WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Before I was born, my Dad was set on me being called Barry. I was the first, so being who he was, he'd probably decided that I would be a boy. I don't know why he wanted me to be called Barry. But it derives from the Irish Fionnbharr, who was/IS a king of the fairies in the west of Ireland. This was at a time when fairies were big guys, as big as us, or bigger (like the guys who used to follow me round a fairy fort I used to own in Somerset.) They hadn't yet been emasculated by the church. 

Now my Dad would have been the last to have believed in any of this nonsense. But my Mum is Irish, from Cappataggle, near Galway, which is part of the district presided over by Fionnbharr. He lives on Knockma, a hill near Tuam, in County Galway with his Queen Oona (any Oonas out there?) My Mum used to wander off on her own as a kid and go and visit the little people and she once gave me a detailed description of them, then denied it a few months later. But they're not fairies if you can pin them down like I wanted to. 

Anyway, the fairies came and bit my Dad on the arse before I was born: they got him to give me a name that is a blessing, despite himself. And it's because he was married to my Mum. She has Alzheimers, and the nurse was saying to me today how awful that is for her, and I was saying no, she's just having a different experience, and she seems to quite enjoy it when I hang out with her, she even talks. How weird that must be, everyone thinking you're having an awful time, and actually it's only in their terms, and you left their terms behind a long time ago. 

So I've been delighted to find this connection to my name. I'm only too pleased to be a gert Otherworldian, I just need to get on with remembering that. Now here's the thing. The gentry, bless them, did the same thing to me as they did to my Dad. My son is 16 and he's called Finn, after Fionn mac Cumhaill, the legendary Irish warrior. But Finn also derives from Fionnbharr. And this I didn't know, that my son's name derives from the same gert Otherworldling as does my own. How wonderful. We both have the same blessing, we are of the same lineage. And I got the idea to do this from Andrew Steed's book above, which is a great book but unavailable on Amazon, but I know he has copies, he sold me one

CRAFTING THE COLLECTIVE SOUL

On Saturday 11th November myself, Kate Hubert and Moira Lake will be running another astrology day in Devon. Here it is: 

Crafting the Collective Soul: Towards 2020

a day of astrological exploration

for all levels of experience, from beginners to professionals

What sort of world do we want to create? The Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020 is one of those critical times when there is a choice, both collectively and individually. The world is created by human intention, and that intention can be conscious and soulful. Humanity’s dream of what it can be does not just lie with the big corporations and their interests. How can working with the planets guide us in meeting the challenges of this time?

Empowerment and Actualisation: Saturn–Pluto in the Natal Chart with Barry Goddard

 

Pluto empowers, Saturn pushes us to actualise. For many of us, the period around 2020 will represent a major life-shift. We will begin by looking at the Saturn–Pluto conjunction of 1982 through the charts of some public figures, where the collective aspect of these planets is also involved. We will then look at the 2020 conjunction through the charts of some of us who are attending the day.

Barry Goddard has been using astrology to describe and predict world events since 2003, mainly in his blog at www.astrotabletalk.blogspot.com, as well as in astrology magazines. He has been doing personal astrology readings since 2002, and also does shamanic healing work and runs trance dances.

Crisis, Renewal and Remaking Our Worlds with Kate Hubert

The journey of Pluto through Capricorn is revealing the corruption and redundancy of the structures that underpin the world as we know it.  We are called upon to create new ways of being.  Exploring astrological archetypes experientially, we can anchor into a deeper system of significance and begin to understand the inter-relationship between individual and collective experience.

Kate Hubert is influenced by esoteric and Jungian astrologies and a love of druidry. Based in Ashburton, she's been a professional astrologer since '99, offering readings, teaching and workshops, www.awenastrology.wordpress.com.

Before Our Eyes with Moira Lake

How has the world changed in the six months since our first astro-day in May? What have we made, together and individually? We’ll look at the astrology of hurricanes, fracking, transhumanism and activism. How does life after 2020 look now? We’ll experience direct input from the planets as we lend them our voices and listen to their conversations.

Moira Lake has been a professional astrologer for over 25 years. She also works as an energy healer and shamanic worker. She practises in Dartington. For more information, visit www.hearthstarhealing.com

Venue: The Hexagon, Park Rd, Dartington Estate, Totnes TQ9 6EQ Saturday 11th November 2017  10:00-17:00  £50 (£35 low income)

Booking/Info:  Kate Hubert   kate@spiral7.co.uk   01364 654494