Full moon in aries, 16th October 2016

Hello! We are mid-way through beautiful October, and here in the north of England, autumn is starting to show itself. The annual full moon in Aries takes place this year on 16th October @ 05.23am (UK time). The Sun in Libra stands opposite Moon/Uranus in Aries, which certainly is a highly charged, potentially explosive combination (in both positive or negative ways). Moon and Uranus together can make situations feel unstable, disruptive, and emotionally unsettled. But it can also be about emotional breakthroughs, positive change, and independence that gets to the heart of who we are and how we want to relate with others.

Electric attraction is sparking chemistry in relationships like it hasn’t for some time, so sudden or unexpected romance, or love at first sight, is just as likely as sudden 'bolt from the blue' break-ups. 

Sun in Libra has a keen sense of justice and fairness, and impulsive Aries leaps into action without a second thought (without a first thought if intuitive Uranus is added to the mix), to redress the balance.

We also have the very powerful Mercury in Libra square to Mars/Pluto in Capricorn. Mercury (logic and communication), Mars (action and momentum) and Pluto (powerful transformation) can also indicate an explosive combination and huge releases of energy. Mars and Pluto standing together hold huge power, and therefore huge potential for power struggles between people. It’s also an indicator of bottling things up, and any full moon seems to pop the cork on certain situations that have been building up (this one is maybe more likely than others)

Communication needs lots of self-awareness; lots of ‘being the bigger person’. Give benefit of the doubt repeatedly in order to dispel power struggles within yourself about others, and your relationship with others. And to stop the negative judgements from killing your peace and harmony and locking you out of your own heart centre (which is the most bleak place in the universe to be).

Most of us are not in positions of power that we can instantly make decisions that affect huge sways of people, so all we have is our own individual inner peace and harmony that we can control. Luckily it’s all we need. Our own corner of the world is where we can impact and influence... not via manipulation or pressure on others, but via our own self balance. This is what the Aries/Libra axis is all about.

I don’t know about you, but I have been feeling this potent full moon energy building for a few days now. It’s a full on full moon for sure, looking at the planet patterns. Which means it takes some focus and determination to get the best from it, but oh the rewards are great for doing so.

So unless things have been going totally swimmingly in all areas of your life for a while, it’s more than likely that any area not flowing and going 100% how you want it too has become harder to ignore this week… the obstacles, the brick walls, the delays, the wading through treacle, the aches and pains…. it all FEELS more intense during a full moon like this one, making you more restless, more sensitive or touchy and over-reactive.

It’s because full moons work like emotional amplifiers. If you’ve been doing a lot of thinking (focusing) about what you don’t want, and dealing with things you don’t want to deal with in certain areas, the resistance, or the pushing against it all, is MUCH more tangible right now.

BUT the sweet healing power of a full moon is that it’s GUIDANCE – all that emotional amplification means you get to see exactly where you would do well to ‘reset your mindset’ to something more positive, open, life-affirming, YOU-affirming. Something less judgemental, less rigid, less critical. Don’t underestimate the power of your mindset. How you think and feel regularly about things, is how things turn out, everytime. A little bit of open-heartedness and open-mindedness goes an awful long way during this full moon period, opening doors for miracles and marvels to manifest.

Happy full moon in Aries! 

Venus retrograde 2009

So we are in the midst of Venus retrograde (retro = appears to move backwards). Even though Venus just turned retro over the weekend, the full cycle began early Feb and will end late May. Here's why:

Feb 3 - Venus reached 29 degrees of Pisces (beginning of 'shadow phase')
March 6 - Venus travelled to 15 degrees of Aries and turned retrograde (appeared to turn around and move back on itself)
April 17 - Venus returns to 29 degrees of Pisces (that is how you get the shadow phase degree - its the degree that Venus moves back to before stopping to turn 'direct' again)
May 21 - Venus retreads path to 15 degrees of Aries, crossing that March 6th turnaround point, finishing the full cycle.

So what's all that about? Well, rule of thumb that works well for any planet retrograde is to stick to words that begin with 're'.... so it's a period of reconnecting, reviewing, returning, relocating, retracing, retreading, etc etc, and as Venus is the planet of relationship and relativity, the Venus scope of influence is being amplified in all sorts of ways.

What was happening late Jan early Feb would have helped set the tone for your personal retro phase (the essence continues to echo through events) but while the exact dates are never that important, the general theme within a general timeframe are; as well as remembering that astrology is about cycles within cycles, so the bigger picture of Venus's eight year movement is relevant here too.

Last time Venus was retro in the sign of Aries was eight years ago you see, so is there anything similar back then to now? Maybe it won't come to light till after this retro time has been lived, but it will be there somewhere. Aries is a bold energy -'fierce' as they keep saying on America's Next Top Model - it's a straightforward as-the-crow-flies energy that's all about following or flowing with what you want from you, rather than being focused on what others don't want from you. Being in touch with, or being sensitive and responsive to your own desires is something that gets those with a strong Aries influence the label of 'selfish', but of course you only ever get called selfish by those who want you to do it their way instead!

So who was labelling you selfish eight years ago? or who were you fuming with for being so selfish? Ring any bells to now? The retrograde phase indicates there can be significant turning points in your perspective on relationships, while Venus in Aries indicates self-ish relationships are the order of the day... and hopefully so, as it's only by following your own inner direction that the world makes any sense.

Aries New Moon And The Power Of Desire

The annual Aries new moon takes place around 5am UK time on 6th April. The energy of Aries is all about being in touch with desire, with what is wanted, and a new moon is always a blank canvas of potential, just waiting for someone with a bit of imagination to dive in and make the most of it.

The certainty of knowing clearly what you want can be ever so reassuring; unless you are certain you know what you want but are only focusing on what you don't want instead ('what if blah blah happened?', 'only blah blah can happen, given the circumstances', etc etc). That kind of imaginative thinking can squelch the life out of your favourite future daydream scenario, and it's why pure Aries energy has this innate and unapologetic self-centredness to it, allowing it to focus exclusively on what is most wanted at any time, even to the point of disregarding what others most want it to want (to cries of 'you're so selfish!').

So this is the time to feel into what you want. Not what you expect will happen, not what you worry might happen, not what others want you to make happen; it's all about feeling the irresistible and life-affirming call of your personal desire. But remember there's a big difference between 'I am most wanting to feel a sense of self worth/lovableness/appreciation, etc in this situation' and 'I want him/her/it to act differently'. Needing someone else to do something to fulfil your desire is so un-Aries (Keep it self-centred remember!)

Here's a great quote from Abraham-Hicks for some Aries new moon inspiration:

"When you know what you don't want you send out your rocket of desire of what you do want, and now you stand in a fresh new place; you want in a fresh way that you have never wanted before. And that's what life is. In that fresh wanting, you summon another dose of Energy. If you can begin to savor the mere fact that you have desire right now, and you would stop trying so hard to have that desire be fulfilled and manifested in some physical format, then you would have it".

Equinox, Full Moon And Pluto

This year the Sun begins it's journey through the sign of Aries on 20th March at about 5.40am GMT. It's really the beginning of a new astrological year at this point (it's why all rams will tell you they must come first in everything), so this is significant energy - a turning of the tide in a big way. And this year it's happening under the build up to a full moon, which is also big energy; also indicating a turning tide, and therefore for all of us caught up in this cosmic current there's a feeling of moving or shifting in direction or perspective in situations. It's the sense of knowing that you aren't where you were recently on important matters, and in keeping with all this particular equinox energy it's 'in a big way'.

Especially so with Pluto, planet of rebirth in close aspect to the sun in Aries. The Pluto conflict is always trust versus control; the dilemma being how to trust and go with the flow of a situation that is largely an unknown quantity, when every instinct wants to reach out and shape it into something familiar and known (better the bugger you know, and all that).

But unless you feel you're in the dark about where you're headed, you just aren't in there with Pluto. It's when you feel you must be raving mad for having brought yourself to this point, on the brink of God knows what, yet knowing there's no going back - that is when Pluto is present and breathing down your neck. No going back but no earthly way of knowing what the future holds if you take a step forward. At some point you just have to let go and surrender to the experience (ever seen the Dog Whisperer? he calls it submission). And that is when the rebirth or transformation can get going, because there's a brand new you waiting like a light at the end of the tunnel, but until you let go of where you now stand there's just no way of catching up with yourself.

We've all been reached that point more than a few times, with varying degrees of intensity, yet each time always feels like the first (or is that just because I have Pluto in Virgo??), but perhaps no more so than now as the sun moves into Aries we might again end up brand new out of the darkness, blinking and blinded by the freshly risen sun.

Dr Who Hates Astrology!

I just found out David Tennant hates astrology with a passion!
I’m devastated. It was only when he became the tenth Doctor Who that I got right back into a show I hadn’t watched since being a small child in the 1970’s. Back then I watched mostly from behind the sofa, as it seemed the only safe place once those Daleks arrived. It was a show that became the source of countless childhood nightmares (oh, that theme music!), but then I grew up to be an astrologer much in love with all things of star and space and fell for this Tennant Time Lord incarnation immediately. I rejoiced in the weekly triumph of Geek Chic over all manner of monsters and scary folk, armed only with a sonic screwdriver, a winning smile, and the kind of confidence and optimism born from the conscious memory of nine previous lifetimes. What can I say, he’s my kind of guy.

It’s surely a measure of his skill as an actor that I’m confusing fantasy and reality in such matters, but now I find David Tennant hates astrology I’m all shattered dreams and disappointment. I won’t ever be able to ask for an autograph in case he shoos me away sternly, and sadly my hero now seems to be angrily aiming that sonic screwdriver directly at me from my favourite Who wallpaper. In the most intolerable twist of fate imaginable, being an astrologer means I’ve actually become one of Dr Who’s monsters.

And I’m making it all worse for myself because I can’t help thinking the whole thing reeks of his sun in Aries nature. Yes, Tennant’s an Aries. Surely no surprise there. Only an Aries could spit nails on a subject without having researched it first. But maybe that’s just my Moon in Aries instantly assuming he hasn’t. Whatever, I’m now on a galactic quest in search of the astrology of Dr Who. I need to soothe my soul the best way I know…


The Tom Baker Connection
Legend has it that back in the 70’s, when Tom Baker was caretaker of the Dr role, (he of the long scarf and wide-eyed grin), while I was quivering uneasily behind the sofa armed only with Sindy dolls and a Spacehopper to see off those Cybermen, elsewhere a wee Tennant was so thrilled by Baker’s performance, he made a decision there and then that acting was his destiny. In true sci-fi plot style, it turns out Dr Who literally inspired a future incarnation of Dr Who. And if astrology is doing its job properly, it’s going to show up in a birth chart comparison of both actors.

David Tennant born 18th April 1971, Bathgate, West Lothian
Tom Baker born 20th January 1934, Liverpool, England

I don’t have birth times for either Baker or Tennant (and am too nervy of a brusque response from my hero to write and enquire further), but just a Googled birthdate and a midday birth time is enough info to bring up a chart showing a number of fascinating astro aspects between the pair, including a Sun/Moon conjunction, and a Sun square Sun aspect. Both are significant indicators of strong links between two charts, but there was also another aspect that got my attention: the North Node of the Moon, which is famous for being an indicator of destiny in a chart. Both actors share North node in Aquarius, just a couple of degrees apart at 19 and 21 degrees. It takes around 19 years to return to its starting point in a cycle, so a strong link like this to another chart isn’t something that happens everyday.

An argument often thrown at astrology in an attempt to invalidate it is that all children of David Tennant’s age had this aspect, but not all went on to become Dr Who. But trying to be detail specific when it comes to destiny is missing the point, as astrology speaks strongest about shared wavelengths and similarity of energies (symbolised by the planets, signs, etc), which spark an individual resonance or recognition, tuning-fork fashion; in this case like an acorn in the presence of an oak tree recognising the potential blueprint held within.

Hotspots
Astrologers look for patterns in charts and between charts, and these patterns can run on like a connecting thread, spanning generations and events. Widening the search to join the dots, I looked at the chart for the first ever Doctor Who series, (first aired 23rd November, 1963, 17.15pm). The Sun (identity) had just moved into the first minutes of the sign of Sagittarius, just the right symbol for the nomadic adventurer spirit that characterises the soul of the The Doctor. Moon was conjunct Saturn at 17 degrees of Aquarius (Saturn is the planet associated with time and authority, and therefore Time Lords - check out his funky retro spaceship for a true Saturn symbol).

This 17 degree Aquarius point was cosily close enough to Baker and Tennant's shared North Node degrees to suggest this area might be a hotspot between Dr Who related charts, in which I could expect to see planets and angles repeatedly cropping up. It’s oh so difficult without birth times to get an accurate picture of who might have what at that hotspot, but soldiering on, I looked at info for writer Russell T Davis (27th April 1963), and found he had Saturn at 22 degrees of Aquarius (in exact dynamic 90 degree aspect to David Tennant’s Saturn in Taurus, btw).

The original Dr Who series ran from 1963 to 1989, then returned to tv screens on 26th March 2005, thanks to the genius of Russell T Davis's brilliant writing. Scanning the classic series last episode chart (6th December 1989) for any sign of action on those hotspot Aquarius degrees showed the North Node back at 19 Aquarius; while the new series in 2005 had Neptune (imagination) at 17 Aquarius.

I could have gone on and on with the Aquarius trail, as more clues were everywhere, but it was dinner time and the washing machine needed reloading, unfortunately signalling my journey through time and space had to draw to a close for now. However there was just time to check the United Kingdom chart (1st Jan 1801), because when something like Dr Who is taken to the hearts of the nation in such a huge way, it’s going to be seen resonating with the UK chart strongly too. And along with some other great aspects to the charts, I found the UK's Venus (relationship and value) to be located at 17 Aquarius.

I’ve concentrated on those aspects between 17 and 22 Aquarius here, but there’s plenty more I haven’t mentioned. No doubt plenty more I couldn’t see because of thumbnail sketch birth details. I can imagine many people might not see a meaningful connection between a bunch of numbers and a few charts, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s these kinds of collective ‘coincidence’ patterns that reveal the true nature of astrology. Because real astrology is more about patterns than predictions, more about free will than fate, and turns out to have more in common with a Time Lord than with a Mystic Meg. Forget the touch and feel clockwork universe that sceptics get so panicky about questioning; now that it’s all mandelbrots and fractals there's plenty of room in that weird old world of quantum chaos for astrology to exist quite happily without causing any damaging ripples at all in the fabric of the space-time continuum, as a result of rocking that boat of accepted reality.


Read this article here for an insight into how astrology and strange but true weird science now sit comfortably side by side.

The Full Moon In Libra On 2nd April...

...takes place around 6.15pm UK time, but the energy builds up gradually during the preceding days, and slowly lessens after that. Full moon energy is sometimes tangible as a heaviness or tension in the air, and situations can hold the tension within them, much like our bodies storing up stress. Because of this, a full moon can also indicate a turning point in a situation - a release of energy leading to change we’ve been working towards for some time.

The moon in Libra stands opposite to the sun in Aries for this full moon. Libra the scales symbolises the balancing and harmonising of connections and relationships; while Aries is more self focused, on preferences, priorities, goals and agenda. These two signs are chalk and cheese in the way they can be other-orientated and self-orientated respectively, but both perspectives are necessary for true balance, and this is where the potential for tension comes in, as the Aries path gets rather more bad press than the Libra way in our society, being associated with behaviour labelled undesirable and selfish.

Recently I chose to end a friendship (with good cause from my point of view, of course). My friend told me I was wrong to end our friendship, as it meant I was ‘too conditional’, and ‘not unconditional enough’. It wasn’t the evolved thing to do, apparently, and in her eyes, placed me firmly at the lower end of the spiritual spectrum, along with Ouija boards and Jackie Stallone’s buttock divinations.

Happily, I have both moon and north node in Aries, so remained unconvinced that my relationship with Divine Universal Life Force could be either enhanced or diminished, as a result of me acting in a way that made her feel better about her world. But there’s lots of thinking out there that supports her argument, and not just in so called spiritual thinking, it's everywhere; most recognisable as the ‘You Would If You Loved Me’ school of thought.

So for me, the annual full moon in Libra indicates the chance to become aware of how our need to be liked and loved by others is impacting our current agenda, or the set of intentions designed to hold us in alignment with our true Self. Because choosing to follow whatever makes us feel more in alignment with ourselves is non-negotiable in my book, and is something I wish for each and everyone everywhere, unconditionally.