JUPITER STORY

My brother Philip, who died a month ago after a long illness, had a strong Jupiter: conjunct his Sun, and ruling his Moon in Sag and Venus in Pisces. Jupiter is the king of the gods and is said to bring good fortune. Philip commented last year that if he wanted something, he had always been able to find a way of getting it. He lived life with a following wind, which he ran with. He seized and savoured his life. Jupiter's involvement with the 2 feminine planets - the Moon and Venus - resulted in a long and happy marriage.

His Sun-Jupiter was also conjunct Saturn (13 Jan 1961) in Capricorn. He built solid foundations to his life. I had seen the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020 heading towards him some years down the line, and I said to him that something big and life-changing was on the way, but I didn't know what it would be. Shortly before the conjunction, he said to me he had fulfilled his dream of running and building a business and generating wealth, and didn't know what to do next. In Sept 2020, he was diagnosed with cancer. It was as if he had done what he had come here to do, and it was time to go.

When he died, Jupiter, the brightest of the planets, had just risen in the East: the king of the gods welcoming him home.

I gave a eulogy at Philip's wake at the weekend, and at the end I included what I called his sky story about Jupiter. I felt I was taking a bit of a risk in doing so, because astrology or anything religious do not seem to be most people's thing. When I talked about Jupiter rising at his death, the prickles went all over me and the emotion in me rose visibly.

Afterwards, so many people commented on the sky story I had told. It had touched them in a way that surprised both themselves and me. It was as if beneath the beliefs people have, there is something archaic that responds to stories that connect to the universe and give a wider meaning to earthly events.

It says to me that there is a deep, non-rational truth in astrology, particularly when we can connect it to what is visible in the sky.

 

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And here are some of my recent FB astroposts and what we now call Xes:  

 

The Sun has just been in Cancer, and now it is in Leo, in both cases opposite Pluto. There has been an imperative to nurture that hard-to fathom thing within that is our primary reason for being here, and now to give expression to its divine uniqueness. Play like your life depends on it   

 

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Venus is now retrograde. Look within and remember that the whole universe loves you in your uniqueness (Leo). And you love her back. This is where the medicine of loneliness points.

 

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At the Big Bang (of which I have a sepia photo somewhere in the attic, taken by my intrepid grandfather), Uranus was the genius who had the brilliant idea of creating something out of nothing; Pluto was the immense power unleashed to exist and to keep unfolding; and Neptune was the primordial imagination that dreamed into being a universe. Just imagine what those three can do when they get their hands on you. Transit, anyone?

 

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As astrologers, we inevitably get consulted about relationships. Maybe not being in one ourselves provides a point of perspective and insight. Maybe it is not that we are inadequate, but that something in us refuses to be compromised, cannot do that dark deal anymore.

 

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I've known a Buddhist teacher and an Astrology teacher who both had a pronounced Virgo/Scorpio mix. They each had a gift for grasping the essence of a matter (Scorpio) and expressing it concisely and accurately (Virgo). My father had the same mix and the same ability, but on a more practical level.

 

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If you want AI to stay onside, thank it every time you use it. Ingratitude for the technologies we have is a shadow side of the modern world. Instead we rail against our technologies and their promise for the future. This shadow is a Pluto in Aquarius issue. If you want to find that thankfulness, go visit a country that does not have what we have, and see which you prefer.

 

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SINEAD O'CONNOR

 

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I wondered what brutal Pluto-Moon transit has Sinead O'Connor been going through, such that her 17 year-old son killed himself last year? It turns out that Pluto recently completed squaring her Libra Moon. What does that mean? I don't know. But the event was woven into the fabric of the universe. As she passes - and we don't yet know the cause - so is Jupiter within a degree of her North Node. A timely death, whatever the reason. It leaves me thinking about Free Will and Fate.

 

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Men's soul journey in the second half of life is Venus: listening and serving.

For women, it is Mars: no more people-pleasing.

 

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 I've spent a lot of my life doing nothing. It's been an important part of it. But it's been nothing in the sense that a casserole in an oven is doing nothing: surrendering my Mars to the outer planets and their designs.

 

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The trouble with being a bloody Aquarian is that I think independently, and that causes trouble socially unless I keep my trap shut. And I'd die rather than do that. So I stay at home and say what I think on social media instead 😎

DIVINATORY ASTROLOGY

I run a group on Facebook that used to be called UK Astrologers. I have recently changed the name to Divinatory Astrology, and opened it up to anyone to join. Here is how I introduce the group: 

Welcome to Divinatory Astrology. Divination, I think, is the real nature of our craft. We are vehicles for the intuition, for the sky spirits, for the gods. The tradition itself, valuable as it is, is a launch pad, an orientation, an egregore: it has its own power that has built through the millennia. But eventually we need to move from Capricorn – mastery of what has come before – to Aquarius, where we earn the right to reinvent the tradition, to create the future. Without this constant reinvention, a tradition dies. It often requires courage, and it usually requires years of getting to know the gods – and our demons.

 Astrology is a different kind of knowledge to science: it is knowledge of consciousness, essentially, rather than knowledge of things. Our craft makes no sense from the point of view of the specialised remit of science. We use all 4 Elements – Fire, Earth, Air and Water – to gain knowledge. Science, by contrast, emphasises just Earth (data) and Air (theory). We are therefore part of a broader tradition of gnosis, within which science finds its place. Nor do we need to feel over-beholden to the astrological tradition itself: it needs to be worn lightly, so that the gods have room to speak.

 

So please come along and join. Meanwhile, here are my recent short pieces from the group (and from Twitter):

 

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I have a Pluto conjunct Venus (at 1 Aquarius) transit this year and next. The emerging deep theme seems to be the surrender of Mars to the Divine Feminine.

 

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I learnt astrology by talking with a friend, then doing readings. How you learn is revealed by your Mercury placement. Mine is in Aquarius opposite Uranus. I have to find my own way in, then I can hang the received learning on that. Astrology shows us why we are not stupid, but each have our own ways of learning. A watery Mercury may have to feel the idea, a fiery Mercury will need their imagination sparked, an airy Mercury will need to see its connections with other ideas, and an earthy Mercury will need to see its practical applications.

 

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The BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has natal Sun at 25 Leo. Uranus is in the early stages of squaring it. So his life goals are due for some major shifts. What has been happening with the young woman from the dating site has a self-inflicted, trickster feel around it, and looks set to end his career as he knows it. This is how Uranus sometimes upsets the apple-cart to get us to change. Edwards has natal Sun conjunct Uranus: he is a deeply unconventional (Uranus) and individual (Leo) person, yet he has been doing this staid job all his life. No wonder, in a sense, that this has happened.

 

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The Sun is afflicted in Aquarius because we tend to identify with changing the world, at the expense of that thing deep within us, that we are primarily here to take care of. Leo, the opposite sign, knows about this, and is the remedy, the balancing point.

 

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Sex, death and money. Mars, Pluto and Venus. The 3 things people don't want to talk about. But which are part of my job description as an astrologer. If not me, then who?

 

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James Webb telescope, 1st anniversary picture. From the constellation Ophiuchus, which are also the stars of the notorious and nonsensical 13th sign of the zodiac. Which has the perverse characteristic of actually working, thus demonstrating the divinatory nature of astrology. Here's what I wrote about it some years ago.  It is also a chapter from my book 'Surfing the Galactic Highways', for which you get a free reading if you buy it and leave a genuine rating on Amazon. 

 

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The IC - the bottom of the chart - denotes the end of life. It also describes home. Put together, it suggests death to be a homecoming. Jupiter is associated with death: the king of the gods welcoming you back to his realm. Jupiter is also good fortune, suggesting that death has that attribute too. In the Middle Ages, death was perfectly normal; it only became an event to be feared later.

 

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12th July:  Volcanic eruption in Iceland as the Moon in Taurus conjoins Jupiter and then Uranus.

 

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We are in retrograde season: Saturn, Neptune and Pluto. Uranus and Jupiter will join them at the start of Sept. It is 4 of Swords time: waiting and cooking. And the Moon card: listen to your deeper instincts, rather than where you think you would like your life to be going.

 

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Saturn is the planet of incarnating, of responsibility. The first Saturn Return usually sees us taking some new level of responsibility in the world. I think at the second Saturn Return, the responsibility shifts towards the Spirit. We have done the worldly bit. And it is when we can do our most significant work.

 

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Watching the series Vikings gave me an appreciation of the rationale behind human sacrifice, the genuine power it could have, and prompted me to write an astrological piece: Astrology, Death and Human Sacrifice 

 

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Mercury rules my MC and ASC. When Saturn conjoined my Aq Mercury in 2021, I wrote my first 2 books, after 15 years blogging. It was kind of easy, and earned. When he conjoined my Aq Sun last year, a wolf showed up and nudged me to write my first fiction. A Shamanic fantasy novel. That was much harder. It is good to have something that is difficult. Here is the blurb I have written for the back of the book in my Shamanic blog. Would you want to read it?