has Mars, Neptune and moon in water signs), which harmonises, eases and ‘be’s ;), anchored by another planet (sun in this case), enabling it to ‘manifest’. High water energy in constant flow can feel rudderless, with the sun in Capricorn (in this case) providing a way to steer, perhaps?
Using the closest aspects only, we have a solar/lunar opposition with the sun conjunct Venus and Neptune trine to the moon and sextile to the sun, bringing an ease of connection between sun and moon through the poetry and compassion of Neptune, perhaps (but, as always, watch out for the rose-coloured glasses 😉 )?
Venus in Capricorn might be a lover of rules and integrity, but Black Moon Lilith’s ‘true’ position (the glyph on the chart shows the ‘mean’ position) is between Venus and the sun, bringing in the possibility, perhaps, of embodying more of our authentic wisdom and stepping into our ‘eldership’ in a truer, ‘wilder’ way?
(Photo courtesy of noomhh at freedigitalphotos.net)
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My reflections on Saturn’s ‘returns’ (below):
At my first Saturn return I was oblivious to the intricate patterns of a natal chart and the interweaving of the planets as they triggered the natal blueprint of our lives. At this, my second Saturn return (exact on 24th December, 2017), the symbolism of astrology is interwoven with everyday life and helps make sense of it.
On deciding to look back at the chart of my first Saturn return in 1988 (to compare notes), I found that it coincided with an exact conjunction of Uranus to this point (first degree Capricorn), as well as making three passes over the point (whereas 2017’s return is a one-off) with Saturn meeting Uranus again in their retrograde phases during June of the same year (in late Sagittarius), before passing over the degree of my natal Saturn again in the November.
Saturn, Lord of discipline, responsibility, integrity and time conjoined with Uranus, Lord of rebellion, shock, upheaval and truth (both rulers of my rising sign which falls in Aquarius)! A time to begin to integrate the planet which sits on my Descendant (that being Uranus for me), perhaps? It was a time which was coloured by all of the words listed above and there followed a year where I left my hometown for the first time – to live in another place.
Libra was rising in the above chart, making Venus in Aries the chart ruler, suggesting the themes of other vs. self, compromise vs. acting on my values and balance vs. risk-taking – and there was a close square between Mercury (retrograde) in Aquarius and Pluto (retrograde) in Scorpio, suggesting hidden truths, perhaps – or, equally, the power of words, depth of communication, expressing what was taboo?
An astrologer would have seen the themes clearly and been able to shed some light, but what happened in my life during this time makes sense in retrospect too – in terms of the astrology of the moment of that first chart (I haven’t ventured as far as the other two 😉 ).
Stephen Arroyo talks about the Saturn return being as ‘difficult’ as we are distant from our ‘fundamental’ selves. If we’re on track, Saturn gives us confirmation and a ‘pat-on-the-back’ as it were (there’s still work to do – there’s always work to do 😉 – but we’re getting there).
In 2017, I’m now practising astrology and healing, with the chart for my Saturn return having the very last degree of Cancer rising (a sign associated with family, nurture and care – and the sign of the first full moon in January, 2018 – see above). Uranus is not making any direct aspects in the chart and the Solstice coincided with Saturn’s ingress into Capricorn, reinforcing the themes of integrity, responsibility, patience and hard work.
With Cancer rising, the moon is ruler of the chart and the moon passed over Neptune (in Pisces) earlier in the day and made a close square to Mercury in Sagittarius. Again, an emphasis on communication, but the chart brings Neptune (compassion, delusion, transcendence and confusion) into focus rather than Uranus, and I’m also in the middle of a Neptune transit to my Mc/Ic axis. Back in 1988, the closest challenging transit was of Chiron (wounded healer, acceptance of what can’t be changed, disillusionment, working through the pain) to my natal sun.
Arroyo also talks about looking at the natal chart to see how Saturn is placed to give an indication of how we might fare during his transits and returns. It helps that my Saturn falls in his own sign of Capricorn, for instance, and that he sextiles (60 degrees) my natal moon and my natal Neptune (lunar ruler). The challenges come from his relationship to my natal Mars (Libra) and the nodal axis (Aries to Libra). There are so many indicators in my chart that relationship was going to be challenging – lol!
(Photo courtesy of vectorolie at freedigitalphotos.net)
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Thank you for bearing with me – I’m hoping to have made some inroads into using this googledocs programme by next month! And do check out the Working with Astrology group on Facebook!
Love and blessings,
Helen x
“The earth and its inhabitants are presently engaged in a powerful time of transformation when the old is giving way to the new. In other words, we are dissolving, not evolving.” The words of her teacher quoted by CHRISTINE R. PAGE
The Galactic Centre has been mentioned to me a couple of times over the last week and the quotation above is taken from a book written by Christine Page (‘2012 and the Galactic Centre: The Return of the Great Mother’).
What is the Galactic Centre? Christine’s teacher described it as ‘the heart of the Great Mother’ and it lies in the heavens, accessed through what is known as the Dark Rift of the Milky Way. He went on to say, “For the first time in 26,000 years (the length of the astrological Great Year), the sun is most closely aligned with…”, this Dark Rift – giving us the ability to “…travel this road metaphorically…”, in order to, “… experience the fullness of our potentiality…”
Quite a claim! But this does coincide, apparently, with the Mayan 36-year ‘dark period’ (from the 1980s to just before the year 2020) which, “… encompasses the end of the world of their fourth sun and the birth of their fifth world at sunrise on December 21, 2012.”
The Astrological Ages have also been mentioned to me in the last week (the Mayan calendar stopped at the end of an Age, perhaps?), particularly with regard to the difficulty in timing the ages and their cusps (we are supposed to be in the cusp between the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius in these years as I understand it, and, in Christine’s book she dates the end of the Age of Pisces as 2100). It is difficult over such vast periods of time to be precise I feel, but we can see changes in the mythology and ancient practices which tally with the astrological signs. Alice O. Howell (‘Jungian Synchronicity in Astrological Signs and Ages’), for example, talks about the Age of Taurus (from 4000-2000 BCE – Christine Page ibid) seeing the rise of agriculture and the cult of bull worship, with the consequent Age of Aries (2000 BCE to 0 CE) seeing monotheism, the birth of the collective ego and a shift from ‘matriarchy’ to ‘patriarchy’, the slaying of the bull and the ‘rising’ of the ram (Jason’s Golden Fleece, etc.). The Age of Pisces brought the ‘fishermen’ of course!
(Photo of Milky Way courtesy of AEyZRiO at freedigitalphotos.net)
Lynn Koiner associates the degree of the Galactic Centre (currently around 27 degrees Sagittarius) with intuition and sensitivity to colour, sound and vibration (Ray IV for the theosophists among us), but the sensitivity is not like Neptunian energy, she says – more like Uranus in its ‘over-stimulation’ – and needing, “… to connect with some sort of spiritual discipline to assist in regulating (its) energies.”
And what does this have to do with now? Well… last Sunday’s (3rd December, 2017) full moon in Gemini coincided with Mercury’s retrograde through Sagittarius, closely conjunct Saturn at 28 degrees of the sign (Lynn Koiner says she gives a couple of degrees of orb on either side when working with this, so Mercury might be counted as being under its influence as well). A time, perhaps, for us to contemplate ‘the fullness of our potentiality’ during Mercury’s 3-week retrograde – and, with Neptune’s very close square to the lunation degree, we have access to compassion and transcendence alongside the discipline of Saturn (see attached Social Media post for my musings on the full moon itself).
Symbolism – I find it endlessly fascinating! But let’s beware of trying to fix it in stone and make somebody else wrong because of what they make of it for themselves, or for who or what they choose to worship!
Love and blessings in these changing times from Helen x
“Heartbreak is unpreventable; the natural outcome of caring for people and things over which we have no control, of holding in our affections those who inevitably move beyond our line of sight…” DAVID WHYTE
The darkness of this season feels a little darker for me, after the passing of one of my dearest friends. Our letting go at this level, on this plane, is often a painful wrenching and we’re left wondering what it’s all about. A part of me is always trying to work out what it means, when, perhaps it is just as it is and I need to process my part of it and live my life?
Our hankering after what is gone can mean that part of our soul goes ‘walkabout’, trying to cling to the threads of times, places and people that are no longer here in the form we remember. We cannot truly live the ‘wholeness’ of our lives in that state (we need to forgive ourselves for that – we’re all in process and it takes great courage to heal).
Reminded of this old piece from a journal (first written in December 1994 and updated in 2001/2011):
“Waves of sadness keep washing over me…
Familiar this pattern of grieving…
Hopes, fears, illusions, sadness, despair…
A circle of emotions, dreams, possibilities, escape…
“I know I have to let it pass through me, this new death in which there are already seeds of new life. How much easier, though, to succumb to the feeling of finality that death brings; to succumb and to atrophy like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, to keep quite still in the hope (is it a hope?) that nothing will ever flourish again. Somehow that would feel like a price had been paid.
“But ‘there is no pay off’, and the dying leaves of this winter will feed the new growth of next spring. And whether or not we feel we deserve to die, whether or not we would prefer oblivion to this unending cycle of life-death-life, in our highest selves we will continue to embrace these paths of learning…”
(There was an ending to that last sentence which I’m sure is not true for me anymore, so I left it out… hey, I’m not even sure about the learning bit now, either… things are a-changing… I’m letting go of old words!)
This is, of course, the season of letting go, of honouring those who have gone before us, and we have a full moon in Taurus on 4th November, 2017 (11Taurus59 at 5:24 hrs GMT), helping us to shed light on what there is to hold onto in these times of flux. Venus is coming to the end of her time in Libra (a happy place for her – she’s been there since 14th October). She moves into Scorpio on 7th November (not a happy place, but she’ll be in what’s known as ‘mutual reception’ with Mars in Libra for a while, which is helpful). Mercury moves from the depths of Scorpio into Sagittarius on 5th November (slowing down/getting ready for a retrograde phase in December – oh joy I hear you say, some Advent chaos!).
The Astrology & Healing Workshop rearrangement has finally settled (I hope!) on Saturday, 2nd December, so do get in touch if you’re interested as this is a small group workshop with only a couple of places left.
(Photo courtesy of Suriya Kankliang at freedigitalphotos.net)
Love and blessings in this necessary phase of darkness, from Helen x
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” SOCRATES
At the autumn equinox (which coincides with the sun’s ingress into Libra) we move into the season of reflection (a Libran theme) – a time to examine how this year has gone since the wheel started turning at the spring equinox (sun into Aries). And with Jupiter’s presence in Libra since 9th September, 2016, you may have found reflection high on the agenda – alongside things such as balance and peace, impartiality and fairness, ethics and morality, relationship and beauty.
We might think of the lunation cycle as an action/reflection cycle in miniature:
The last new moon (20th September, 2017 at 27Virgo27) coincided with Venus’ (Libra’s ruler) ingress into Virgo, where she joined Mercury and Mars. Tracy Marks talks about us ‘instinctively expressing the energy of the lunation sign’ at the new moon (in the area/house where it falls in our own charts – take particular notice if it conjuncts a planet or angle in your own chart), focusing in this instance on the Virgoan qualities of purity and single-mindedness or, equally, on the nit-picking and critical tendencies of this sign. This last new moon is to be followed by a full moon in dynamic Aries (5th October – 19:41 hrs BST at 12Aries43 opposite sun in Libra in the same degree). The full moon brings awareness, prompting a decision, perhaps, to act on at the time of the next new moon and/or consequences to reflect on (or deal with) of what we ‘seeded’ at the previous new moon.
Interestingly, Venus (ruler of the sun’s position) and Mars (ruler of the moon’s position) make an exact conjunction in Virgo at the time of October’s full moon, bringing together and blending the energies of diplomacy and passion, fairness and self-centredness in a sign which may help us to integrate the opposites and find a way forward that ‘works’. Mercury (which is also in mutual reception with Venus just now – a helpful happenstance) is also building to the superior conjunction with the sun in Libra, bringing conversation to the fore – let’s talk about it!
(Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net)
Jupiter moves into Scorpio on 10th October and Eric Meyers (in his newsletter) suggested that it might feel like Hallowe’en for a year! I have Jupiter in Scorpio natally by the way, so what does that mean for us ‘native’ Jupiter in Scorpios I wonder (Jupiter’s cycle takes approximately 12 years)? 😉
If you’re interested in exploring astrology online (beginners and long-term explorers welcome), I’ve recently launched a new group on Facebook called ‘Working with Astrology’ (a closed group so our discussions don’t show up on the general timeline). If you’re more ‘hands-on’ and would be interested in a monthly tutorial group in Kendal (I’m looking at one for on-going explorers just now, but would consider a beginners group given enough interest) do let me know. I’m also in process of rearranging the Kendal Astrology & Healing workshop – changing it from Sunday 1st October to Sunday, 29th October (from 10.30am-4.30pm) and Sophie Reed (of soulbox.co.uk) has invited me to do an afternoon workshop (Astrology & Healing) in Whitehaven on Sunday, 15th October. If you’re interested in joining us for that one, please email sophie@soulbox.co.uk.
Love and blessings,
Helen x
“All my life I have been a witness of things among which I keep witnessing the eternal unfitness of things. Daily it is my wont to notice how things that were meant to fit each other, don’t.” OGDEN NASH
Here we are in Virgo season again – and, as Mercury (Virgo’s ruler) is backtracking in hir own sign (and, yes, Hermes is an hermaphroditic/androgynous energy so ‘hir’ is the word I meant to write) I’m finding the Nash quotation rather more than ‘fitting’ just now (perhaps because my own natal Mercury sits in Virgo – not all Mercurys have the same susceptibilities). And I do like playing with words!
So… looking at the ‘big’ planetary transits for those of us with mutable tendencies (planets and/or angles in Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) this month… with our love of sharing ideas, doing what we ‘should’, struggling to plan ahead and swinging from inner processing to what’s going on ‘out there’ (and back again of course):
Saturn is in Sagittarius (until December, 2017) and has recently stationed direct at 21degrees10. He’s been testing the beliefs and limiting the freedom of this sign since September, 2015 (you might even feel your sense of humour has been stifled at times – ugh!). Saturn is a hard taskmaster and he’s showing us where the work needs to be done. (In the, perhaps unlikely, event that we’ve completed all the work, he’s not averse to giving credit where it’s due 😉 ).
Neptune is in Pisces of course (for the foreseeable future) and working in quite the opposite mode to Saturn – things feel confusing with Neptune, and inertia takes over at times, sensitivity is upped and we need to watch out for those rose-coloured glasses (what seems like an invitation to bask with the mermaids might just feel like drowning when you dive in). If you’re being Neptuned right now (he’s at 13 degrees Pisces and retrograde) you need to set aside time to dream and visualize (you can see how that doesn’t necessarily fit very well with the Saturnian urge to get the work done) and ‘cut yourself some slack’. Not a good time (usually an 18-month ‘plus’ transit) to be making radical decisions.
(Photo courtesy of cooldesign at freedigitalphotos.net)
Chiron’s present passage through Pisces is also retrograde (he’s at around 28 degrees just now and doesn’t leave the sign completely until late February, 2019) and his energy is often helpful in promoting acceptance of those things we can’t change/that don’t fit.
We also have Venus moving from Leo to Virgo on 20th September, moving our senses and values from the more flamboyant to something which ‘makes sense’ perhaps?
I’m on holiday from Sunday, 3rd through Sunday, 10th September so this newsletter is coming out a little earlier than usual. Please refer to my website pages for flower essences and tissue salts that are helpful for the mutable signs as I’m running out of my self-allotted space (Gemini is an air sign, Virgo, earth, Sagittarius, fire and Pisces, water) – link here
If you’re interested in my Astrology & Healing workshop (includes exploration of flower essences, etc.) which is on offer on Sunday, 1st October in Kendal, Cumbria, please do get in touch as places are limited.
Love and blessings as the seasons shift.
Helen x
“The soul-contract (for north node in Leo) is to find a way actually to make a positive difference in the lives of the very people, who, formerly, would have burned him or her at the stake.” STEVEN FORREST
We are approaching next week’s partial full moon eclipse in Aquarius (Monday, 7th August – full moon at 19:12 BST – sun at 15Leo25) and everybody’s talking about ‘eclipse season’! Are you feeling it? David Ovason (I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) talks about an eclipse needing to fall within one degree of an aspect to a natal position to affect you personally (take a look at what angles/planets you have around 15degrees25 of the fixed signs (see healing essences below) and/or which houses of your chart this degree of Leo and Aquarius falls in) and that the impact will have the ‘flavour’ of the particular planet involved. In an archived e-mail I found from Ingrid Naiman, she suggests that the eclipse heightens what we bring to it (so it might be good to focus on thinking/doing what you would like to have more of during eclipse season?) Both writers talk about the time-span of the eclipse spreading out forwards and backwards from the time of the event (lunar ones are short-lived on the whole, but the solar one on 21st August lasts for 2 minutes and 40 seconds with the influence of an hour-long eclipse spreading out 6 months before and after that event).
The quotation above comes from Steven Forrest’s ‘Yesterday’s Sky’ (eclipse season usually happens in the signs where the nodal axis falls) where he talks about people with south node in Aquarius (therefore north node in Leo) processing and balancing energies from lifetimes where they were outsiders, rebels, etc. Steven suggests that Leo on the north node needs to find a way to be heard this time around (with both Barack Obama and Diana, Princess of Wales examples of this combination). It might be useful to look at the polarity between the rebel and the leader, the outsider and the ‘shining light’ (Aquarius/Leo) with regard to the particular life circumstances (natal houses) affected for you during this eclipse season.
(Photo courtesy of renjith krishnan at freedigitalphotos.net)
Bringing in some healing essences for the fixed signs:
- Leo’s Bach Flower is Vervain – helping to balance over-enthusiasm and lack of humility, with Gymea Lily (Australian Bush Flower Essences) also supporting this and helping Leos to stay with their goals and not be negatively affected by others’ projections.
- Aquarius’ Bach Flower is Water Violet – helping to balance reserved and distant qualities with a sense of loving non-attachment. Debbie Sellwood also suggests Illawarra Flame Tree (ABFE) for that tendency to rebellion.
- Taurus’ Bach Flower is Gentian – helping to bring endurance and spiritual strength to balance the tendency to depression and fear of the new, with Old Man Banksia (ABFE) supporting energy levels and the thyroid.
- Scorpio’s Bach Flower is Chicory – helping to find a sense of purpose to offset possessive and controlling qualities, with Dagger Hakea (ABFE) helping with letting go of bitterness and grudges.
We’re also due for Mercury’s next retrograde phase (13th August – 5th September, 2017 from 11Virgo37 back to 28Leo25), which may press buttons around unfinished business, organization and practicality (Virgo/earth) as well as bring some abortive attempts to begin something creative/spontaneous (Leo/fire). Making time for reflection and your own inner processing can help offset (or, at least, keep you calmer during 😉 ) the usual Mercurial glitches!
If you’d like to look at any of this in more depth in your own chart, please do get in touch to arrange a consultation.
Love and blessings from Helen x
“Problems may be massive, but most of these were created by past errors and will be resolved by getting on with what needs to be done now.” ROY GILLETT
The quotation above (from Roy Gillett in The Astrological Journal) refers to the present build-up to Jupiter and Saturn joining Pluto in Capricorn during 2019-20. He refers to this combination elsewhere as ‘a rare confrontation with reality’ (Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions happen every twenty years or so, but the presence of all three planets in Capricorn hasn’t happened since 2866 BCE).
Capricorn is one of the cardinal signs of the zodiac which coincide with the equinoxes and solstices (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), having about them that energy of beginnings and action. Cardinal energy often tries to resolve stress by acting on it and the stress is often triggered by relationship issues, responsibilities and the demands of the world.
Just now, the sun is moving through Cancer (along with Mercury and Mars) so the focus may be on the demands of family and the urge to nurture/be nurtured in some way. Pluto has, of course, been in Capricorn for some time and Mars in Cancer is directly opposite to Pluto as I write (exact 02-Jul-17). Mars’ position in Cancer is not a comfortable one, so anger may turn to tears and assertion might be somewhat passive-aggressive. The opposition to Pluto may also serve to bury anger, setting us up for ailments from repressed anger which could tend towards things like headaches and digestive issues. The meeting with Pluto might also cause long-repressed anger to surface.
With Mars’ recent square to Jupiter in Libra, we might have the urge to fight on behalf of the things we believe in, with a sense of fairness and justice high on the agenda. And if you have major planets and angles in cardinal signs, the transiting planets may well be triggering off issues in your own chart. You might have the urge (for example) to get involved with campaigning on behalf of a cause that is dear to your heart, but watch for that tendency to think that your cause is the ‘one true cause’ and that everybody else should be on board!
Uranus is still in the later degrees of Aries, so Mars and Mercury pass over a square to this revolutionary planet later this month – watch out for unexpected ‘fireworks’ (5th/6th for Mercury and17th/18th for Mars)! With Mercury there might be a tendency to ‘blurt’ – and the full moon in Capricorn on the 9th falls a degree away from Pluto, highlighting his position.
Aries energy is renowned for its ‘hot-headedness’ and intolerance of others who can’t keep up! The Bach Flower, Impatiens can help centre us into the more balanced leadership qualities that this sign can embody. Cancer energy can get lost in a sense of indifference or a tendency to live in the past. Clematis is the Bach Flower which can help bring us back into the ‘now’ and that ability to tune into others’ feelings in a helpful way. Libra energy is susceptible to procrastination and indecision, with Scleranthus helping us to trust our inner knowing. And Capricorn’s energy can let those nagging fears get the better of us, leading to a loss of integrity at times. Mimulus is an essence which can help bring us back into a place of trust. (Photo courtesy of pazham at freedigitalphotos.net)
The signs on the cardinal cross interact and challenge each other and there are many possible combinations of planets in signs/planets in aspect (from our earlier example, Mars is ruler of Aries but is presently moving through Cancer and opposing Pluto in Capricorn). Flower Essences are gentle healers and can be taken in combination too. If you’d like to take this further for yourself I recommend Peter Damian’s book, ‘An Astrological Study of the Bach Flower Remedies’ and one by Debbie Sellwood, ‘Centaury for Virgo, Rock Rose for Pisces’ which also includes other flower essences, such as the Australian Bush Flower range. You might also like to look at the huge range of essences that Healthlines has to offer – website link provided.
Love and blessings from Helen x
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