The Astrological Journal
The Astrological Association of Great Britain
Astrodienst is proud to team up with the Astrological Association of Great Britain to bring you a selection of articles from its international bi-monthly Journal. This is the AA's flagship publication, a feast of articles covering all branches and aspects of astrology, and featuring the very best in astrological writing. Regular contributors include Nicholas Campion, Darby Costello, Erin Sullivan, Melanie Reinhart, John Frawley and AA President Roy Gillett.
Every two months we will publish one article from the current issue of the Journal. In the intervening months, we will bring you an article from the Journal's recent archives. Month by month, this will build into an astrological library – a small taster of what the Journal has to offer!
August 2023
Are you ready to embark on an adventure in astrology and grapple with new terms, such as ‘arc opening’, ‘resonance’, ‘event ecology’ and ‘personal points’? Then take a deep breath and read on. The author gives an introduction to Symmetrical Astrology which invites us to look at stargazing work in an entirely fresh way for the 21st Century and offers a more 3-D view of our lives.
July 2023
Chiron’s story is most clearly and poignantly enacted, not on the global stage by armies, health organisations, politicians, and politically motivated groups, but in our most personal exchanges with the people closest to us. The astrological Chiron seems to be as much an enigma today as it was at the time of its discovery in 1977.
June 2023
On more than one occasion I’ve had a student or client come to me and say something along the lines of, “I have my Venus in Virgo. I’ve heard that this is the worst placement for Venus. Is that true?” I find comments like that disappointing, because they reflect a basic misunderstanding of horoscopes and the nature of astrology generally. We have to be careful in placing rigid value judgments on our astrological interpretations.
May 2023
The American writer and humourist Mark Twain allegedly wisecracked that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but often it rhymes”. His words came to mind as I studied two urban fires, separated by 90 years, which destroyed large parts of a city I used to call home. The first fire was caused by an act of war during the opening year of the American Revolution.
April 2023
I have decided to talk mainly about transits because I have long been disillusioned with some of the effects that transits are supposed to produce. You see it seems that we in astrology are not exacting enough from our science. I think we have to ask whether we can refine our techniques to get something more nearly approaching perfect results.
March 2023
“The human being is not a discrete ‘self’ but born into a moment where much else is taking place…we are an amalgam of many drives that seek expression within us.” This philosophical contention challenges ways in which astrology is currently researched and practised – for instance, do Jungian psychological ‘theories’ (as applied to the horoscope) limit understanding of ourselves?
February 2023
The Sun is the heart, centre and life support system of a living, breathing Solar System, which is as dependant on it as any body is to its heart. The amount of power coming to Earth from the Sun is estimated at over 1kw per sq meter per second. This energy isn’t as obvious and straightforward as we might think, because it doesn’t come to us in the form of heat. Mostly it arrives as light, which is absorbed by the Earth (and sea) and then turned into heat which is released into our atmosphere.
January 2023
Pluto was discovered at the Lowell Observatory on 18 March in 1930 by Clyde W. Tombaugh, an amateur astronomer from Kansas who was hired by the Observatory specifically to photograph the sky with a special camera and search for a hypothetical planet predicted from the calculations of the Observatory's founder, Percival Lowell, who had died 14 years earlier.
December 2022
The birth chart is a map in which the planets, which symbolise the psychic functions, describe life trends and potential. If Heraclitus was right in stating that “character is destiny”, then we could say that the qualities with which we are born suggest the course that our life will take.
November 2022
Dreaded fixed star Algol plays a major role in the nativities of the Windsors – including the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III – and in major turning points of royal history. Algol, currently at 26° Taurus 25′, is associated with the Gorgon Medusa, who is cursed with snakes for locks of hair, and she turns all who look at her into stone. She is eventually beheaded by Perseus who uses a mirror to reflect her image back at her, so he didn’t suffer being petrified.
Oktober 2022
Eighty-five years ago, an American divorcée spirited away a royal from the UK. In 2018, history seemed to repeat itself when Prince Harry married American divorcée Meghan Markle. There are interesting points of comparison between the two biwheel synastry charts of Wallis Simpson/Edward VIII and Prince Harry/Meghan Markle. But also points of contrast.
September 2022
Horoscopic micro-analysis through midpoints and synastry (with the actor’s former wives and girlfriends) sheds further subtle light on the Pirates of the Caribbean Hollywood star whose public court fight with ex-wife Amber Heard in Virginia astonished the world this year.
August 2022
Ever since I first came into astrology in the 1960s, I have been concerned with the question: “How and why does astrology work?” It certainly seems to work, but nobody knows how and why. We know that the movements of the Sun and Moon affect the tides through the process of gravitation, but nobody knows of a process which might cause a small and distant planet like Pluto to have a complex and subtle influence on earthly events and on the behaviour of human beings.
July 2022
Which of the celestials can take on Pluto –planet of abuse, terrorism and tyranny? Step forward Ceres, dwarf planet of pleb consciousness that challenges patrician power – and is Pluto’s mother-in-law!
June 2022
Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Jim (‘Roger’) McGuinn of The Byrds and others: their Saturns on his Sun did him few favours in personal encounters… In the fall of 1969, when I was 17, I went to a Rolling Stones concert in Chicago with my close friend Rick Andresen. As it turned out, the three-hour concert began with two opening acts: Terry Reid and Chuck Berry.
May 2022
What was the truth of Kurt Cobain, the leader singer and founder of US rock band Nirvana? What was the unique melody coming from his core? And has it been heard? Kurt Donald Cobain born on 20 February 1967 at 19:38 in Aberdeen, Washington, US, openly shared a profound longing to reconnect with something more meaningful, non-superficial, perhaps of alien origin that his inner child was yearning for.
April 2022
The querent, a man in his mid-50s, shares a house with his parents, his daughter and son-in-law and their three children. They all live on separate floors and the family has three cats and two dogs. The question was asked after the querent’s 80-year-old father found one of the cats dead in the yard.
March 2022
Harmonics had seemed to have fallen into disuse but there are signs of a revival – they can yield fascinating new insights into the interpretation of charts which otherwise would not be available.
February 2022
Mercury has a penchant for threes: it has three synodic cycles a year and it goes retrograde three times a year, each approximately for three weeks. The “sacred geometry” of the planet’s cycle and its unique timetable for making decisions and undertaking other actions are examined.
January 2022
The celebrated but troubled lives of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and her relative Diana, Princess of Wales are separated by over two centuries, yet the similarities between them in their personal lives and public roles are uncanny, as their birth charts demonstrate.
December 2021
This lecture – delivered on 27 June 2020 at the online Astrological Association Conference – traces the development of eclipse analysis which is regarded as one of the most powerful tools in astrology, as demonstrated in a series of amazing examples by a leading financial and world affairs forecaster.
November 2021
Irish-born author Lucinda Riley was a literary star. I only recently discovered her through her The Seven Sisters novel.Based on the mythology of the Pleiades constellation, it’s the first in the Seven Sisters Series of equally enormous books, setting up the individual stories of seven sisters, their enigmatic father who adopted them, and their subsequent journeys to find their birth parents.
October 2021
Pleiadian-Earth Energy Astrology is the only known system based on the cosmic energies that spiral (unnoticed) through the distinct levels of human consciousness, using the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades as guide points on astrological maps. In this special book excerpt, the authors introduce their ideas.
September 2021
With 87 million followers on Instagram alone, the singer-songwriter phenomenon is riding high once again with a new album and the latest Bond film about to be released – and she’s still not 20. We take a closer look at her nativity and how certain major transits this year are impacting on her development.
A few months ago, Billie Eilish, the teenage singer-songwriter known for her whispery intimate songs and her cool street fashion, had a change of image. She went from green-haired non-conformist to platinum blonde siren overnight. Because this was a publicity stunt, her change of image happened on the front cover of British Vogue.
August 2021
Music is in the stars. Most obviously, it appears as the constellation Lyra (Latin for lyre). The original instrument was crafted from a tortoise shell by Hermes, then was gifted to his half-brother Apollo, and in turn given to Apollo’s son Orpheus, the musician to the Argonauts. Shakespeare said of Orpheus: “Everything that heard him play/Even the billows of the sea/Hung their heads, and then lay by”. The Roman poet Ovid, writing about the constellation, refers to the seven strings of the Pleiades.
July 2021
A call to Western practitioners to reject attempts to turn astrology into a rational science (in vain pursuit of respectability) and listen once again to the “astrology spirits”. And their advice for better forecasting and helping us activate our latent intuition? That we embrace a new house system that is already available on certain software programs.
June 2021
The term DRACONIC comes from the Latin names for the Lunar Nodes: Caput Draconis, the dragon's head or Moon's North Node, and Cauda Draconis, the dragon's tail or South Node. The Moon's North Node is the point where the Moon crosses the ecliptic from south to north; this intersection is used as the starting point, or 0° of Aries, to cast a chart based on the draconic zodiac. Unlike the tropical zodiac of solar origin, the draconic zodiac responds to lunar symbolism and therefore expresses unconscious motivations that affect our daily life.
May 2021
Adolescence marks the first step toward conscious individuation. Out of the tantrums of the two-and-a-half-year-old, and the cleverness of the seven-year-old, into the assertiveness and confidence of the 10-year-old, there emerges suddenly a mysterious thing. At the first opposition of Saturn to itself, a new being materialises through the psyche.
April 2021
What is the cause of the effect of astrology; what is its way of functioning? On which mental or physical or psychological mechanisms is it grounded? Why do statistical tests to prove it always fail? My thesis of astrology as being primarily of a subjective and projective nature may sound provocative. Yet in what follows, I list a series of points or hints to support this epistemologically.
March 2021
Astrological symbolism has inspired many great artists. In this panoramic survey, the President of the German Astrologers' Association takes us on a journey from prehistoric cave art to the 21st century via Titian, da Vinci, Dali, Warhol, Hilma af Klint, Hundertwasser and many more.
February 2021
It was the great god Pan who lent his name to "pan-ic", "pan-demonium" and "pan-demic". Myths educate us about irrational forces that prompt fear, rendering them to some extent understandable. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and global lockdown, the road of imaginal symbolism takes us to new ways of perceiving that which seems threatening and incomprehensible.
January 2021
"I became famous by shame. I was the dirty laundry of King Albert." So said Delphine Boël, the secret love child of Albert II, King of Belgium. Her struggle for acceptance and her royal birthright were an ongoing media story for over 20 years – one that was only brought to a conclusion recently in an unprecedented, highly-publicised fashion.
December 2020
How can astrology avoid fragmentation or sinking back into obscurity as sceptical scientists such as Prof. Brian Cox try to debunk what they do not understand? One answer lies in putting more effort into research in an age of evidence-based knowledge. Astrology has reincarnated more often than Kenny in South Park. Our last decline coincided with the final demise of the Renaissance along with Galileo, Kepler and Lilly during the 17th century. While the West entered the Age of Enlightenment, astrology entered an Age of 'Endarkenment'.
November 2020
"Baby Boomers are creatures of the earth cycle. Millennials are creatures of air. Gen X-ers are transitional, being born of earth, but growing up in air". As the next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction (21 December 2020) marks an elemental shift (or mutation) from earth to air, what awaits the world next based on past mutations?
October 2020
She's rather sniffy about those Sun-sign columns we find in newspapers and magazine. He thinks they serve a useful purpose for astrology. The two stepped into the metaphorical boxing ring to settle the matter. Ding, ding…
September 2020
The problem with approaching many counsellors with the difficulties of your rocky marriage is that most therapies have a bias, whether implicit or explicit, towards a kind of determinism: "This is happening because of (...) occurring when you were (...)" – fill in the blanks with particular traumatic life events and age. And the problem with approaching most astrologers for guidance on a rocky marriage is that they, too, are working from a deterministic bias: "This is happening because of (...) on your (...)"; – fill in the blanks with planets and position in the astrological chart.
August 2020
Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? For years conspiracy theories have raged round the authorship of his plays. Could these dramatic masterpieces so dense in meaning, so rich in allusions, exhibiting such deep wisdom and extensive life experience, have been written by the son of a country tradesman with little education?
July 2020
It was believed in days gone by that a child’s temperament could be influenced by the day of the week it was born. The following old poem below was designed to teach children the days of the week and is one of many old fortune-telling poems illustrating a traditional belief in the planetary link between the days of the week, a child’s personality and what fate had in store for them.
June 2020
In this article I'll be discussing the various ways in which astrologers can get their work published and offering advice about approaching magazines and publishers. I'll also provide some tips on how to start the writing process and to discover your niche as a writer. There are plenty of websites and books dedicated to writing and getting published. But I'd like to focus on what I've learned as a writer and publisher in the area of astrology.
May 2020
With much of the world in lockdown to beat Covid-19, this pandemic correlates to the January 2020 Capricorn Saturn-Pluto conjunction and other planetary cycles. Despite global fear and looming economic challenges, astrology sees the larger picture and the route map to a whole new Aquarian and better world.
April 2020
"To the uninitiated, the horoscope is a chart of squiggles and glyphs. To the astrologer it is a map of revelatory symbols; either way it evokes an imaginal space." The focus on techniques has its place, but what of the role of the imagination which in astrology is the key to unlocking the "sacred shards of the soul"? To answer that question, we must go to another place beyond the intellect.
March 2020
In East Coker, the second of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, he began that section with, “In my beginning is my end;" and ended it, “in my end is my beginning”. This rather paradoxical juxtaposition bookends the whole of life. Every beginning carries the seeds of its ending; every ending has potential for new beginnings. However, generally speaking, you don’t find much astrological musing on the topic of cycles’ endings – or their slow beginnings.
February 2020
What can it mean to have little (or be absent) of one of the four elements in a horoscope? How have celebrated lives compensated for the so-called missing function? As the author proposes: "A void or a space or a lack provides an opening – a place where something can be created".
January 2020
Despite rich sources of information provided by archaeology, ethnology, anthropology and psychoanalysis, it is not easy to imagine the sentient thoughts of people from a distant time when faced with the universe. In addition to the access and the perspectives provided by these disciplines, we would, somehow, have to return to the womb of the alma mater.
December 2019
It’s the personal conviction of the author that “if you want to get back to feeling as joyous as ancient people did, and take a short-cut to living out your true purpose in life, then quit using the solar calendar and start using the lunar one”. In this extract from his esoteric book The Great Wheel, prepare to enter the world of magical symbolism where ‘rationalistic’ expectations cannot be met.
November 2019
Does astrology feature much in films? Or on television and radio? More than you might think. Beyond the usual suspects, such as Prof. Brian Cox (who called astrology “rubbish” in one of his BBC2 Wonders of the Universe astronomy shows and insists on calling us “astrologists”) and Prof. Richard Dawkins (who allegedly “debunked” astrology in his Enemies of Reason TV documentary) you can find it in the likes of The Simpsons and countless other entertainments. As Homer Simpson would say, in reply to both Cox and Dawkins, “DOH!”s
October 2019
The compelling historical drama Versailles transports viewers to the 17th century opulent and decadent court of Louis XIV, the absolutist ‘Sun King’ (le Roi-Soleil) who ruled France for 72 years and 110 days. In history he is notorious for countless love affairs, his fabulous Palace of Versailles, staggering extravagance and costly foreign wars. But was the ‘real’ Louis different from these clichés?
September 2019
In astrology, there are many points in a horoscope which are given particular importance and which connect planets and their significations even if a classical aspect between them is lacking. Among these points are the antiscia. The antiscia, in the plural, or antiscium in the singular in its Latin expression, or antiscion in its Greek expression, were already known in Hellenistic times. The earliest authors mentioning them are Marcus Manilius and Dorotheus of Sidon (both 1. Century CE).
August 2019
The first, middle and final degrees in each of the signs carry specific and potent messages, whether in the natal horoscope or directed/progressed charts. Here, a range of horoscopes of famous people and events is analysed to demonstrate the spectrum of meanings across these highly-charged degrees.
July 2019
The arts have the power to raise the spirit of their audience, they move us, transform us, excite our passions and our feelings. They make us laugh or weep, lift us to great heights or fill us with compassion. They provide a vehicle through which we can gaze upon both the best and the worst in human nature and in some mysterious way they make us more than we are.
June 2019
By traditional astrology, I mean that great canon of knowledge that has accumulated over the past thousands of years. It consists of Mundane, Horary, Nativities and Electional Astrology. Astrology is the study of the action of spirit through the medium of heavenly bodies, on all manifest material matter of this earth, or as Cardan, the famous sixteenth century Italian astrologer said in my favourite aphorism, 'Heaven is the Instrument of the Most High God whereby he acts upon and Governs Inferior Things'.
May 2019
An ardent Beatles fan examines the life and times of the ‘Quiet One’ and his two birth charts (one rectified – thanks to his interest in astrology). Among other things, can we tell from his appearance and behaviour which was his likely rising sign – Libra or Scorpio? The first issue that must be addressed here is birthday data, because George Harrison well and truly muddied the waters on this subject.
April 2019
The author introduces us to his voluminous new book on the possible dwarf planet Sedna (8 billion miles away) whose orbital period is so long that the whole of recorded human history has taken place in the last Sedna six months. Here he contends that Sedna's astrological themes include transcendence and spiritual growth. And he looks ahead deeper into the 21st century to discover what comes next on our Earth journey.
March 2019
Alan Leo was the first modern astrologer. He argued for a loose interpretation of trends of experience rather than specific predictions, leading to the birth of Sun sign astrology and horoscope columns. Throughout much of his life, Alan worked alongside his wife Bessie – this is her story, too. In this extract from the author’s new book, we learn more about his ideas, business and commitment to self-empowering astrological education.
February 2019
Some of the most rewarding moments as a consulting astrologer happen when I can tell clients when a particular crisis is likely to end. When I saw the news of Alexander McQueen's death I wondered what had motivated a successful, talented British designer at the top of his career to commit suicide. After looking at his chart and the transits that had been affecting him I wished he had had the benefit of an astrological perspective. It might have saved his life.
January 2019
There are many strong clues to Jung's abiding interest in astrology despite his ambivalence – such as his stone carvings of planetary glyphs which may be the subject of a conspiracy of silence. Carl Jung had a life-long struggle trying to reconcile his need for scientific respectability (Saturn) with his more mystical, intuitive leanings (Neptune) and never more so than with astrology.
December 2018
Christmas is traditionally a time when shopping, eating and partying form a large part of the celebrations. Yet each sign is unique in its own way, so what does it take to make this time of the year extra special for you?
November 2018
Vincent Fuller is a special healer - and a new book on him claims he works directly with God. What does astrology say? There is at least one incontestable truth in the new book release: Mr Fuller’s life is extraordinary. He is not just a trance medium and spiritual healer/psychic surgeon, who anecdotally has cured many people of serious illnesses, but also the ‘Hand of God’, claiming to be a healing avatar of the creator.
October 2018
What does a combust Saturn fresh in a new sign tell us of the times to come? War, fire and pestilence? The author discusses this overlooked ingress chart, in a journey through past centuries up to the current 2018-2020 phase. What do the 2018-2020 period, the Great Fire of London, the Hiroshima atomic bombing and the Chernobyl disaster have in common? They were all preceded by a combust Saturn ingress in a new sign.
September 2018
Though I am not a psychiatrist, I trained and worked for years as an analytic hypnotherapist and had plenty of clients who came to me who felt they were indeed 'mad' or 'going mad'. The reality was often vastly different from what they believed or had been told. Therefore, I thought it interesting to look astrologically at Vincent van Gogh's 'madness'. Van Gogh is often seen as a cast-iron example of someone, who due to their actions, such as cutting off a piece of his ear and giving it to a prostitute, could only be seen as 'mad'.
August 2018
Music does have a very 'earthy' and material quality given its sonic nature and the necessity of our sense of hearing. This quality is further perceived in the fact that without instruments (material objects) that produce musical sounds through the use of physical parts of the body, such as the hands (percussion/string instruments) and mouth (wind instruments), there would be no music.
July 2018
Do astrological factors affect a person’s appearance and disposition? Here’s a chance to find out for yourself. In this unique, interactive essay, the author also reports on his findings. The reader is given a pictorial and video test on whether the Sun or Moon is on the Ascendant. With this kind of test, we can study how strong are the astrological factors in regard to appearance and disposition.
June 2018
An examination of the rectified chart of the author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The least known of the famous literary clan, she was a feminist long before feminism caught on and had an ironic eye for inequality and social injustice. Anne is the least famous of the three published Brontë sisters. This is partly because many people do not realise that it was she, and not her elder sisters, who wrote the novels Agnes Grey and the better known The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
May 2018
Over four billion people worldwide are now on the Internet and astrology has adapted fast to this revolution in communications. The emergence of a global astrological community, especially on Facebook, may be seen as a positive – but the Internet also hosts a troubling abundance of poor quality ‘stargazing’. For her PhD thesis, the author interviewed 65 professional astrologers, and analysed comments from 500 respondents in the US and UK, on how astrology can win or lose in the networked society.
April 2018
When the Sun and the Moon come together to form a solar eclipse, the Sun, from the perspective of the Earth, is covered by the Moon. Similarly, lunar eclipses form when Earth casts a shadow on the Moon, so that we can see the shadow of Earth in the sky. That’s why eclipses were for centuries, and still are, considered by astrologers as evil and thought to bring nothing but misfortune and trouble. Is that really so?
March 2018
The new science of epigenetics has disproved the ‘born with bad genes’ theory and shown the vital importance of environment in switching genes on and off. Dwarf planet Ceres can be used to define an optimal environment for maintaining or restoring health.
February 2018
We trust the accuracy and precision of astrology, yet paradoxically need its randomness to allow a sense of freedom. Even though increasingly powerful computer software is available to us, the accuracy of astrology still leaves a high degree of uncertainty in prediction and psychology. It is in this area that we realise the freedom of will and individuality that is so central to modern life.
January 2018
Having the honour to give the Carter Memorial talk this year has been a great pleasure, because it gave me the opportunity to share the passion for my work both as an astrologer and analytical hypnotherapist. When I realised that the theme for this year’s conference was to be “the importance of astrology”, the title appeared fully formed in my head: “Astrology, Light, Life, and Meaning”.
December 2017
The traditional way of interpreting charts is to focus on character delineations and fated events, treating both as relatively fixed outcomes. Conversely, a psychological approach views the horoscope as an evolving story that reflects a process of growth over time. Character and events are still delineated, but no longer in terms of fixed outcomes; rather, events are interpreted as vehicles for facilitating a process of characterological development
November 2017
Astrology helps us to embed our lives into greater cycles. It reminds us to be humble, that our time on Earth is nothing compared with the age of the Universe and that there are other elements which are equally (or perhaps more) important. It is also a way of speaking with the divine. “One respects the earth because it is one’s mother, an animal because it may be a reborn ancestor, and the stars because they are messengers, guardians and protectors”.
October 2017
Imagine a world where the "sameness" of characteristics abound. Try and visualise a society that is built on people with similar ideologies and philosophies, where people have comparable goals, desire the same things and have similar views on how society should be shaped and how people should behave.
September 2017
Now that the author has discovered the actual birth
clock-time of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, a more accurate assessment
of her character and destiny, as well as her relationship with Prince
William, is possible. What are the intriguing dynamics of their
“emotionally transformative” marriage, as identified in their
synastry and Davison composite charts?
August 2017
When testing novel techniques, beginner’s luck runs true to form. The first couple of charts will always ‘work’ just as we hoped - routinely followed by a string of woeful failures and the demise of a brilliant idea. Finding consistency in astrology is far rarer than we would like to believe. You can spend weeks, months on a promising project, and just end up with a headache.
July 2017
The promise of the Sun/Moon midpoint (an "alchemical" blend of contrasting energies) is that with careful observation and use, one can find the source of happiness in one's life – most commonly in our closest relationships. For many of us, a part of the original reason for being drawn to this sacred art of astrology is that it offers answers to personal issues or problems, particularly those based around successful relating to others.
June 2017
In this extraordinarily frank memoir in two
parts, the author (a highly popular speaker on the astrology circuit)
reveals aspects of his life and family for the very first time,
encompassing the autistic spectrum and dwarf planet Eris in the charts of
loved ones.May 2017
About 27,000 light years from Earth, the Galactic Centre (now in late Sagittarius) lies at the heart of the Milky Way. What do we learn from the Centaurs (or minor planets) transiting this region in recent times? Here, the mythic resonances of our galaxy in the context of our present condition are explored. In the last few decades, all three outer planets plus the minor planets ('Centaurs') Chiron and Nessus have passed through late Sagittarius, home of the Galactic Centre.
April 2017
The Golden Age of the crime novel is generally reckoned from the 1920s to the 1950s. Murder mysteries were presented then more as mental puzzles than real-life traumas; more Mercury riddles than gory Mars/Pluto crime scenes. From the immense number of titles during these years, few of their authors would have believed their work would outlast them, let alone be treated in some instances as literary classics.
February 2017
The way that astrology works has been the subject of endless debate for millennia with astrologers and sceptics often being at loggerheads. The scientific community in general dismisses astrology as superstitious rubbish while at the same time millions of people around the world connect to their 'stars' on a daily basis via the media. The problem is that many astrologers themselves seem to be at a loss when it comes to the fundamental question of how planetary influence works. They know that it does and they can show that it does but there are no adequate explanations of how it does.
January 2017
Liz Hargreaves imagines herself as outgoing President Obama's astrologer. What would she have advised and foreseen if he'd first consulted her on his controversial, now threatened health care reform? - I imagined myself in the role of astrologer to President Obama and what I might have said if I had been told about his healthcare reform plans just before first Inauguration Day in early 2009, and asked about the likelihood of success.
December 2016
Astrological forecasting or "prediction" is on a scale of hard to impossible, and I sometimes feel that as astrologers we cannot win. If we make an educated guess at the outcome or meaning of some transit (or arc or progression) and we are wrong, we lose the confidence of our client, so as good astrology students we are taught to look back at similar transits and transit cycles in the past to see what happened.
November 2016
Modern day two-party political systems would have appeared strange to the eyes of the Mesopotamian astrologer priest. But our early forefathers of astrology would have warmed to this political struggle within the US because, unlike any other country, the US presidential elections have been tied unintentionally by law to the ever-important and powerful Venus cycle.
October 2016
There are many fruitful ways to approach health and
healing using astrology. The traditional model of medical astrology
correlates the signs and planets with parts of the body and with maladies
that are coupled with these; it also makes use of remedies, often herbs
or gems that are reputed to act sympathetically or antipathetically to
particular planets.
September 2016
The AA President reflects on the 'cosmic weather' of Brexit against the history of three UK General Elections since 1945 which led to radical social change, with especial focus on astro-cycles and the Saturn-Neptune squares. What has befallen the Labour Party? How does new PM Theresa May differ from Margaret Thatcher? And what guidance does astrology offer as the UK faces a post-EU future?
August 2016
Trying to be an up-to-date astrologer in this time of such incredible discovery
and dynamic change is both frustrating and humbling. Never before in our written
history have we had so many new planetary discoveries to take into account. Should
we even take them into account?
July 2016
The celebrated Swedish film and stage
director/writer was one of the most influential auteurs of our age whose
artistic explorations of death, illness, faith, betrayal and insanity
reflected his own preoccupations. Yet this hyper-sensitive and volatile
man also led a tempestuous love life and fathered many children while
seeking seclusion. How is all this reflected in his nativity?
June 2016
Those who follow mundane astrology can confirm that history does, indeed, repeat itself. Over the past thirty years, my in-depth research has revealed amazingly detailed correlations between the history of human evolution on our planet and the astrological ages. By examining the smaller 'cycles within cycles' contained in each 2160-year age, I have discovered a fascinating model of history from an astrological perspective.
May 2016
The astrology of the horrifying conflict in Syria sheds light on complex issues that cut across national borders and religious divides, using natal and mundane chart methods. The area covered by modern Syria was formerly the site of the world's earliest recorded civilisation but since then and until the 20th century it has been dominated by powerful neighbours.
April 2016
Angelina Jolie and Brad
Pitt (aka Brangelina) are the current Hollywood golden couple – each
beautiful, rich, successful, famous, popular, family-oriented and
philanthropic. Together, their bliss is beyond compare. Is such apparent
perfection possible this side of Heaven? Victor Olliver analyses the
synastry of the superstar duo – and discovers a fractious furnace of
complementary opposites.
March 2016
At the heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is the Galactic Centre - a super-massive black hole (or a "giant cosmic broom") positioned in late Sagittarius – which plays a key role in chart signatures of people who spill the beans on organisations and governments, as many famous cases attest.
February 2016
Using Age Progression, which begins at birth at the AC and travels through each house in turn, we can trace the life journey of an individual by noting the sign and house the Age Point (AP) is in, together with any aspects it makes to the planets. Looking at Streep's AP, I'd be interested to learn of her experiences at ages 3, 7 and 16 when the AP was conjunct Pluto, Saturn and Neptune respectively.
January 2016
There is a quote attributed to Socrates which I think gets to the heart of the issues I want to cover in the first part: that "the unexamined life is not worth living". If we claim special knowledge then we are duty and honour bound to take the time to understand something of the nature of that knowledge and how we can use it. Historically, the role of astrologer has been entwined with that of priest or prophet and perceived as one that combines secret knowledge with power. The very notion implies a route to the divine.
December 2015
A new revolution is about to burst upon the world: the astrological revolution. True astrology as it begins to emerge in all its beautiful simplicity, profundity and power can and will transform mankind from the inside out. The great revolutionary ideas of Copernicus, Darwin, and Freud were essentially demoralising.
November 2015
Much research has explored the astrology of Christian texts. But the author has developed a fresh perspective: the biblical gospels should be read together as a "four-fold set", each book representing a star sign as part of an astrologically designed, inter-dependent whole. He reveals a "grand astro-theological programme behind the gospel narrations".
October 2015
The experience of children in itself
brings circumstantial evidence for the validity of astrology – what parent
or carer can deny that each baby comes into the world complete with its
own particular personality? And the wonderful interweaving of children's
charts with that of their parents and wider family, and their resonance
with the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy and birth are beautiful
demonstrations of the interlinking planetary pattern at work.
September 2015
Over-tired, stressed teachers and pupils and parents are set up with impossible and even unnecessary targets that only serve to ensure that teaching and learning in a secondary school classroom make for the most miserable existence possible for all involved. But is there really nothing that can be done to ease this transition into adulthood?
August 2015
Thinking of the rising order means that you have to consider the movements of the planets. During one year the Sun's relationship with Mercury and Venus changes many times. At one time of the year, Mercury might be the morning planet or evening planet, later Venus takes its place beautifying the late nights and then finally switching to be a morning star. And so the dance of Mercury and Venus around Sun goes on with relatively rigid lawful rhythm.
July 2015
The BBC is at it again –
spreading the nonsense that the 'thirteenth sign' Ophiuchus is missing
from the zodiac. How do we as astrologers credibly counter this and other
false claims? Deborah Houlding offers a definitive masterclass on the
zodiac – so that you, too, can tackle the media debunkers of
astrology.
June 2015
At the beginning of my astrology training, I learned, as do many new
students, that the symbols of the planets are made up of three basic
components: circle, semicircle or crescent and cross. The simplicity of this
concept fascinated me. Symbols are powerful tools. Like parables,
interpretation of them depends on the experience of the observer. Symbols can
mean different things to different people depending on their level of
development.
May 2015
Power. In these days of Pluto in Capricorn it's a concept
much in the news. We watch as people quest for power in countries all
around the world, leaders rise and they fall – sometimes just as quickly.
But what is power, why do some people seek it so enthusiastically and
what happens when we gain power? That's what I want to look at in this
article.
April 2015
The yearning for spiritual transformation appears as old as man himself.
This is evidenced by the development of various paths to spiritual
enlightenment which have appeared in diverse cultures at different times.
Many of these paths have a remarkably similar structure. For example, in
alchemical traditions the road to transformation lies in the three stages of
nigredo, albedo and rubedo.
March 2015
In this profoundly personal memoir, Anne Whitaker tells of her Neptunian
experiences, an epic 'night sea journey' that includes the paranormal and an
appreciation of the findings of quantum physics.February 2015
Why is it that Elvis had a number one hit around the world decades after he
had died? Why at that point in time, and why that particular song? Is there
something about Harvey Milk that inspired producers to make a movie forty
years after his death and which went on to become an academy award winner?
It is fascinating to discover how often, long after someone has died, that
transits to their chart can bring them back into the spotlight for one reason
or another.
January 2015
My name is Jessica Adams. I am a Sun Sign horoscope columnist and I work in
a branch of astrology which is the elephant in the room. Everyone in our
profession knows it's there. Everyone knows it's noisy and enormous. Yet
after nearly 90 years of its popular existence, nobody in our profession
seems to know what to do with it. Sun Sign work continues to be treated like
Babar banging around in the bathroom. And nobody wants to look.
December 2014
The two 'big' events that marked the 'swinging sixties' were the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1965-6 (within one degree alignment), which happens once per century or so, and the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction of 1969, which happens every thirteen to fourteen years. These frame our story, with the latter aspect marking the Apollo moon landing as well as the Woodstock music festival.
November 2014
I always wondered what comets mean to astrologers. In my twenty
years of astrology study, this question had haunted me. Journalists asked
questions about comets when I wrote an astrology column, but I couldn't
find the answers from my teachers or publications. However, when it was
reported in early 2013 that there would be the chance to observe two
comets that year and one would be very bright, that question came up
again – how do astrologers regard comets?
October 2014
In modern astrology we have horoscopes for countries,
and I have seen well-documented articles showing us the relationship between
those horoscopes and natural disasters. Another way of looking at natural
disasters is to take eclipse horoscopes for a certain location and look which
planets are placed on the major axes (AS-DS and MC-IC) according to the system
of astro-cartography. It is possible to combine these two approaches, as I
shall show in my first example.
September 2014
This is an excerpt from Donna Cunningham's
new astrology/self help/reference work: "The Stellium Handbook:
An Owner's Manual for People with Stelliums or Triple
Conjunctions". The tools and techniques featured in this ebook are
written in simple language and designed to help people analyse the pieces
of a stellium, step by step, in order to make the most of the gifts it
promises and to avoid self-defeating patterns that can get in the
way.
August 2014
Taking one placement in a horoscope and exploring it in depth can be a
rewarding endeavour, particularly if that placement involves Scorpio.
Scorpio is heavily maligned and misunderstood because it is a sign that
provokes many unconscious projections from others who refuse (or are unable)
to deal with the issues and 'buttons' it often unwittingly pushes in them.
July 2014
We can easily see the recurrent themes of the Uranus-Pluto cycle from
conjunction to opening square to opposition to closing square and back to
conjunction. A few of the resurfacing issues are the redistribution of power
and wealth, the rise of an active anti-war movement, increased passion in
discussions over nationalism and anti-nationalism, gender and racial
equality, environmentalism , and psychoactive drugs.
June 2014
Astrology, like morphic field theory and spiral dynamics is not a belief
system but a model, although certainly not a simple one. This idea fits best
with the theory of 'Spiral Dynamics', and I would like to expand on this in
this article with a view to using the depth of knowledge inherent in astrology
to add to the research being done with levels of consciousness.
May 2014
The relationship to Mother Earth and the natural conditions has been the
cornerstone of man's evolution since the beginning of time.
The local space chart is an amazing tool to attune ourselves to our piece of
earth, with our surroundings, and it can be a valuable tool when we want to
change location or find a good place to spend our holidays.
April 2014
The second astrology book I read had a very deep impact on me – it was Rob
Hand's 'Horoscope Symbols'. For me, the book was hugely important, not just
for the astrological information it contained but for the intellect which
shone from its pages. Here was history, philosophy, science, astronomy,
symbolism and psychological insight seamlessly connected within the same
work.
March 2014
The four angles of the chart form two pairs – Ascendant and Descendant, Imum
Coeli (IC) and Medium Coeli (MC). These divide the journeys of the Sun,
diurnal and annual, into four stages. Ascendant and Descendant correspond to
sunrise and sunset, annually to the equinoxes. IC and MC correspond to midday
and midnight, annually to the solstices.
February 2014
There are wonderful questions to tax the mind of enthusiastic astrology
students here. How to get one's head around the seemingly outgoing Sun-Jupiter
conjunction in Leo falling in the distinctly not outgoing 12th house? Of
course, when one knows the story all becomes clear. Christopher Milne is
better known as Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh.
In a world undergoing such fundamental and rapid transformation on all fronts, what role can be played by the newly thriving yet still marginalized practice of astrology – at once the gold standard of superstition in our culture, yet for the initiated, capable of uniquely illuminating virtually every realm of human experience?All articles © The Astrological Association of Great Britain
The Astrological Association is a registered charity dedicated to the support and promotion of astrology in all its branches. For over fifty years, it has been serving the astrological community through informing and bringing together astrologers from all over the world, via its stable of publications, its annual Conference, Kepler Research Day and other occasional events, and its support of local astrological groups. It also represents the interests of astrologers generally, responding when appropriate to issues raised within the media.
the Astrological Association
The Value of Astrology
The first book available in English by the great French master astrologer Andre Barbault. The Value of Astrology offers incisive, captivating insights into the origins, classical tradition and modern uses of astrology.
For more information and ordering, please visit the website of the Astrological Association.
Current Planets
7-Aug-2023, 08:55 UT/GMT | |||||
| Sun | 14 | 37'20" | 16n27 | ||
| Moon | 1 | 25'16" | 12n15 | ||
| Mercury | 11 | 50' 8" | 6n02 | ||
| Venus | 24 | 6'27"r | 7n04 | ||
| Mars | 17 | 12'43" | 5n51 | ||
| Jupiter | 14 | 18' 4" | 14n57 | ||
| Saturn | 5 | 17'47"r | 11s12 | ||
| Uranus | 22 | 52'44" | 18n11 | ||
| Neptune | 27 | 19'32"r | 2s13 | ||
| Pluto | 28 | 44'47"r | 23s03 | ||
| TrueNode | 27 | 55'19" | 10n44 | ||
| Chiron | 19 | 52' 8"r | 9n12 | ||
| Explanations of the symbols | |||||
| Chart of the moment | |||||