Tag Archives: Astrology

Scorpio’s Season: a meditation on darkness, power and poetry ….

Posted on November 6, 2016 | 17 comments

 What better glass, darkly, through which to view life’s fleeting nature, its fathomless depths, than that of the sign of Scorpio?

Scorpio New Moon

Scorpio New Moon

Now is Scorpio’s season

The thirty degree band of the sky as viewed from Earth, occupying from 240 to 270 degrees of the 360 degree zodiac, is the sector called Scorpio, the beginning of the final quarter of the zodiacal year. The Sun, our marker for the unfolding of the year and the changing of the seasons, entered Scorpio this year on the 22nd October, and leaves it for Sagittarius on the 21st November – heading for Capricorn and the winter Solstice on 21st December: the Sun’s most remote point for us in the North.

The astronomy leads us to the symbolic meaning of Scorpio. It is the time of late autumn: in this season the clocks go back, making darkness come earlier. It is the time of grass dying off, trees being stripped bare of leaves, a time of retreat: warmer clothes, more heating, putting things off, often, “….until the New Year”. Energy is lower. Winter flu scythes away many of our old folk. In Greek myth, the goddess Demeter goes into mourning for her beloved daughter Persephone, abducted to his Underworld realm by Hades, king of darkness. The Upper world mourns with her.

A Scorpio poet’s view

However – descent into darkness harbours its own deep, creative purpose. The Scottish poet Christopher Whyte, born with several planets in Scorpio, expresses that purpose with profound eloquence in this extract from his poem Rex Tenebrarum (King of Darkness), an English translation by the poet himself of a poem written in Scottish Gaelic:

“……How heavy the earth is above the seed

that struggles and thrusts, looking for nourishment

from the sun, and showers to freshen it!

But if it wasn’t rooted in the darkness,

in a warm, enclosed place filled with worms,

it could do nothing with air or light…..

King of the darkness, king of the world,

when I saw two faces in the mirror

superimposed, made one, I understood

that you have to be reconciled.

Unless the sapling knows

where its roots are sunk, and the whole

plant admits that life

and nourishment come from darkness;

unless it has unequivocal

love for what bore and raised it

how can there be a rich

summer flowering for our hopes? “

The astrological writer Paul Wright reveals in his fine, acclaimed book  The Literary Zodiac, the way in which “writers express cosmic patterns in their creative work….”. In the above extract Christopher Whyte’s deep roots in the sign of Scorpio have enabled him powerfully and accurately to capture and express the essence of that sector’s meaning and challenge to us.

All powerfully charged dimensions of life belong to Scorpio: that stage of the human journey challenges us with those facets of life which most powerfully compel us, attract us, repel us, scare us – and transform us.

Another poet very strongly rooted in the sign of  Scorpio, Dylan Thomas, talks about ‘deaths and entrances’.  Thomas was born, fittingly, in Scorpio’s season: on the 27th October 1914, the year of the start of the Great War.

If we can face and grapple with our deepest attractions, compulsions, power drives, fears and repulsions, then we can experience – through staying with the struggle, seeking support where we can, having faith in the transformative dimensions of life – the symbolic death of aspects of the ‘old order’ holding us back from entry into a more complete and authentic expression of who it is we actually are.

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What does this New Moon, ushering in Scorpio’s season, mean to you? Do share your thoughts and feelings!

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Christopher Whyte 2011

Christopher Whyte

Christopher Whyte has translated Rilke, Tsvetaeva and Pasolini into English. He published four novels between 1995 and 2000 and his fifth poetry collection, in Scottish Gaelic, appeared in 2013. His translation of the work of the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva (1892-1941) “Moscow in the Plague Year” was published in 2014 (New York, Archipelago Press 2014). He lives in Budapest, Hungary and writes full-time.

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Zodiac

700 words copyright Anne Whitaker/Christopher Whyte 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

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Posted in The Sun/Moon Cycle, New Moons & Moondark (8articles), Uncategorized (35 articles)

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Hallowe’en drama: all fall down!

Posted on October 28, 2016 | 6 comments

Yes, I know, this is  very definitely an astrology blog. However, it is almost Hallowe’en, and everyone loves a creepy tale. Knowing how discerning my readers are (a little flattery goes a long way, does it not?!) I decided to add astrological legitimacy by looking up my transits today for the time of the tale I’m about to tell... Well!… Transiting Pluto was triggering my natal Mercury/Neptune sextile, sitting right on natal Neptune. Transiting Mars trine Uranus was triggering natal Mars, as Mars returned to its natal place in the 10th house. And – transiting North Node conjuncted my third house Jupiter in Scorpio. The astrological stage was set, although I knew no astrology at the time...

Fly-by-Night

Fly-by-Night

This very spooky Hallowe’en story is set towards the end of  my restless twenties, a period where I earned my living as an adult education teacher. Here, I learn with my students that many an episode in this life of ours lacks a rational explanation….

Ever on the move, I had just given up a full time post as a college lecturer in scenic Wiltshire, England, UK,  to “be a writer”, returning to my native island to do so. However, living with my parents, a mutually unsatisfactory arrangement, was followed by my moving to a small Scottish town that autumn to live with a poet friend who had a creative writing fellowship at the local university. Sharing her house, I hoped, would provide an appropriate creative stimulus. It certainly provided more than a few hangovers!

With my usual facility for obtaining employment in those days, I soon had several part-time teaching jobs including a few hours a week teaching drama, having acquired such experience “on the hoof” in my last full-time job, officially teaching English to A level students. The new drama teacher had failed to turn up at the beginning of term, and my head of department had assigned me the job thus: “You seem the dramatic type, Anne. I’m sure you’d love a weekly Drama class….”

Back then, education was a much more laid back and less regulated pursuit than it is now!

Hallowe’en that year thus found me teaching a Thursday twilight drama class from 4.30 to 6.00 pm in a fairly new brick and glass college building situated on a hill with stunning views out to sea.  The drama studio was a great space to work in: a clear light empty area with polished wood floors and a couple of heavy, six or seven foot high wooden stage sets free standing at the back wall.

I was sitting in a circle on the floor on the opposite side of the studio, with a class of lively young women in their late teens – working with them was exhilarating and fun. Through the huge picture window we could see the city of Dundee spread out below us, the local river, the ‘silvery Tay’, catching late glimmers of waning light. Outside was a clear night with a hint of autumnal frost. Inside, the studio was quiet, warm and low lit.

Hallowe'en

Hallowe’en

It being Hallowe’en, I decided to set aside our usual programme, asking them if they would like to tell spooky stories instead. They enthusiastically agreed. I no longer recall what order we worked in, nor what the stories were. Most of the girls had a strange tale to tell, then it was over to me.

“Go on, Miss, tell us one of yours !”

I can no longer remember whether I told them one of the chilling stories  handed down by my mother from her side of the family, or whether it was one of my own experiences. But I do recall with vivid clarity what occurred next. At the climax of my creepy tale, both the stage sets fell forward, clattering onto the bare floor of the studio with a deafening crash…..

After we had recovered somewhat from our shock and fright, the students and I went over to examine the stage sets. With some difficulty, since they were heavy and hard to manoeuvre, we restored them to upright positions. They were perfectly stable. There was absolutely no reason why they should have fallen over, none at all. There had been no vibrations, or wind. It was not possible for someone to have come into the studio without our noticing. Had anyone been hiding in the studio and pushed the stage sets over, they could not have got out without being seen.

Subdued and silent, we left to go home in a tight little group, furtively glancing behind us until we reached the comfort of the well-lit streets. I would be willing to bet that none of those present with me that night have ever forgotten it!

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To read more ‘weird’ experiences, check out my recently updated memoir

“Wisps from the Dazzling Darkness : an open-minded take on paranormal experience” 

wisps-from-the-dazzling-darkness#2

800 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

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The Nodes and the Sacred : The Moon’s Nodes Part 4

Posted on October 21, 2016 | 4 comments

To gain the most from the Moon’s Nodes series, please do read Part 1,  Part 2 and Part 3

And now, Part Four…

Turin Shroud

Turin Shroud

4. The Moon’s Nodes and the  Sacred

In allowing some images to rise which might help me pull the threads of the  thesis together, the one which most persistently presented itself was that ghostly picture of a man’s head and shoulders which must be the world’s most famous photographic negative – the one which appeared when the photograph taken of the marks on the shroud of Turin was developed.

For many people throughout the world, this is a sacred image of the crucified body of Christ, and a central symbol representing the Christian era. Regardless of one’s religious stance, it is not hard to see how this single awe-inspiring one-dimensional image conveys the symbolic essence of  what Christianity means.

It functions as a kind of spiritual hologram; in itself it is a one-dimensional holographic plate.(ii) But when the light of faith is shone on it, a three dimensional picture – physical, emotional, and spiritual, of  what Christianity means, arises for the observer.

In contemplating the outcome of the research into the lives of both Mary Shelley and Marc, the idea of the natal Nodal pattern representing a symbolic  holographic plate has taken shape.

The true turning points  in life seem to leap into three dimensions – emotional, physical, spiritual – from the holographic plate on which the basic pattern of the person’s destiny is etched. That pattern is most appropriately carried in the Nodal structure. It holds images of  the light  of the quest for meaning through the Sun; reflection and containment of that light through the Moon; and grounding in Life’s unfolding process through their orbits’ particular relationship with the Earth’s plane.

In every synastry in Mary Shelley’s case; in every key event  in both Mary’s and Marc’s  lives, running backwards and forwards in time and in the symbolism of all the birth charts, one can see, shimmering through the really critical turning points,  the ghostly, but quite distinct holographic plate of both Mary’s and Marc’s natal Nodal patterns.

The four Nodal Moments, though sketchier because of their being only one section cut through each subjects’ unfolding life pattern, nevertheless also carry within them the basic shape of the natal Nodal blueprint. Robin Heath’s comment is apposite:(iii)

“……….astrology appears more and more to behave like a hologram. You can perform almost any technique with the data, turn the chart inside out or slice it up, and still the symbolic pictures remain.”

Perhaps that  powerful spiritual image of the sacred Shroud arose for me because in reflecting on the meaning of what I had seen at the core of all the different ‘takes’ on the Nodes at work in a range of people’s lives, I felt myself to be in the presence of the numinous, the sacred.

I find it impossible to describe adequately my feelings when I realised that  in Mary Shelley and Marc’s lives, with each synastry and every major event and turning point,  the natal Nodes and their attendant patterns had been painted, not faintly or casually, but in bold primary colours that could not be missed. I had a powerful sense of being in the presence of something ‘Other’ , something which was not circumscribed by the mortality of one individual in one lifetime.

The resonances over long periods of time which were so evident in linking Mary Shelley’s Nodal pattern with the contemporary controversy over how far we humans should overstep our limits in altering the very building blocks of life, focused by the appearance of Dolly the Sheep – and the links I found with my own horoscope, hers, and the time I had chosen to write about her – really struck me.(iv)

I did not expect my research into ‘The Moon’s Nodes in Action’ to present me with such a strong  suggestion that we all have our destiny, that certain potent times in life present events and turning points which are initiations into  the furtherance of that destiny – or that outwith our lives there may be  some intelligent ‘Other’ observing and/or guiding  that  movement. But  that is the feeling which persists in me as a result of this work.

I have always reacted with a degree of impatience to the theorising, usually with little empirical evidence to support it, which takes place about the Nodes – now I’m rather more respectful! But it feels good to have done a fairly substantial piece of practical exploratory work demonstrating the theory in action.

As the Indian astrologers have been telling us for centuries, the Moon’s Nodes really do seem to be connected to the workings of Fate in the shaping of personal destiny.

Nodal Axis

Nodal Axis

Endnotes:

(i) The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol 12, p 55

(ii) a hologram is “an image produced on photographic film in such a way that under suitable illumination a three-dimensional representation of an object is seen”. Oxford Paperback Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 1994

(iii) The Mountain Astrologer, Issue 78, April/May 1998, Letters p 11

To Be Continued!

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You are most welcome to download the full research study from which my conclusions are taken: it was FREE for several years, but I am now charging a small fee of $7. The simplest way to get it is to send the money to my PayPal account: contact.anne.w@gmail.com

PayPal will notify me and I will send you the e book within 24 hours.

Thanks!

The Moon's Nodes in Action

Zodiac

Zodiac

850 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House

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Conception, beginnings and endings: The Moon’s Nodes Part 3

Posted on October 18, 2016 | 11 comments

To gain the most from the Moon’s Nodes series, please do read Part 1 and Part 2.

And now, Part Three…

Moon's Nodes

Moon’s Nodes

3. “In my end is my beginning….” (1)

The Nodes have also struck me as having strong connections with conception, beginnings and endings, of either a literal or more often a symbolic kind.

I found it intriguing, for example, that in the two of Marc’s Turning Points which concerned the beginning of the two key relationships with women which would most powerfully affect his life, the charts for the conception points of the relationships were more powerful than those for the actual start of Marc going out with Beatrice (first wife) and then Caitlin (his long-term partner).

In Mary Shelley’s case, the chart for the waking dream in which she could have been said to have conceived the idea which led to ‘Frankenstein’, was very powerful.

All of the key moments in all the case material concern conception, beginnings and endings: in the case of Princess Diana, her physical death. Andrew’s Nodal moment concerned the dramatic end of a relationship, but also of certain pathological ties to his family past, leading to the beginning of an altogether more positive stage of his life.

Anna’s Nodal moment represented the beginning of a whole new cycle of her life; the date of the interview whose successful outcome would see her re-locate to another continent, 11 October, was also the anniversary of both her mother’s and her sister’s death. John Glenn’s Nodal moment concerned his rebirth as an astronaut in October 1998 at the age of 76 – the second Nodal Return from his original space voyage in February 1962.   He returned to Earth safely, complete with his record of being the oldest person to venture into space.

Marc’s first Turning Point represented the end of his youthful image of himself as an intellectual achiever, and a very painful initiation into experiencing the more brutal aspects of life as a necessary part of his life path. The election of Margaret Thatcher as UK Conservative Prime Minister in 1979 , when he was 33, represented  another major Turning Point: the end of his political hopes for Scottish Independence at that time – he had been a Scottish Nationalist all his adult life. The whole period since then for him has been a long struggle, for a man who needs the inspiration of belief to guide and focus his considerable energies and gifts.

In my own case, as described in the preface to the research, critical endings  on the first and second Nodal returns bracketed a long journey from spiritual alienation to deeper connection with a sense of meaning and purpose. I had needed to find this spiritual connectedness in order to become all I could be in the next stage of my vocational life .

My research confirmed both the traditional view  of the Nodes’ connection with conception, beginnings and endings and my own impressions gained over many years’ practice.

Nodal Axis

Nodal Axis

Endnotes:

(1) Headline quotation is from East Coker, No. 2 of ‘Four Quartets’ by T.S.Eliot

To Be Continued!

You are most welcome to download the full research study from which my conclusions are taken: it was FREE for several years, but I am now charging a small fee of $7. The simplest way to get it is to send the money to my PayPal account: contact.anne.w@gmail.com

PayPal will notify me and I will send you the e book within 24 hours.

Thanks!

The Moon's Nodes in Action

Zodiac

Zodiac

550 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House

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The lunar eclipse in Pisces – how is your lunar eclipse day, so far?

Posted on September 16, 2016 | 28 comments

How is your day so far, as the lunar eclipse’s power builds? I have had a very strange day: didn’t sleep too well, feeling scratchy, raw, went into city centre to drift around some shops, could not settle, feeling alternately drifty and unfocused then surging with the need to DO something useful. Eventually got into my office. Various bitty irritations awaited me. Suddenly felt sleepy. Got myself by the ear. Wrote a post. That’s better…

The Virgo/Pisces eclipse season began in mid-September 2015 with a partial solar eclipse at 20 degrees Virgo. It concludes at the end of February 2017, including four attendant lunar eclipses, with the last of four solar eclipses taking place at 8 degrees Pisces. Today, on Friday 16th September, 19.55 BST,  at 24 degrees 20 minutes Pisces, there is a lunar eclipse following on from the solar eclipse which occurred at 9 degrees 21 minutes of Virgo on 1st September 2106, 10.08 BST.

lunar-eclipse-16-9-16

lunar-eclipse-16-9-16 (click to enlarge) 

Excitement is already mounting, since eclipses tend to produce “power surges” and crises of various kinds in our collective life. One striking lunar eclipse-related  example this week is of Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton’s much-publicised falling ill and staggering into her car, helped by aides, as she left the 9/11 commemoration early, suffering from pneumonia.

 Although she appears to have bounced back quickly, appearing in public again on Thursday looking cheerful and well, nevertheless this episode has not helped her presidential campaign against Donald Trump, who is running neck and neck with her in the polls at present.

And what of their impact on our personal lives? How does that work? What should we expect from the September 2015 – February 2017 season of eclipses?

Research Revelations

My major objective in conducting research into The Moon’s Nodes in Action – ebook published in 2015 – was to put actual flesh on the bones of all the theoretical stuff I had been reading about the Moon’s Nodes and eclipses over a period of many years. I wanted to find out whether the theory stood up in practice, arriving at my research conclusions via detailed study of  six people’s lives.

Three of the participants were ‘ordinary’ citizens: Marc, Andrew and Anna, and three were famous: Mary Shelley in relation to  her authorship of  Frankenstein on her first Nodal Return; Princess Diana of the UK and her untimely death on her second Nodal Return; and astronaut John Glenn’s return to space, in his 70s, two whole Nodal Returns after his first space trip.

Honouring the Sun/Moon link I chose three women and three men – viewed from planet Earth at solar eclipse times, the Sun and Moon are of equal size and complementary symbolic significance…

Drawing together all the research threads by way of conclusion, I had this to say about eclipses:

I’m quite clear now, as the Nodal axis regresses through the chart, identifying via the highlighted houses the overall territory up for change, that the transiting eclipses function as “battery chargers”, gradually building up the energies of the person’s life in preparation to receive major change.

An image comes to mind here from the female menstrual cycle, of the egg gradually being primed and prepared until it is at its maximum point of readiness to receive the male sperm, conceive and begin new life. I think the eclipses begin their work of charging-up as soon as the relevant eclipse season begins, which may be as long as eighteen months before the turning point in the person’s life appears. (i)

General points to observe

Individual eclipses are important, and can be viewed as progressive stages of an unfolding process. However, my research and subsequent astrology practice as well as personal observation has demonstrated that one should take note of the whole eclipse season of eighteen months, applying this to whatever pair of houses the Moon’s Nodes and eclipses (both solar and lunar) are moving through by retrograde motion. You should also take careful note of those planets/Angles/asteroids (if you use them) which are being triggered.

It is also very valuable, in gaining perspective, to go back to the previous eclipse season nineteen years previously, to reflect on the changes brought then and how they may connect to what is coming up this time around.

The more planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and especially Pluto are involved in the eclipse dance, the more life-changing are the outcomes likely to be. As Alexander Ruperti wisely observed in his wonderful Cycles of Becoming:

“Eclipses simply measure intense confrontations with all those things in human nature which hinder spiritual progress by keeping one in a rut, albeit a comfortable and happy rut. They are opportunities to use the past and the present – all that one has previously acquired, as well as where he stands at a given moment – in order to build a more creative future. Since they always challenge an individual to discard all limiting influences and to start something new, they may be stressful times.”(ii)

As always, I am interested in your feedback from YOUR experiences. How is your eclipse day going? What changes have there been in your lives since mid-September 2015?

lunar eclipses

lunar eclipses

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ENDNOTES

(i) The Moon’s Nodes in Action by Anne Whitaker (Writing from the 12th House e-publication 2015) p 120

(ii) Cycles of Becoming by Alexander Ruperti,CRCS 2005, quoted in The Moon’s Nodes in Action, p 7

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I am offering this research study, featured in 2015 on www.astro.com, as a FREE download to any student or teacher of astrology who is interested in learning more about a fascinating topic.

Download The Moon’s Nodes in Action now [3.27 MB PDF]

e-publication by co-occurrence

e-publication by co-occurrence

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850 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

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Tarot Readings – the clients’ view

Posted on September 9, 2016 | 8 comments

 ‘Exploring the psyche – via the Tarot‘ should have given the reader some idea of the depth from which the Tarot can be approached, of issues raised by its practice, and of how it can be used as a valuable aid to self-development.

Here, the second part presents feedback from two clients, one female – Anya – and one male – Marc. They were chosen for the way in which they brought together, in their respective accounts, elements of most people’s responses to the tarot creatively and responsibly used.

I was also interested to show how Marc wove his experiences of very different symbol systems ie tarot, astrology and the I Ching as well as more conventional psychotherapy, into his long struggle to arrive at a place of reasonable balance in his life again.

Both names are pseudonyms.

The Tarot

The Tarot

 From Anya, a female client in her late thirties:

‘……This felt like an extremely powerful experience and I could hardly believe the cards which were turned up. A number of the cards made a direct impact on me as I realised their significance. Some of the other cards were more difficult to connect with at the time, but have since shown their relevance. All in all, it was an extremely affirming experience and offered me the support I so badly needed at the time – gave me something positive to hold onto.

Meaning continues to unfold as time has progressed, and I feel (six months on) that I am shifting into another phase, having embraced each of the cards’ messages in turn.

This experience has underlined for me a sense of being part of something much larger and greater than myself. This is awesome! I take faith from this. I found the pictures on the cards most evocative and enjoyed looking around ‘within’ the pictures.

The experience remains with me as an affirmation of my life over the last six months. In many ways I can see that I am at the place of ‘final outcome’ in the reading, certainly having lived through and faced that which I most needed and feared.

Without the reading, I feel that I would have gone through the experience in much the same way. However, holding on to the most positive aspects of the reading offered me vital support and helped me make connection with my inner strength. Furthermore, the element of warning and caution in the reading helped me to be extremely aware of my need to protect myself. This helped sustain me during a most harrowing time. I look forward to my next reading very much!’

The Sun

The Sun

From Marc, a male client in his mid forties, extracted from written feedback he provided:

‘…..The best way I can think of to approach this, is to answer the question ‘why did I go for astrology and tarot readings at all, especially bearing in mind my previous contemptuous rejection of such things?’

Well, as you know, only a catastrophe got me there! My previous, very rational, world view having collapsed in some considerable disarray, I had a desperate need for some other source of ‘meaning’ in my life – or rather, some other ‘meaningful’ way of understanding myself and what had been happening to me. I don’t think I was too interested in prediction, only in gaining insight.

I graduated to the tarot reading from several astrology readings and from participation in your astrology classes. Astrology was powerfully attractive for me – after I had crossed the Rubicon of ‘letting go’ of my previous contempt – because within its own terms it is in fact another vast rational system of understanding the universe. What I mean is, even if you think the whole thing is nonsense, it is nevertheless internally consistent, rational nonsense. Hence it rapidly became acceptable to me.

Moving on to the tarot was perhaps my way of travelling further down the road away from rationality, just to see what it was like. By April last year, my worst times were over and I was feeling the green shoots of recovery. Psychologically, I think I had come to terms with what had happened to me and was beginning to look to the future. I had sent the divorce papers to my estranged wife, but she hadn’t yet returned them, and I was experiencing pangs of doubt about what I really wanted.

Before, with astrology, I was looking for insight; now, with the tarot, I was looking for a method of choosing – but one that was different from what I had done before, one that involved some kind of surrender on my part. That’s not clear. What I mean is – all my therapy with you brought home to me how much energy I have always devoted to creating a picture of reality inside which I then lived. But it turned out that my reality wasn’t reality after all. By relying so heavily on my rational powers, I had created a faulty picture of how things really were.

Tarot seemed appealing because it involved allowing the universe to show you what reality was. If you made an initial commitment to the ritual, surrendered control, the turn of the cards would show you where you stood. I see the I Ching in essentially the same light, and the notion has a ‘thrilling’ aspect to it precisely because I have been so controlled in my life so far.

The Lovers

The Lovers

What was the experience of the reading like? Given that I was dipping my toe in previously uncharted waters, it felt slightly unreal. I couldn’t ‘believe’ in the tarot as easily as I could in the more ‘systematic’ or ‘rational’ astrology whose terms of reference, unlike the tarot, arise from physical bodies we can actually see in the night sky. But it was thrilling.

I would have to say that I hadn’t fully committed myself to the outcome, but I was much more open to what was going to happen than I could ever have been in my life before. It was an experiment. It was a valuable experience – it helped me to work out my real feelings about my ongoing divorce and about career choices. But it was the talking stimulated by the cards that did that – they were a mechanism for releasing talk and thus feelings.

My tarot reading suggested that I needed to consolidate choices I had already made in my heart, and move on to new commitments on the basis of the wisdom I had achieved through experience. I did in fact go ahead with my divorce, not without further emotional upset, and have in fact consolidated my relationship with my girlfriend.

My experimentation with both the tarot and astrology has led me to an appreciation that many aspects of our lives are ‘fated’ – but that does not obliterate free will or personal responsibility. On the contrary, it seems that everyone has the responsibility of understanding the purpose of his or her individual life – which will depend on his or her inheritance at the start – and has the freedom to choose to make the effort of understanding, then the freedom to do something with the knowledge – or not.

My response to the pictorial images on the cards? You know, for a Presbyterian Scot, I’ve decided I could go in a surprisingly big way for all kinds of pictorial religious symbolism! The allure of forbidden territory? I got the same reaction recently at the temple at Samye Ling (a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Scottish Borders). My senses were drenched in gold, red, blue, green and in accompanying sounds and smells! Seriously – perhaps a slightly infantile thrill at ‘surrendering’ my destiny to pretty painted pictures with supposedly magical powers.

I am intrigued with the idea of ‘drawing lots’ either via the tarot or the I Ching, and I think it’s something I’ll probably do again. The idea of choosing by ritual is powerfully attractive to me because, if done with full commitment, it could of course represent the placing of trust in something outside myself. But it remains an aspiration, not an accomplishment…


Well, there you are! That’s the best I can do to recall my reactions to the experience….

Tarot Deck

1400 words copyright Anne Whitaker/’Anya’/’Marc’ 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

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Advice on responsible astrological practice – from Donna Cunningham

Posted on August 15, 2016 | 10 comments

I believe that it is important for practising astrologers every so often to get on their shouty soapbox on the topics of  what constitutes ethical practice and how does one become a responsible consultant astrologer.

 I have been doing this in posts during July and August 2016 – and I’m glad to say that both here and over on the blog’s Facebook Page, a great deal of interest revealed in Likes, Shares and thoughtful comments has been the result. In concluding the series for the time being ( I’ll be back on the soapbox again some other year!) I could not do better than share with you master astrologer Donna Cunningham’s excellent article on working responsibly with both the natal chart and transits. Donna has read and commented on the above posts, and has generously given me a copy of

A Responsible Approach to Clients’ Tough Transits

to share with my readers. Feel free to download and share, says Donna. The article also lists many of Donna’s other articles on good practice which would be beneficial for all practitioners whatever their level of experience to read. 

This article, an extract from Counseling Principles for Astrologers,  is a treat: practical, sensible, humane, humorous and clearly the work of a very experienced astrologer in which she shares her approaches to a range of challenging  issues which practitioners face every day in reading charts for their fellow citizens. Here is a flavour:

“…We live in very difficult times, and the world at large is in turmoil. The transits are difficult ones, too. Many astrology clients are fearful about their future but hope for good news, while astrologers struggle to make helpful predictions. Sometimes, however, the things we say can leave them even more anxious than they were before. What, then, would be a healing and empowering perspective on the concerns they bring to a session?

It’s extremely important that astrologers and their clients both understand astrology’s limitations. Natal chart features and transits to them may suggest what’s going on, but they do not set the outcome in stone. Any given placement or combination has many expressions—some challenging, some positive, yet all related. There’s no way of predicting precisely how people will express those features, for much depends on their character, history, spiritual evolution, and choices. What a consultation can do is to help them become aware of their options.

Most of us work from the heart and do the best we can to help our clients. As in any service field, the better prepared we are to understand their emotional responses—and our own—during the session, the better we can serve…”

One of my thoughtful commenters pointed out that many brilliant astrologers have evolved – and practice – without formal teaching or certification. She also made the point that going through formal certification can be so arduous, time and money consuming that it leaves little room for the actual practice of chart reading.  Her view is that stating clearly on one’s publicity where one is coming from as an astrologer, and the considerable effort and commitment it has taken to get there, is going to be enough for her.

I can see the validity of all those points. Nevertheless, I think that having the common sense and humility at least to complete a basic counselling skills qualification, to have experience of being a client oneself in whatever therapeutic context seems relevant, and hiring an experienced fellow astrologer for regular supervision sessions to offer a supportive outside view on the joys and sorrows and challenges of one’s practice, even if it takes one several years to put those conditions in place, should be a minimum aspiration for all astrologers – no matter how brilliant or self-taught they may be.

With those few comments which I hope add up to a series of posts which will be challenging, helpful and inspiring, I send out my very best wishes to all prospective astrology clients, astrology practitioners and students – not forgetting interested members of the public who may be following this series.  May your encounter with the great, ancient art of astrology be inspiring and life-enhancing.

Zodiac

Zodiac

700 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House

 

 

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Posted in Astrology: challenges, ethics and practice (11 articles)

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Why do TWINS hold such fascination? Astrology offers some clues…

Posted on July 16, 2016 | 20 comments

This week, I’ve been feeling quietly pleased – and somewhat amazed– to realise that I have been running this blog now for three years. It has been a truly pleasurable experience to share some of my astrological enthusiasms, and experience gained both from client work, student teaching – and Life, the greatest teacher of all. It’s been great to have had such an enjoyable and informative dialogue with commenters, making quite a few new blogging friends along the way. Creating the Facebook Page for the blog has also brought a whole new dimension, with a whole new spectrum of readers and commenters. Thanks, everyone! Keep reading and commenting!

Here is the most popular, most widely read post of the whole three years. What is it about TWINS that fascinates us so much?

Helene’s question:

By email: 16.6.13
How does it work when you do a birth chart for twins? Or two babies born the same minute at the same hospital?  Can two people have the same horoscope!?

Twins

My Answer:

During many years of teaching astrology classes, I found that the above questions came up very frequently.

It is important at this point to emphasise to readers who are familiar only with Sun Signs that to get ‘beyond the Sun Signs’ requires an individual’s horoscope to be drawn up for the date, place AND time of birth. Human beings are complex and contradictory. It’s not possible to approach any satisfying symbolic exploration of that complexity through the Sun or Star Sign alone.

A number of years ago, I decided to address the typical questions students asked about twins (summed up by Helene’s questions here) via one of the tutorial classes I ran for my more advanced students, all of whom had a good grasp of the basics of astrology, and some of whom were already practitioners in their own right.

One student – let’s call her Anna – was the devoted aunt to a set of twins in their mid teens, a boy and a girl –  let’s call them Angus and Miriam. These two had been born less than fifteen minutes apart and had almost identical horoscopes.

I had formulated a theory about twins and astrology which I wanted to test out, so I obtained permission via Anna from Angus and Miriam’ s parents as well as the twins themselves, to calculate their horoscopes and discuss them anonymously in class.

My method was to put up on the board only one horoscope since there was so little difference between the twins’ horoscopes, and ask the students to take an hour to prepare along with me a basic outline of the key characteristics revealed by this one horoscope. We did the preparation as though we were preparing a birth chart for just one person.

The class knew nothing about either of the twins, and I asked Anna to observe us, but not to make any comments at all.

Once we had written up the outline, we spent the next hour discussing our findings with Anna, who knew her nephew and niece well.

I am writing this after a gap of about twenty years and no longer have the notes for detailed reference, so can only give a summary of the essence of what emerged from our discussion.

Anna found our summary from the one horoscope of the basic characteristics of both her nephew and niece to be very accurate. What was very clear was that certain traits were held in common, but that the rest were, as it were, divided up between the twins. To put it very simply, looking at a range of traits: 1,2,3 and 4 were recognisable in both; Miriam manifested traits 5,6 and 10 whilst Angus lived out traits 7, 8 and 9.

This very interesting and enlightening experiment does not of course constitute any kind of proof: but it bore out my impressions from reading about the similarities and differences in the lives of twins about whom I had read, as well as my own observations of twins I had come across from my own experience, as well as the few horoscope readings I had done for individuals who were twins.

What was this impression? Coming back to the analogy of the horoscope revealing the characters poised on life’s stage, waiting for the moment of birth to kick start the action of the play, it seemed that twins unconsciously chose which characters on their joint stage they were going to live out jointly – and the ones which they were going to live out separately.

The experiment which I did all those years ago with my students, Anna and her nephew and niece certainly bore out my theory….

After writing this piece I googled ‘astrology and twins’ to see what came up, and was pleased to find on my favourite astrology site, Astrodienst, that other astrologers including Dr Liz Greene had come to much the same conclusion.

As far as two people born at the same time in the same place is concerned, yes, they would in effect have the same horoscopes.  You would certainly see considerable similarities if you studied both their lives over time. But each character on the stage at a given moment in time has a range of possible modes of expression. Thus the influence of different family circumstances and different opportunities, etc, would call forth a range of possible responses from the same basic character.

To read much more on this topic, do go over to master astrologer Donna Cunningham’s  blog Sky Writer, where she has an excellent piece on the astrology of  twins.

Then come back and let me know what YOU think!

Twins

Twins

800 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2013/2016

Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House

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Posted in 2013-2016: Most popular post

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The Moon’s Nodes, Pluto, Fate and the UK’s Brexit….

Posted on July 8, 2016 | 4 comments

I have been having an interesting exchange on Facebook today, having Shared this link, a Brexit post-mortem in which, in an open memo to the outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron, former Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, Jeremy Kinsman, describes in detail just how badly the Remain campaign failed. My introductory comment was “This does not miss, at all!”

The link and my comment elicited quite a few interesting and well-informed responses. Astrologer Tony Dickey , ably illustrating the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words, had this to say in reply: “Neither does this”. The picture below, in astrological terms, posted by Tony, certainly says it all:

(click image to enlarge) 

David Cameron the UK, the Nodes - and Pluto

David Cameron, the UK, the Nodes – and Pluto

My response to the above bi-wheel chart, in which David Cameron’s horoscope at the centre is overlaid with the Brexit announcement’s chart on the outer rim, was as follows: “Thanks very much for this, Tony. The Moon’s Nodes/Pluto double link both by transit and natally, confirms the key result of my research into the Moon’s Nodes ie that the most fated time in anyone’s life is brought by the Moon’s Nodes/Pluto combination.” To which astrologer Cindy Chapelle replied: “Interesting, Anne, Have you read Jeffrey Wolf Green’s work on Pluto and the Nodes?”

I replied thus: “Yes, a very long time ago. What I did was test out the Nodal theories (ie  re the Moon’s Nodes) of various people in the actual realities of people’s everyday lives. You can download the research free from my blogs, or via astro.com where ‘The Moon’s Nodes in Action’ was featured last year.”

The above exchange, coming as it does just as I was planning to post a series on the conclusions of my Moon’s Nodes research on this blog, has prompted me to offer a taster, which is highly relevant to the symbolic interplay between David Cameron’s horoscope, the Brexit announcement, and the position of the North Node at this fated moment both in David Cameron’s life and the life of the UK. Here it is, edited from pp 156 and 157:

The Moon's Nodes in Action

The Moon’s Nodes in Action

“…My research has confirmed both the traditional view of the Nodes’ connection with birth, death and rebirth, and my own impressions gained over many years’ practice…

…It appears that some lives are more touched by the hand of Fate than others. It seems that strong outer planet links, especially Pluto’s conjunctions or squares to the natal Nodal axis, and strong prevailing major patterns eg Uranus conjunct Pluto opposite Saturn conjunct Chiron linked to the Nodes, bring some people a more challenging and Fate-directed life than others. Mary Shelley’s chart is a very good example of this, with Uranus, dispositor of Pluto conjunct MC, conjunct her Sun and square her Nodal axis.

I have distinguished between minor and major Nodal activity in transits and progressions, and demonstrated that the major effect is what appears to be present when turning points occur. This would suggest that in contemplating the unfolding picture of a person’s life, the combination of Nodal activity with the foreground presence of outer planets, especially Pluto, points out that something really special is going on and should be carefully noted….

…it is important to pay particular attention to that person’s natal Nodal pattern and the current Nodal/eclipse picture. The client is then likely to be bringing matters of a life-changing nature to us for discussion, which offers us roles both as observers and midwives; human agents in the here-and-now of those mysterious ‘watchers by the threshold‘ whose numinous presence in our lives is symbolically represented by the  Moon’s Nodes in Action…”

The most cursory of glances at Cameron’s chart at the time of the Brexit announcement vividly illustrates the validity of those conclusions, from a study conducted in the 1990s (when Cameron would not have been long out of university). There are multiple Pluto/Moon’s Node links, both natally and by transit.

It is also worth noting, chillingly, that a prominent, often angular Jupiter has been identified in the horoscopes of many Nazi leaders – it is also rising, conjunct Mars, in Tony Blair’s chart. Transiting Jupiter in the Brexit/Cameron biwheel is rising in the Twelfth House, conjunct the transiting North Node which itself is conjunct Cameron’s natal Pluto/Uranus.

This Jupiterian significator has been associated with prominent people, often ideologues, who are not only convinced (often against the advice of better informed and more pragmatic people) of their own rightness – but who are also prone to pushing their luck and thinking that they can get away with it.

The ancient Greeks had a word for this: hubris, the giving of god-like attributes to oneself. This usually led to a fall from great heights. Perhaps Mr Cameron should have read the myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, and thought twice about calling that referendum which has split our country apart…

Zodiac

800 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

 

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Posted in Moon's Nodes, Moon's Nodes Uranus and Pluto: mayhem and turmoil

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Some thoughts on a possible second Scottish Referendum…an astrologer’s eye view

Posted on June 27, 2016 | 16 comments

Scotland voted to stay in Europe by a substantial majority on Thursday 23rd June 2016, just as the UK as a whole voted to leave the European Union.

Scotland’s horoscope has very accurately been speaking of an inexorable momentum towards independence from the time Scotland got her own parliament on 6th May 1999. To read my analysis of our country’s horoscope, click HERE. The chart below (click to enlarge) shows in red where the transiting planets, Chiron and Moon’s Nodes were on referendum day, 18.9.14. The progressions are in green.

That 18.9.14 referendum, from a high turnout of 84%, produced a decisive 55% Yes vote in favour of Scotland remaining part of the UK, 45% No to Scotland separating from the UK– but the clamour for independence has not abated. And SNP party membership has rocketed in the two years since it was held.

However, as we know from the momentous news of 24.6.16, the UK as a whole is heading for the exit door in our relationship with Europe, and our nation is in turmoil, with both Labour and Tory parties in Westminster in utter disarray, and Scots, lead by the embodiment of Eris, the Battle Goddess, Nicola Sturgeon, contemplating yet another possible referendum.

Will this happen? And will we become independent? Below are just a few sketchy notes I made in the last couple of days, which have been getting a lot of attention on this blog’s Facebook Page. I thought I’d share them here. The horoscope below shows where the planets and progressions were in 18.9.14.

Scotland's Horoscope 18.9.14

Scotland’s Horoscope 18.9.14

But times have moved on, and the planets with them. Eris, the Goddess of Strife, currently at 23.5 degrees of Aries, is within 2° of Scotland’s natal Mars in 25 Aries in the Tenth House. Uranus crosses that Mars in May 2017, November 2017, and February/early March 2018. Are we looking at another Scottish Independence referendum between then and March 2018? I would not be surprised, given the current mood in Scotland … Even people who were against independence the first time round, are talking about changing their minds…

Note that Uranus will also be squaring Scotland’s 12th House Saturn in Cancer, the sign of home and belonging, during the next couple of years – a further indication of disruption and posssible separation – whilst Pluto is sitting currently in its most fated of places, the Moon’s North Node. ( c/f my research findings in ‘The Moon’s Nodes in Action’, downloadable for free from the left sidebar of this blog. Read the last chapter for what I have to say on Pluto combined with the Moon’s Nodes)

Whatever happens between May 2017 and March or April 2018, Mars in Aries in Scotland ‘s 10th house with the revolutionary, groundbreaking, defiant planet Uranus going over it, would seem to indicate radical change of one kind or another. However the action of planet Uranus is also volatile and unpredictable … so seatbelt fastening, once again, would appear to be in order. Watch this space!

Zodiac

400 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2014/2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page

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Posted in Scotland's Horoscope ( 2 articles), Uranus/Pluto and the Scottish Independence Referendum

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