Changing Our World II

Greetings, and welcome back to Journeys! I had a big response to last months post so this month I am expanding the example I presented last month.

I’ll be using the method that I explained last month to lay out the remaining collective astrology available to humanity between now and the end of 2021. This means I will be presenting information on the focus groups for the transits of Chiron, Uranus, Pluto & Eris. That’s a lot to cover, but if you have come here looking for a quick answer to the question “how does this affect me?” then do the following:

1) Open a tab to last months article so you also have the list for Neptune.
2) Note your birthday and the age you will be in 2020.
3) Check all the combined lists at the end of each planets section to see if you fit into anywhere in that planets group of ages and birthdays.
4) If you qualified by age double check that you qualify by looking at the more detailed dates earlier in that planets section.
5) That’s it! You will find a little guidance on what it means in the rest of the planets section and at the end of this article.

So now let’s dive in!

Chiron in Aries

I’ve written an article about Chiron in general (here) and Chiron in Aries (here). These messages can serve as the basis for anyone looking to work with it. In the latter message I wrote:

“The wound of Chiron in Aries is basically an existential one – the tribe are besieged by the need to fight for something but they cannot fight that battle until they know who they are, who or what they need to fight for, and what their own personal weaknesses are”.

Essentially these people are spiritual warriors who have to overcome wounds in their self-esteem and willpower. The titans that they have to defeat in order to become whole are naivete, impatience, timidity, anger, lack of self awareness and wounded spirit. The burning path of Chiron in Aries is about discovering who the hell you are so that you are an effective force in kicking against the things that stand in your way of being healed, and ultimately teaching these lessons to others. It’s about discovering the will to stand your ground, meet threats head on, act decisively and forcefully and not shy away from using that power when it is necessary.

Chiron is slower than Saturn but faster than Uranus and allows a general time span of about 6 months to a year for astrological influences to grow, come to fullness and fade away. During the period between now and January 1st 2022 he will be positioned between 5° and 12° of Aries. So everyone with something significant between those degrees of Aries will be having a Chiron conjunction of that point during this time.

The tier 1 group who fit this criteria are as follows:

April 2012 to January 2015 (5 to 8 years old – Uranus)
May 1969 to April 1972 (48 to 51 years old – Chiron)
June 1940 to March 1975 (45 to 80 years old – Eris)
April 1928 to May 1930 (90 to 92 years old – Uranus)
March 1920 to April 1922 (98-100 years old – Chiron)

Notice that Eris takes a massive chunk out of the collective apple here, with everyone born between 1940 and 1975 having Eris in the target area of Aries 5°-12°. Everyone between the age of 45 and 80 is going to experience Chiron conjunct Eris before the end of 2021. Everyone born after 1975 has this to come before Chiron leaves Aries in 2027.

As I explained last month the norm for tier 1 is Chiron and Uranus (usually in a 2:1 ration, sometimes as here a 2:2), with other planets (in this case Eris) adding definition. The tier 1 group is usually focused on healing and reinventing (Chiron and Uranus types of activity) but this time the addition of Eris means collective work with Chiron in this time is facing into tumultuous disruption and discord (this will last for as long as Chiron is in Aries). However these conditions can produce positive as well as negative outcomes. The chaos of these times may make collective healing difficult, but at the same time that pressure can force us into new directions and stimulate inventiveness.

Also notice that people born in the late 60s and early 70s are having their Chiron returns. This is usually experienced as a healing crisis as we enter our 50s and find our former energy and power draining away. We have to adapt to a new set of conditions and we also begin to harvest some of the most important lessons that we will draw from life. In many ways the Chiron return has qualities like those of the Saturn return, the second of which always follows swiftly on from it.

Here is the tier 2 group for Chiron:

All Aries people born in any year on or between March 26th and April 3rd
And/especially any Sun sign born –

February and March 2011 (9 years old – Jupiter)
March and April 1999 (21 years old – Jupiter)
May 1996 to May 1997 (23 to 24 years old – Saturn)
March and April 1987 (33 years old – Jupiter)
April and May 1975 (45 years old – Jupiter)
April 1967 to April 1968 (52 to 53 years old – Saturn)
April, May, June 1963 and October 1963 to mid January 1964 (57 years old – Jupiter)
May, June, July 1951 (69 years old – Jupiter)
January, February, March 1940 (80 years old – Jupiter)
March, April, May and November 1938 (82 years old – Saturn)
February and March 1928 (92 years old – Jupiter)

Again as noted last month we see the pattern of 3 Saturn groups and 8 Jupiter groups. Chiron activation of Saturn can bring out difficult lessons, painful experiences which hold serious significance. These experiences can put pressure on the rules that we live by forcing us to re-evaluate them if they are too rigid, but they can also bring breaking points at which we can no longer endure something that we have suffered for a long time. Spiritually this kind of astrology can help us to understand the impersonal nature of the universal laws (i.e. that no person is exempt from the consequences of ignoring them) and it can apply itself as a remedy in healing situations where chronic conditions have set in. Chiron activation of Jupiter is more dependent on your age group. For younger people it is often about learning from someone in a mentor position while for older people it is more concerned with the distillation of wisdom and growth. For all ages this astrological combination greatly enhances healing potential especially when working with the Fire Element or Aries.

In the overlap between these two tiers there are two very powerful groups of individuals. The first group of individuals are between the ages of 48 and 51 and have birthdays between March 26 and April 3. These people all have the Sun in Aries in close proximity to Chiron in Aries and both of these natal objects will be transited by Chiron in the period between now and the end of 2021. The second group is much larger and far more varied. It is composed of everyone born between June 1940 and March 1975 (the Eris group in the first tier) who is also a member of the second-tier at any of the following levels:

Born between March 26 and April 3 (Aries Sun)
Born in May June or July 1951 (Aries Jupiter)
Born in April, May or June 1963 or October 1963 to mid January 1964 (Aries Jupiter)
Born April 1967 to April 1968 (Aries Saturn)
Born April or May 1975 (Aries Jupiter)

The last two groups in this list can also include people who are part of the first group in the list, the Aries Sun people. These people have the Sun and Eris as well as Jupiter or Saturn in the target area of Aries,all of which will receive activation by Chiron before the end of 2021.

Of course if you know the position of your Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars as well as your ascendant and midheaven and any of these fall between Aries 5° and 12°, then you can also include yourself in tier 2 for Chiron work in the period between now and 2022.

Here is the combined list for Chiron in order of ages:

Any Age: Birthdays from March 26th to April 3rd
5-8 years old – Uranus
9 years old – Jupiter
21 years old – Jupiter
23 – 24 years old – Saturn
33 years old – Jupiter
45 years old – Jupiter
45-80 years old – Eris
48-51 years old – Chiron
52 – 53 years old – Saturn
57 years old – Jupiter
69 years old – Jupiter
80 years old – Jupiter
82 years old – Saturn
90-92 years old – Uranus
92 years old – Jupiter
98-100 years old – Chiron

Uranus in Taurus

Uranus in Taurus is part of the engine that’s driving our current economic turmoil, and that upset is set to continue for many years to come as it will be a theme for the first half of this decade. It challenges us to reinvent our economic reality and rulebook and to liberate the human spirit from poverty, hard labour, hardship when it comes to the resources which are necessary for any human being to survive and the concept of property and land ownership. It promises to bring continued upsets and disruption to the markets and to job security as a means to force a revolution in the way we do business. You can find my article on Uranus in Taurus here, it contains suggestions for many possible projects involving this astrological energy.

The target area of Uranus in Taurus for the period between now and 2022 is Taurus 6° to 14° inclusive. This gives us the following tier 1 group:

June 1978 to March 1981 (39 to 42 years old – Chiron)
May 1936 to March 1939 (81 to 84 years old – Uranus)
June 1928 to May 1930 (90 to 92 years old – Chiron)

The group having their Uranus return have a lot to teach us about Uranus in Taurus at this time. The two Chiron groups may both be struggling with health issues during this period (especially when they are related to financial troubles). But the potential being offered here is for us to rebuild our society, especially in economic terms, but also in terms of food production and the distribution of resources in general. The youngest Chiron group have the most power to cause change.

Here is the tier 2 group for Uranus:

Every Taurus person born on or between April 28th to May 6th in any year
And/especially any Sun sign born –

August, September and October 2011 and March and April 2012 (8 to 9 years old – Jupiter)
March and April 2000 (20 years old – Jupiter)
May 1999 to April 2000 (20 to 21 years old – Saturn)
April and May 1988 (32 years old – Jupiter)
April and May 1976 (44 years old – Jupiter)
July 1969 to June 1970 (50 to 51 years old – Saturn)
May and June 1964 (56 years old – Jupiter)
June and July 1952 and November 1952 to March 1953 (67 to 68 years old – Jupiter)
June to December 1940 and February and March 1941 (79 to 80 years old – Jupiter)
May 1940 to May 1941 (79 to 80 years old – Saturn)
July, August, September, October 1928 and March and April 1929 (91 to 92 years old – Jupiter)

Again, if you know the position of your natal Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars as well as your ascendant and midheaven and any of these fall between Taurus 8° and 14°, then you can also include yourself in tier 2 for Uranus work in the period between now and 2022.

This energy is about making material changes to our world and so helps us to restore the environment. It is however likely to be spent largely on some kind of economic reforms. When we look at the overlap between the two tiers we see that we have a group of Taurus people born April 28th to May 6th and now aged between 39 and 42 who are in particularly powerful positions to create change with Uranus in Taurus in this time. They will have Sun conjunct or near to Chiron in Taurus in their natal charts, both of which will be activated by the planet Uranus.

Here is the combined focus groups list for Uranus in Taurus until 2022:

Any Age: Birthdays on or between April 28th to May 6th
8 to 9 years old – Jupiter
20 years old – Jupiter
20 to 21 years old – Saturn
32 years old – Jupiter
39 to 42 years old – Chiron
44 years old – Jupiter
50 to 51 years old – Saturn
56 years old – Jupiter
67 to 68 years old – Jupiter
79 to 80 years old – Jupiter
79 to 80 years old – Saturn
81 to 84 years old – Uranus
90 to 92 years old – Chiron
91 to 92 years old – Jupiter

Pluto in Capricorn

Pluto in Capricorn is one of the other planets fueling the economic changes we are currently experiencing. It has been stirring things up in this area since the financial crisis of 2007 when it was entering the sign. At this point we seem to be at the end game but there are still a couple of years of Pluto in Capricorn left during which its signification looks set to intensify. Pluto in Capricorn also forces us into a confrontation with environmental factors. Astrologically this energy challenges us to regenerate the governing power structures of this world and the attribution of resources. It opens the door for powerful new leaders to emerge, both through the births that occur or through events in modern times (so that in about 2037 when the first Pluto in Capricorn children are turning 30, politics should get very interesting indeed for about 14 years as these leaders take power). In present times Pluto in Capricorn can be employed collectively to renew, purge, regenerate or transform any kind of power structure, laws, governing ethics or tradition.

The target area of Pluto in Capricorn to consider for the period between now and January 1, 2022 is 22° to 26°. Here is the tier 1 group for this zone of the zodiac:

February 2004 to January 2005 (15 to 16 years old – Chiron)
February 1994 to January 1997 (23 to 26 years old – Neptune)
January 1994 to November 1995 (25 to 26 years old – Uranus)
January to March 1954 (66 years old – Chiron)

Here we see a potentially more active group with everyone in their mid-20s receiving activation of their Uranus and Neptune by Pluto in Capricorn. This is the crunch time for this generations revolutionary conjunction of Uranus–Neptune. The transformative potential and power of this generation is now being unearthed and we see this manifesting in dramatic ways in the present in Minneapolis and in the overall ‘pots boiling over’ tension of this time in human history. What this tier also reveals however is that there is also group of 15 to 16-year-old people who are particularly powerful at this time because they have Pluto activating their Chiron in Capricorn, as well as an older group in their mid-60s who resonate with that younger generations experience. All of these people are resonating with Pluto in Capricorn at this time and by working together they can operate as transformative influences in the ways described above.

Here is the tier 2 group for Pluto in Capricorn until January 2022:

Every Capricorn person born on or between January 13th to 19th in any year
And/especially any Sun sign born –

March to July 2020 and November and December 2020 (a few months old or soon to be born – Jupiter)
December 2008 (12 years old – Jupiter)
December 1996 and January 1997 (23 to 24 years old – Jupiter)
March to July 1990 and December 1990 to February 1991 (29 to 30 years old – Saturn)
January 1985 (35 years old – Jupiter)
January and February 1973 (47 years old – Jupiter)
January to March 1961 and August to December 1961 (59 years old – Saturn)
February and March 1961 (59 years old – Jupiter)
February and March 1949 and July to November 1949 (71 years old – Jupiter)
March to July 1937 and November to December 1937 (83 years old – Jupiter)
March to June 1931 and December 1931 to February 1932 (88-89 years old – Saturn)
April and May 1925 and December 1925 (95 years old – Jupiter)

And again if you know the position of other objects in your natal chart and they are located in the target area of Capricorn 22° to 26° then you can include yourself in the tier 2 group. It’s also worth pointing out that the dates are not black and white or on and off kind of things so if you are born for example on January 20 you are still close enough to be included in tier 2 from the position of your Sun, similarly if you are born on (for example) a day in November 1996 you are still close enough to the focus group of December 1996 and January 1997 to be included in tier 2. The amount of time you can allow here depends on the speed of the planet that is being activated in the natal chart (not the transiting planet) with Pluto and Eris allowing a lot longer in terms of fudging these dates and Jupiter allowing only a month in most cases (circumstances vary, these are general guidelines that work in practice). To put this simply:

1) The speed of the transiting planet or activator determines how long a particular astrological influence will last for, with the slowest moving planets providing longer periods of time for groups to operate together in. Eris and Pluto allow for long-term projects with groups that can operate together for two or three years or mpre while Chiron shrinks this down to a timespan of only about six months to a year at most.

2) The speed of the natal planet being activated determines how much you can fudge the dates which generate the focus groups, with slower moving planets providing a wider net that can pull in people born in times different to the ones given in each tier. With Pluto you could involve people who are born up to a year or two away from the dates in one of the target groups, but with Jupiter you only have about a month.

3) However there is a caveat to point 2 – if your natal planet is in a different sign it is acting in a completely different way and while it will still respond to the activation it will do so in an indirect way. This point becomes important when the target area of the zodiac is at the beginning or the end of a sign, which is to say when you have a natal planet at the beginning or end of a sign. Essentially the times in which planets move from one sign to another are times in which the focus is shifting from one theme to another and this means that one group is handing over to another in terms of collective activity.

Note that the 23-24 year-olds among us are present in both tiers. They are having Pluto activate their Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter in Capricorn. Among these people some of them will also be born around January 13th to the 19th or they will have other natal objects in the target area of Capricorn 22° to 26°, and these people are being especially focused on by Pluto in Capricorn at this time.

Here are the combined focus groups in order of age for Pluto in Capricorn:

Any Age: Birthdays on or between January 13th to 19th
A few months old or soon to be born – Jupiter
12 years old – Jupiter
15 to 16 years old – Chiron
23 to 24 years old – Jupiter
23 to 26 years old – Neptune
25 to 26 years old – Uranus
29 to 30 years old – Saturn
35 years old – Jupiter
47 years old – Jupiter
59 years old – Saturn
59 years old – Jupiter
66 years old – Chiron
71 years old – Jupiter
83 years old – Jupiter
88-89 years old – Saturn
95 years old – Jupiter

Eris in Aries

Eris is so slow moving that almost everyone alive has Eris in Aries. If you think about what that means for a moment your realise that right now we are all having a collective experience of Eris in Aries because it is in every face, in every life, every story, every development, every thought, feeling and sensation. It resonates with the Uranus/Chiron opposition in this respect. However at certain times portions of the population have this part of their lives highlighted and energized and at these times we are able to see the effect of Eris. This is important because it gives us a chance to observe an extremely new discovery. Essentially everything that anyone has in the sign of Aries has become a potential tool with which we can discover an entirely new world. However this voyage of discovery is fated not to go smoothly and to be characterised with discord, shock, chaos and mayhem. This is simply the way that Eris shakes things up to establish a new kind of harmony, and the way that Aries thrives under threat and pressure.

With Eris in Aries the most obvious and possibly the most ubiquitous quality is our warlike nature and the danger that it poses. By this I do not just mean our military ambitions and the accumulation of weaponry but also the way that we are waging war on life itself, in particular on nature. However the urge to protest, to burn and to destroy is also part of this quality, particularly when you feel outraged by injustice or inequality. The challenge of Eris in Aries is to direct righteous anger at appropriate or strategic targets and not to waste it in explosive violence but instead in relentless strength and push.

During the period between now and the end of 2021 Eris will ‘move’ (more like hover) over Aries 23° to 24°. This should give us a heads up that collectively we are all going to hit a particularly rough time in 2025/26 when Chiron in Aries catches up with her at 25° Aries, but there is also great potential for this time to bring an epic restructuring of our world that is positive. Only by kicking against the need for temporary discord in order to restructure things long term do we invite catastrophe. Much of our experience with Eris at this time is building up to this conjunction.

The tier 1 group for Eris looks like this:

June to October 2016, March and April 2017 and January and February 2018 (2 to 4 years old – Uranus)
June to September 1974, April to May 1975 and November 1975 to March 1976 (44 to 46 years old – Chiron)
July and August 1932, April and May 1933 and November 1933 to March 1934 (86 to 88 years old – Uranus)
June to October 1924, April and May 1925 and November 1925 to March 1926 (94 to 96 years old – Chiron)

This is a standard array for tier 1 (no Neptune, Pluto or Eris). However only the Chiron group in their mid-40s are in active positions in life. As I pointed out last month this does not mean that the other groups cannot be involved. The teachers and carers of 2 to 4-year-olds can help to maximize the positive potential in this time by shaking up routines and doing something completely new and unexpected with the children, for example. This is also how people not involved in a collective project can help from the wings while not being active in the group under the spotlight. Cheer-leading and coaching are important roles in any kind of collective awareness. This can be especially important in motivating the fighting spirit of Aries.

The tier 2 group is as follows:

Every Aries person born on or between April 13th to 16th in any year
And/especially any Sun sign born –

May 2011 (9 years old – Jupiter)
May 1999 (21 years old – Jupiter)
April 1998 (22 years old – Saturn)
June 1987, October 1987 and January and February 1988 (32 to 33 years old – Jupiter)
July to September 1975 and February and March 1976 (44 to 45 years old – Jupiter)
June to October 1968 and March 1969 (51 to 52 years old – Saturn)
March 1964 (56 years old – Jupiter)
April 1952 (68 years old – Jupiter)
April 1940 (80 years old – Jupiter)
May 1939 and December 1939 to February 1940 (80 to 81 years old – Saturn)
May 1928 (92 years old – Jupiter)

And here is the combined list for Eris:

Any Age: Birthdays on or between April 13th to 16th
2 to 4 years old – Uranus
9 years old – Jupiter
21 years old – Jupiter
22 years old – Saturn
32 to 33 years old – Jupiter
44 to 45 years old – Jupiter
44 to 46 years old – Chiron
51 to 52 years old – Saturn
56 years old – Jupiter
68 years old – Jupiter
80 years old – Jupiter
80 to 81 years old – Saturn
86 to 88 years old – Uranus
92 years old – Jupiter
94 to 96 years old – Chiron

Interpretation Guidelines & Multi-Focus Groups

If you need help figuring out what any of these astrological influences mean, welcome to the club. This is a very new area. This is part of what we are trying to explore here. What happens when a crowd of people with a connecting influence at this level work together towards a common aim? However with the exception of Eris we do know a lot of actionable information about these planets already and by learning about the zodiac signs and planets involved you can see the general picture quickly. I have an archive here that dives into all 12 signs and the nature of the planets, and articles can be searched for with tags or years. Beyond this and other research you can also consult an experienced astrologer.

The following are some guidelines about the activators to get you thinking:

Eris is new but likely to bring an urge to swing a wrecking ball in the direction of things. The catch seems to be that it needs to be carefully intentional, otherwise the motivation is a gleeful pleasure at watching things fall apart.

Pluto is powerfully transformative and stirs up intense feelings. Keywords include regeneration, depth, compulsions, self destructive tendencies, occult schooling, renovation, the purge of corruption, unlocking hidden power, massive change. In terms of Capricorn it emphasises the physical and material world of the body, the world, its resources and power structures. It can help us regenerate the encironment.

Neptune is refining and sublime, and can lead to connection with muses and spiritual visions. Keywords include meditation, dreams, imagination, music, forgiveness, redemption, sacrifice, dealing with delusion or unconscious matters, peace, transcendence, idealism. In terms of Pisces it emphasises astral and emotional expression, dissolving things, compassion, psychic perception, escapism, fantasy and the unconscious.

Uranus is revolutionary and inventive and represents how new technology and scientific breakthroughs create shockwaves of change. It is the relentless pace of progress into a bewildering future. Some keywords include social and mass media, upheaval, originality, electronics, genius, radicalism, humanitarianism, futurism, transhumanism, independence, freedom, ‘out with the old, in with the new’. I have written an extensive message on Uranus in Taurus, linked earlier. This influence focuses on changes in the basic realities of physical and material life and with ending long standing situations. Its keywords include food production, labour of all kinds, the electric components of physical sensation (VR is coming), economic revolution, earthquakes (literal or figurative), relief work and physical support.

Chiron is instructive and repairing, he offers both a diagnosis of the source of pain and its remedy. In essence he represents an awareness of what makes things whole, and thus where there are cracks, splits, wounds, fractures or gulfs that need to be bridged, stitched, healed. He is also a phenomenal teacher concerning our relationship to the rest of the natural world. In Aries he challenges us to fight for what we know is right, to utilize our anger as a healing force, to take action to repair and mend, to bite through the pain to summon our true fighting spirit and our true will.

In terms of focus groups the Sun groups are people who energise, enliven, gain command over and directly experience the influence, the Jupiter groups expand our ability to express it, the Saturn groups stabilize and crystallize our ability to express it, the Chiron groups brings healing potential and the ability to integrate the expression healthily, the Uranus groups enable a more brilliant collective expression and the potential to go in new directions, the Neptune groups help us to grasp the spiritual dimensions of the expression, the Pluto groups dive deeper into the expression in search of its secrets and to deal with collective demons and the Eris groups have the power to destroy and disrupt through the expression of the influence. Her disruption seems to break things permanently rather than force them to change their operating manual like Uranus does and to lack the potential for rebirth offered by Pluto – it is less of a purge and more of a complete reset with Eris.

Jupiter and Saturn are very important because they help us to expand and establish ourselves at new levels of expression. So for example with Chiron in Aries we currently have people at 9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 69, 80 and 92 years of age who can help us to expand our awareness of Chiron in Aries so that it grows (all the Jupiter groups), and people at 23-24, 52-53 and 82 years of age who can help us to establish that for the long term future as well as to learn from our past mistakes (all the Saturn groups).

This brings up the possibilities of different focus groups working together at the same time. In the above example two different groups, both with something happening as a result of Chiron in Aries, work together to advance our collective understanding and expression of it. Other combinations exist for every planets list, for example for Uranus in Taurus the Saturn groups could work with the Chiron groups. However, focus groups working with the influences of different planets can also work. The thing that needs to be observed here, however, are the major aspects, specifically the sextile and trine. These aspects signify focus groups that get on well. The conjunction can also work. This means that the Uranus in Taurus groups work well with the Pluto in Capricorn groups, and that both of them also work well with the Neptune in Pisces groups, because all of those signs are trine or sextile one another. The Chiron and Eris in Aries groups, however, are more likely to create trouble for one another. This could still be healthy, like a painful but instructive rivalry, but its more likely to be too disruptive to group cohesion.

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Hopefully this answers some of the questions I received about how the other planets are affecting people and what we could do with them, I must stress this example and the interpretations offered are just one method with one astrologers views and I encourage you to explore your own unique astrology in order to discover the vast range of possibilities. I wish you (us) all the very best, and don’t forget to love each other!

Changing Our World

Greetings, and welcome back to Journeys! I hope you’re all doing well in these trying but interesting times. This month I would like to share with you some of my thoughts about how astrology can be employed as a magical tool for changing our world.

Our world needs powerful and sweeping changes if we are to avoid catastrophe in this century. I do not think there is anyone who could convince me that this is not the case, and judging by my contact with people from all walks of life over the last 30 years I believe that this opinion is virtually universal. I think the need for change is so glaringly obvious that anyone who thinks otherwise is probably living in a state of psychological denial of the seriousness of the existential threat. It is a threat not just to us but to every living creature on this planet. The scale of this threat engulfs not only plant, animal, mineral, microbial and all forms of physical life but also the multitude of unacknowledged and unseen beings such as the Elementals. These beings are intimately connected to the physical processes that take place in our world and they are not only able to affect those physical processes but are also vulnerable to being affected by them. As a simple but dramatic example the detonation of an atomic device not only devastates mile upon mile of land, it also throws the local Elemental realm into centuries of chaos as it tries to assimilate the released energy as radiation and destruction. As another example, the clearing of rainforest threatens to literally uproot countless plant spirits from their material homes, permanently extinguishing their physical anchors as plants are pushed to extinction before we even become aware that they exist, and this is ongoing all the time. At a certain point the damage done to these beings will lead to an inevitable cascade of catastrophic changes to our physical planet. Probably the greatest threat that we pose to these beings and thus to ourselves stems from our ignorance of their existence. However, the reverse is also true – by becoming aware of these beings again we can potentially heal all the harm we have unknowingly or foolishly inflicted upon them.

There are many ways in which we can raise our awareness of these beings. A course of instruction in magical initiation is only one of them. It is a very direct way, but there are many others that are equally direct and faster to pull off. Simply reconnecting with nature is the most direct way, especially when we find ways to give back to it some of the many things that we have taken from it over the millennia. The arts – music in particular – are also powerful ways in which we can not only give back to these beings from our hearts in ways which are genuinely healing for them and us but also ways in which we can actually perceive them. We may not be able to clairvoyantly perceive them but every individual has the capability of sensing them through feelings, the random and stray thoughts that we encounter every day and the whimsical moments when we are touched by inspiration or daydreams. Romeo and Juliet are real because they make us weep. It is not a case of ‘as if they were real’. They are, just not in the same way that we are real. With just a little opening of the I it is possible to perceive these beings at work in nature all the time at every level. They are our constant companions and have been since even before our human existence on this planet. They were with us when we crawled out of the waves onto the shore and when we learned to stand upright. They were with us when we first noticed the Sun and Moon and all the stars in the night sky. They were with us when the first mother gave birth to the first child and they were with us when the first flame created by our hands flickered as a reflection in our eyes. They guided us to find music in the first place, probably via birdsong but equally probably by the sound of a waterfall, a river, a crackling fire pit, a soft breeze or the sound of a Full Moon.

Astrology is a wonderfully inclusive tool because it doesn’t really care how you use it. You can use it in your life as a dancer or musician, in your life as a scientist or a political activist, to make sacks of money on the stock market or in any of the activities which humans do. Its application to almost anything people do is one of its greatest strengths. The symbolism used in astrology – the four basic building blocks of which are zodiac signs, planets, aspects and houses/temples – is flexible and broad enough to be interpreted in a multitude of ways and circumstances. For example, Mars is often stereotyped as a planet of war and conflict but it is also symbolic of effort and zeal, conviction, willpower, courage, moving forwards, decisiveness and individual choice. The sign Taurus is expressive of numerous traits like patience, caution, stubbornness, materialism, love of nature, endurance and resourcefulness. When you put these two things together, then, you have a combination with a great deal of possible expressions, such as moving forwards slowly and carefully or standing your ground and resisting change that is unwelcome. All of the possible combinations can also be put to positive or negative uses.

For the predictive astrologer who is trying to figure out what the symbolism of the future will signify this interpretive flexibility in the symbolism of astrology is the greatest problem but for the individual or collective seeking to employ astrology in a process of transformation it is the greatest blessing because it provides freedom of choice in the options for the direction future changes can take as well as the vital but frequently missing information concerning when those changes can be most effective and who is positioned to grasp the opportunity.

Individual and Collective Change

Although I do employ astrology as a form of forecasting as you can see throughout the archives of this journal my central focus as an astrologer is on the potential for astrology to empower personal and collective change and transformation. My regular readers will know that I have designed a completely new system for interacting with astrology that facilitates this process and that I have written extensively on what I call collective astrology as well as the more familiar and traditional method of personal astrology. You’ll find a large number of dozens of articles to browse in the archives that relate to this.

Up until now though I have refrained from giving any actual example of employing collective astrology as a practical technique and have instead tried to describe it in theory. There were good reasons for this but the central idea of what I’m trying to put across is a lot easier to describe with an example. It’s one of those things that looks extremely complicated in describing it but is actually a very simple idea. This month I’m finally overcoming my reluctance and giving you an actual example of how we can use this kind of approach to collective astrology in this year and next year. It is only one example and additionally only one way it can be approached.

First of all though we have to talk about the relationship between the individual and the collective. We need to understand that these two things are like two sides of the same coin. Simply put (and to be clear, it’s extremely complex) when there is enough individual change in a society the society itself changes. Similarly, when something happens to society (like Covid 19) it causes dramatic changes in the lives of individuals and therefore in their characters. This means that individuals who are committed to an ethical path help contribute towards a more ethical society. It also means that every time you get angry, so does the society in which you move. These effects are greater and more nunaced than what we can perceive. The transformation of an individual creates ripples around them in the lives of the people they know which in turn create ripples in the lives of the people they know and so on. These ripples arise simply from being around one another, sharing the same collective world. They are greatly amplified by the arrival of the electronic communication age but that is not the same thing, however there are parallels.

Certain individuals act to edit out the more negative things that circulate in our collective. How do they do this? Simply by being in control of how they react and respond. If an angry person dumps their anger on to you, it is up to you if you get angry back. You can also recognise your own anger and choose not to act upon it, an act which transforms the anger into whatever you decide to be in response. You can also perceive the anger more clearly in these cases. You can potentially see that the anger is justified as it sometimes is with all of the terrible things that go on, which means you can also potentially disarm it by relating to it through understanding. Sometimes we really need people to get angry at what happens, but during such times it is often necessary to take a deep breath and think long and carefully about how to act.

If one person can blunt the curve of negative collective thoughts and feelings much as they can against the transmission of a physical pandemic, it also follows then that an individual also has the power to amplify negative waves which are moving through the collective. Anger can ignite hatred, war or violence as a response. Again, remember that we do not perceive all the ripples of our every action and reaction. Seen in this light then there is great responsibility upon each and every individual at this time. Essentially we have dual paths offered up if we wish to change your world. One is to work on ourselves as people, the other is to work on ourselves as a people. We can change ourselves and transform ourselves individually, and we can change the way we behave collectively. The times actually require that we do both. In previous centuries it was perhaps enough to retreat from the mundane world and look inward, being the change that we want to see in the world. Now the times definitely also call for us to make a collective transformation and to involve ourselves in that process.

On Individual Change

Before we get into the example of using collective astrology to change our world here are a few points about individual and personal change to consider.

What I advise here is that you initially just observe your chart for a while before you actually get involved in changing or transforming parts of it. Simply use the method I provide for passively observing the effect that the Sun and Moon have when they come to certain places in your chart. Or spend a few sessions with an experienced astrologer. This will give you a clear picture through actual practice or advice on where the most troubling situations reside as well as a clear indication of where your strengths are. You can then use the system I designed to more actively interact with astrological influences and transform them from negative to positive expressions. Changes for the better that you make to yourself will change the future for everyone.

Some general advice here about where the most attention usually needs to be applied –

1) Challenging aspect patterns like the Grand Cross or strong oppositions and conjunctions which symbolise major stress points or struggles for the chart as a whole are often the most significant things to work on. Any planet can be involved in these patterns. Good astrologers can help you figure these things out, but as I said you can also set out on your own to find them.

2) The influence of Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Chiron (and we might as well add Eris now) when they are in square or opposition, sometimes conjunction, are frequently of great significance if they make aspects to the inner planets, ascendant, midheaven or the Lights. These are usually big issues that will require the help of others to resolve. Often you will reach a point where whatever planet is involved here will start to provide you with information, situations and guidance that transforms you as a person so that you are more effective as an agent of its power at the collective level. When the aspects of these planets are not to the inner planets or the Lights but instead to the other slower moving worlds from Jupiter out, then that is more firmly in the realm of collective astrology. When this is the case individual and personal transformation of yourself definitely has an effect but it is not the most direct way to change the situation, and you likely wont even notice it at a collective level changing anything, the most direct and noticeable way with such aspects is actually to change something in your community or society. Jupiter and Saturn kind of sit on the boundary between the individual and the collective level, functioning as mediators.

3) Everything connected with Saturn is of great significance in terms of individual and personal self-development. By improving our expression of what Saturn represents in our charts we become wiser and more mature as human beings. This is always hard work and it always takes time measured in years. However there are moments in that process when you achieve a breakthrough that establishes a new set of rules.

Other chart factors may become important on an individual basis but these three guidelines represent the most significant and universal factors which individuals have to deal with in their charts. Working through the issues that arise from these things the potential for both personal and collective transformation is extremely high. Therefore it is recommended that people who want to change the world for the better by working on themselves focus upon these things.

On Collective Change

This is the more contemporary area since it is only in recent centuries that we have known of the existence of the planets beyond Saturn. A great deal of deep thought has been put into this area by numerous astrologers in that time, mostly focusing on how these outer worlds relate to societal shifts and major events as well as major psychological complexes present within each individual. Less attention has been given to the potential these planets offer for practical and actionable collective change. This is what I will be talking about here.

There are many ways in which we can use the potential of these new worlds to bring about transformation of our collective. The following method is just one of many that could be developed and used by groups of people anywhere in the world.

In this method we divide opportunity for transformation into two tiers. The first tier is the most powerful one but the second tier is the one that involves a wider span of generations and ages of people. I will refer to people in both tiers as the focus people or focus groups because they are the people who are having a particular astrological influence focus upon them at a particular time. The two tiers can work together and will likely produce greater and swifter change that way. You can also belong to both tiers, in which case you are often better positioned to direct the activity of the group. The number of focus people involved in any activity is limited only by practicality – any group of three (the minimum I take to be a group) or more focus people who are able to interact and co-ordinate their actions will work. The people involved depend upon the current and past positions of the planets, so the focus people involved will change from year to year. What follows is an example which is useful for both this year and next year, 2021. This means it has an expiry date. Beyond 2021, it is no longer actionable. After that point this message will only serve as an example of what could be done.

This message is also using only one of the outer planets for the demonstration – Neptune. There are other opportunities this year and next year from the planets Uranus and Pluto as well as from Chiron and Eris. The method used is exactly the same as the one you will learn about using Neptune. I will take you step-by-step through the process you need to go through to –

A) identify the focus people and
B) identify the astrological potential

Step 1

Step 1 is to pick the planet that you are going to work with. This planet is called the activator. This is one of the objects beyond Saturn – Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Chiron, and Eris. In this case I’ve chosen Neptune. I chose Neptune because it has a particular theme as far as collective change is concerned. That theme is a spiritual one which awakens people to the reality of universal love. In choosing Neptune it’s understood that we will be challenged in the way that Neptune challenges, because every effort meets with challenges of some kind. Neptune’s kind are typically connected with seeing through deception, delusion and possibly having to make some kind of sacrifice in order to transcend or improve things.

So at step 1 we look at the nature of these 5 planets and we decide which among them offers the opportunity that we are seeking and we make ourselves aware of the nature of the planet that we are dealing with by reading up on its astrological potential. It is also possible to work with Jupiter or Saturn if these 5 planets intimidate you. However in these cases I recommend working with a set time span in step 2, below.

In particular we want to pay attention to its current position in the sky and the sign of the zodiac which it presently inhabits because this will strongly and powerfully shape all of its potential at that time. In this case Neptune is in Pisces so we will consider how Neptune in Pisces relates to our intention, the thing we want to happen.

Once you know the nature of the activator planet and its current position in the zodiac as well as what that implies about its potential offering at this time, step 1 is complete.

Step 2

The next step is to choose a time span for the work that will be done. At the collective level the minimum time span that is practical is maybe 6 months – any less than this does not provide enough time – while the longest is as long as group cohesion lasts. However in cases where groups continue indefinately the memberships and/or roles will have to change since the focus people change as time and the astrological clock moves on.

This time span can include a period of assessment or debriefing among the group, a time of winding down where there is no further activity, just learning and reflection, as well as a warm up period. It depends on you. You can also leave it open-ended, but human collectives work best when they see an end goal in sight at all times.

If you are working with Jupiter or Saturn the best time period to use is the entire time that the planet will remain in one sign. Keep to this regardless of whether Jupiter or Saturn has just entered a sign or is just about to leave it. This means you will have a period of up to about 2.5 years in the case of Saturn or 1 year in the case of Jupiter, maximum. In cases where Jupiter and Saturn are in the very end of a sign you may only have a few weeks or even days. In these cases you might want to wait a while until it enters a new sign, but that brings a different set of astrological potentials to the table – the hand is discarded and a new one is drawn. I also recommend that the time when one of these planets fully enters that sign and does not retrograde back into its previous sign be take as the start of the period, and the time when it first exits (regardless of retrograde motion) be regarded as the end.

In this example with Neptune in Pisces I have chosen a time span of from now until the end of 2021.

Step 3

Now that you have chosen an activator in step 1 and a time span in step 2 you start with the astrological work of identifying the two tiers of focus people. The first thing to do here is to look up in your ephemeris the zodiac degrees that the activator (Neptune in our example) visits during your chosen period of time. Between now and the end of 2021 Neptune is between 16° and 23° of Pisces and will retrograde over 20° of Pisces so it will spend a longer period of time on that degree. This gives us a portion of the zodiac which we must work with to identify our focus people, the example here being between 16° and 23° of Pisces, with a particular focus on Pisces 20°.

This in itself is valuable interpretive data for anyone working with the decanates or degree symbolism, as many magicians and astrologers do.

Step 4

This brings us to being able to identify the focus people in tier 1. This is the point at which the help of an experienced astrologer who knows their way around an ephemeris is invaluable. The work involved here is not tremendous if you know what you are doing but if you are having to think about it and work it out as you go it can take a long time. The same is true when we come to identifying tier 2 in step 5.

Tier 1 is composed of every living person who has in their natal chart any of the following planets in the zodiac degrees we identified in Step 3, in this example from 16° to 23° of Pisces:

Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or Eris (i.e. any of the other activators)

In our example an experienced astrologer will immediately realise that there will be no living people with Neptune in Pisces except children 8-9 years old or younger, and they will all have Neptune in degrees earlier than 16° and so there will be no need to look at the positions of Neptune in the last 80 to 100 years. Most of them will also realise that Pluto was also not in Pisces during that time and a growing number of them will realise that Eris was last in Pisces in the first 20 to 25 years of the 20th century (it entered Aries around 1925). This means that only very elderly people will have Eris in Pisces and there are probably none or very few of them alive who have Eris in Pisces between 16° and 23°. So an experienced astrologer will immediately realise that they only have to work out when Chiron and Uranus were in those degrees over the last 100 years. This will always yield 1 or 2 results for each of them.

Here is the result:

1) Uranus between 1923-1926, focus people 94 to 97 years of age now. Then again from 2007 to 2010, now aged 10 to 13 years of age.

2) Chiron between 1964 to 1967, now aged 53 to 56. Then again 2015 to 2017, now only 3 to 5 years old.

This is tier one. All of the people born in those periods have either Uranus or Chiron between 16° and 23° Pisces meaning that all of them will have Neptune pass over their natal Chiron (everybody in the world ages 53-56) or Uranus (everybody in the world 10-13 and 94-97 years of age) in the period from now until the end of 2021.

A good astrologer who knows how to interpret these transits can now provide input into what the potential for these focus people is and what it can be used for given the overall goal. Here are some ideas to show what I mean, using the example of a group of people seeking to increase awareness of universal love (a quintessential theme of Neptune in Pisces):

– The Chiron group could learn, teach, heal, mend, repair, integrate or restore faith in the power of universal love. Seeing the older age group involved means that this group is going to be way more able to act than the Uranus group because they are in the prime of life. It holds interesting possibilities for anything connected with healing collective emotional pain. This is also interesting for nursery school teachers who get to work with 3-5 year olds.

– The Uranus group could revolutionize, wake up, operate online or otherwise refresh or inspire awareness of universal love. Seeing that there are people aged 94-97 and 10-12, this group also has potential for passing things between generations of great grandparents and great grandchildren. It’s also interesting for teachers of young teenagers.

Identifying the tier 1 focus people therefore gives more information about the potential for collective change as Neptune passes through Pisces 16°-23°. In this case it is composed of Chiron and Uranus in Pisces people. Chiron and Uranus will be the most common results at tier 1. This skews results towards healing the collective (Chiron) and awakening it (Uranus).

Step 5

The next step is to find all the times in the last 80-100 years when either Jupiter or Saturn were at Pisces 16°-23°, the targeted area of the zodiac in the example determined in step 3. This is a bit more work but it’s a lot easier and faster when you remember that Saturn takes about 28 years to go around the zodiac and Jupiter about 11 or 12. This means you will end up with 3, maybe 4 instances with Saturn and 8 or 9 instances with Jupiter.

This is the result with the example:

Saturn

1) March 1936 to March 1937, now aged 83 to 84.
2) May 1965 to April 1966 and November and December 1966, now aged 54 to 55
3) March 1995 to February 1996, now age 24 to 25

Jupiter

1) March to May 1927, now age 93.
2) March and April 1939, now age 81
3) February and March 1951, now aged 69
4) February and March 1963, now aged 57
5) January and February 1975, now aged 45
6) May 1986 to February 1987, longer because of a Jupiter retrograde, this group now 33 to 34 years of age
7) April 1998 to January 1999, again longer because of a Jupiter retrograde, this group now 21 to 22 years of age
8) March to May 2010 and then November and December 2010, the Jupiter retrograde period in this area of the zodiac is beginning to end, this group now 10 years old.

This is the main body of tier 2. All of the people born in those periods have either Jupiter or Saturn between 16° and 23° Pisces meaning that they will have Neptune pass over their natal Jupiter (everybody in the world age 10-11, 21-22, 33-34, 45, 57, 69, 81 or 93) or Saturn (everybody in the world 24-25, 54-55 and 83-84 years of age) in the period from now until the end of 2021.

Lets look at all these focal groups together in order of age with the natal planet in Pisces that will be activated by Neptune in brackets:

3-5 (Chiron)
10-11 (Jupiter)
10-13 (Uranus)
21-22 (Jupiter)
24-25 (Saturn)
33-34 (Jupiter)
45 (Jupiter)
53-56 (Chiron)
54-55 (Saturn)
57 (Jupiter)
69 (Jupiter)
81 (Jupiter)
83-84 (Saturn)
93 (Jupiter)
94-97 (Uranus)

Think about how many people this is. If you are not in any of the groups, who do you know who is? You may not be affected by an influence but you can certainly be affected by it happening to others, which means you can also influence how they respond to it. Notice how they come from every age of our journey through life. Each will have a part of the bigger picture which will only come into play if they compare their unique perspectives. With Saturn you generally have people who know how to stabilize and bring things down to earth in practical ways via disciple, effort and strategic long term planning. With Jupiter you have a source of enterprise and optimism, a potential for luck to play a role, a way to expand or grow things and a way to bring more people into a movement.

Some ages are under-represented. There are only people in their 40s aged 45 and only people in their 60s aged 69. There is nobody in the 70s. This is ok, as those age ranges can be filled out in step 6 if necessary.

Frequently you will find an overlap between the two tiers at this point. For example notice how that in tier 1 there is a group aged 53 to 56 (Chiron) while in tier 2 there is a group aged 54 to 55 years old (Saturn). They are of course the same people and this is because of a Saturn/Chiron conjunction in Pisces in the mid-1960s. These people are being singled out as focal points on more than one level which may make their experience of this time of Neptune in Pisces more complex or complicated but also offers more options for them to work with.

We will discover even more overlap in the final step which identifies all the remaining individuals in tier 2. This is the final step and opens up levels where group networks can become incredibly complex.

Step 6

At this level we look at the Lights, and if we really need to add more people to the focus group we can then include Mercury, Venus and Mars as well. Once again, we just find those people who have the Lights or the inner worlds in the targeted area of the zodiac, in this case Pisces 16°-23°. We go about this slightly differently though, since these objects move so fast that checking all their positions for 100 years would be a long and terrible chore that is best left to a computer program if we have one that can do so (I may be wrong, but I don’t think even Solar Fire can do this kind of search).

The primary thing to add at this level are those people who have the Sun in the targeted area of the zodiac. This is because the Sun keeps to a highly regular and orderly timetable in which it visits the same degrees of the zodiac or approximately the same days every year (approximately because of leap years). This means that everyone who has the Sun in 16° to 23° of Pisces will be born in the same period and days of every year. This is not true for Mercury, Venus or Mars who are more chaotic in their timetable and even less true for the Moon which cycles through the zodiac once a month (and so would produce an avalanche of data when tracked over a hundred years).

In our example the Sun is between 16° and 23° of Pisces every year between the dates of March 7th and March 14th. So everyone who has a birthday in this week no matter what year they are born in is added to the group of focus people at tier 2. If your birthday is a day or two outside of this range you are still within the aura that the influence creates.

Importantly, this information is also key information for everyone involved because it means that during March 7th and March 14th of the period in question the astrological energy available for what the group is seeking to achieve is extremely vital and ‘sunny’. So in our example the period during which the Sun is in Pisces and especially the period March 7th to March 14th 2021 would be the key point in time in which to make the greatest collective effort. Knowing where the Moon is every month allows the same foreknowledge on a month by month basis – whenever the Moon is between 16° and 23° of Pisces between now and the end of 2021 there is a major stirring of the energies available for whatever the collective effort is. A group can map out its life cycle and its breathing rhythm in this way, the times when it should be active (exhale) and the times when it should be reflective (inhale). Observation of the lunar cycle can also form a framework for this kind of timing of group activity.

This is the point at which I would stop adding people to the focus groups. However if someone wanted to be involved in the work but they were not part of any of the focus groups then they could check to see if they have the Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars in the targeted area of the zodiac. This gives them four shots at being involved at tier 2, because if any of those bodies are in the targeted area of the zodiac they will also receive a transit by the activator in the period that has been chosen. In the event that this individual has nothing in the targeted area of the zodiac, but was still extremely keen on being involved, we can expand the search to involve the major asteroids, centaurs or the far-flung tiny mythic worlds like Varuna and Ixion, but this would be a more experimental involvement as we know little about what these objects pertain. Probably the better option for such people is simply to wait until the activator moves on to a part of the zodiac which does involve their chart, or just work with a different activator which will be in a different area of the zodiac in the same period. For example a Taurean person wanting to be involved in this kind of collective work but having nothing in the area of Pisces 16° to 23° might just instead do some work with Uranus in Taurus during the same period, provided they qualify as one of its focus people.

This in as brief a form as I can is one of the systems that can be used to interact with our astrology at the collective level. Different groups will find their own ways to use this information and apply it practically. Some projects could be started by individuals who use social media or other means to draw in people belonging to the focus groups. For example let’s imagine that you are an individual who wants to change the way that your local community interacts with nature and its environment by beginning local food production. Once you’ve identified a specific current astrological influence which offers a potential for this project (Uranus in Taurus is a good match here at the present time, as is Pluto in Capricorn) you could specifically ask for people who belong to one of the focus groups to come forward or you could use that information to assign roles and duties. Other projects could use this information to bring people together into more effective demonstrations, meditation, research, invention, ritual or art. An already established group of people who are used to working together and operate as a well oiled machine (a theatre group for example) can use this information just as well but they would possibly discuss amongst themselves what they wish to do with it and settle on an intention upon which they will cooperate together in order to achieve.

I hope that this brief look into the potential offered by the new worlds in our solar system has been clear and inspirational and that it has given you some ideas about your own projects that could use this tool. If you have any questions about it please just drop them into the comment section below and if you would like to write to me personally about your experience using this method I would be very happy to hear from you. I wish you all the brightest and most beautiful of futures.

The Coronavirus Pandemic

Greetings, and welcome back to Journeys! This month there can really be only one topic of discussion – the global coronavirus pandemic and its potential consequences.

Rod of Asclepius

This equinox we came to a truly significant crossroads between darkness and light and our choices now will impact the future of everyone and everything for years to come. As I write these words in late March much of the world is under quarantine, lock-down or extreme restrictions as we attempt to blunt the spike of infections by the Covid-19 coronavirus. If we fail individually and collectively to deal with this pandemic not only will many people die or suffer unnecessarily but we will also overwhelm the medical and financial systems we depend upon and enter a protracted period of economic, political and social turmoil that will probably be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. World order is already on the verge of collapse, with consequences for everyone to come.

Many people understand this now, scary as that is to let sink in, but people who have been paying attention to astrology will have been more prepared. What is less widely understood or accepted at this point but which is beginning to grow in our awareness is that this is also an opportunity to change the rules and the attitudes of our societies, the traditions and principles which guide our collective awareness and the way it operates. That change is coming whether we like it or not and we need to be ready to define what the future should be. If we do not make the necessary changes a far greater disaster will inevitably arise in the near future, so it is imperative that we do something to change the path we are all on. I don’t claim to have those answers because they are things that we must discover and agree upon together. My hope is that many of you are using some of your extra time at home to reflect upon what our future together should be like after this crisis passes, as all crises eventually do. Returning to the way things used to be is, I feel, a major failure to learn anything meaningful from this time.

For starters before diving any deeper into this topic I would like to say a few words to those who have already been infected or are infected now, but also for those who may be infected in the future. I understand if you are frightened. This virus has already infected three people within my family and just last night I learned that one of my friends may now be infected. Although I have had no physical contact with these people and am myself in no danger from their condition it is a concern for me at this time. This is a nasty virus even for a young otherwise healthy person to experience, but the majority of people – I have read 80% – recover from it. Know that you will recover from this virus. The will to live and survive is both a powerful defence and a weapon against it. Part of what it feeds on is our fear. If you are sick try not to waste your precious energy on resenting or fearing the fact that you are unwell and just accept it so that you can redirect your energy onto recovery and fighting the infection. Spend whatever time you can on imagining yourself in full health again because it is a mental and emotional instruction to your body to fight.

If you are currently physically well and healthy but are one of the billions who are confined to your homes, either alone or with others, please remember that you must not only guard against physical infection during this pandemic but also the effects of isolation and quarantine on your mental and emotional body. Loneliness has been shown to have a biological effect which weakens your constitution, but loneliness is not alone in this. In truth there are all kinds of mental and emotional conditions which we must guard against in order to stay truly healthy. If you have a daily meditation practice it is currently more important than ever. If you don’t, now would be a good time to start. Additionally make sure you have something to do with your time that is meaningful to you. Try not to let your days become empty. Lastly, while observing the limitation of social distancing, do not underestimate the healing power of community. Learn to give the gift of your full attention to others again in your wireless communications. Reach out from a distance to those who may be feeling more alone or vulnerable than you are. One of the easiest ways to dispel feelings of loneliness and the sense that your day is without meaning is to do something for someone else, and this magic works on them even more. Any reminder of our common humanity in this time is helpful to everyone. It is not the time to assign any blame or to compare one against the other, instead it is a time for compassion and unity. It is my personal view that this nightmare also offers us an opportunity to rewrite the rulebook as I have said, and we should not let that just happen to us, so it is time to communicate together over what the new rules or the emergent new society should be. I repeat that ignoring these questions and hoping to just go back to the way things were, is, in my view, a deeply foolish thing to do that will have even more dire consequences within a short period of time.

Okay with that out of the way if, as any observant astrologer will tell you, it was easy to forecast that something serious and dire would be transpiring at this time (a Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto conjunction in Capricorn was our biggest red alert), then what can astrology say about it now and in the future? This question is magnitudes more complex and difficult to answer. Astrology makes it laughably easy for astrologers to forecast that something global and breathtaking is going to occur as well as when it will emerge and it also makes it somewhat easy to describe its approximate shape and nature, but it makes it much harder to pinpoint exactly what form it will take, where in the world it will apply or how it will impact individual lives. In essence the focus of the camera is blurred to the details – like weather forecasters we can tell with surety that the big swirling shape over there is a giant hurricane, but we can’t tell you exactly where it will hit the coast or where the first drop of rain will fall in an oncoming storm. Some mysteries just protect themselves.

On the question of events which take place and unfold over a period of time, in other words in answering questions like “how long will this last?”, astrology as a tool is somewhere in the middle of making it neither easy nor difficult, just tricky. Part of what makes this tricky is that the things that happen can have consequences that far outlast the actual events, and these shadows can also be part of the ‘many years’ that some patterns indicate. Another thing that makes this question tricky is that in order to answer it the astrologer has to solve a puzzle. The key way in which astrologers answer this kind of question is by identifying the planet or configuration which is symbolic of what is happening and then determining when that influence will abate. A disruption in trade which has its root in a Mercury retrograde and nothing much else going on in the sky at the time will probably end in a few weeks, but one which seems to be connected to an alignment between the slower moving planets like Neptune or Pluto can go on and on for months or even years in some cases. Sometimes it is just planets moving into new signs which initiate things which then unfold for a number of years while that slow-moving planet remains in that sign, but most of the time the things which happen to us on a global scale have their expression in aspects formed between the slowest moving planets, and more often a clustering of them in a short time span. In some cases these patterns can dissolve after only some weeks or a couple of months. In others they will last longer and even reform after discontinuing, possibly more than once (because of retrogradations). This is the kind of pattern we would expect in a pandemic with multiple waves, for example. All patterns ultimately pass, however, just like all things.

In Western astrology these assessments are often called predictions but I prefer forecasts because it puts them in the same bracket as economic or weather forecasts – they are assessments of probabilities, calculations based on solid data and a lot of not so solid interpretation. In short these things are not destined to happen, they are simply likely or reasonable to expect. As I have said many times in my writing, the raw astrological potential is shaped by our intention and our actions as well as by what is necessary or consequential. You behave or respond in a certain way, you reap a certain result. The choices we make now will determine the form that these patterns ultimately lead to. The form the patterns are taking now arise from our previous choices, individual and collective.

In this months message I want to concentrate on the question of identifying the astrological influences which seem to me to be symbolic of this pandemic along with some thoughts on its teaching and meaning. Because the answer to this question is far more complicated than a Saturn/Pluto conjunction, this will be enough information to present for now but I will be making further posts on this topic in the future, probably next month depending on my research and events in our world. In this message I will set out the findings of the research I have been doing, leading into deeper and deeper layers of the astrology behind this pandemic and outlining some of the things and people that are likely to be directly impacted by this crisis as well as offering you a forecast of the path ahead, in both the short term and the long.

Neptune and Mars: Outbreak

We will start with the major background influence. Neptune has been drifting slowly through Pisces for almost a decade now and has about 4 or 5 more years before it reaches Aries for the first time. As modern astrology has held for decades now, Neptune in Pisces carries with it the danger of global pandemics – Neptune is the invisible in all its manifestations, and Pisces resonates with that too (Virgo is tiny microbes and its polarity Pisces is intangible things). Neptune is not only viral (not exclusively, but it is a strong signification) but also any kind of mysterious illness or ailment, and Pisces is connected with transferable infections and things which transmit through water droplets. For these reasons many modern astrologers have been expecting a pandemic in the period between 2011 and 2025.

Covid-19 is that pandemic. It is this generations version (in terms of experience, not virology) of the more individually dangerous 2003/4 SARS coronavirus which infected 29 countries and 8,000 people. About 800 of them died. Those of you who were witnesses may remember that China and Hong Kong were completely at its mercy. Toronto was also at the centre of a serious outbreak, but nothing like today. At that time Neptune was in Aquarius. The SARS outbreak subsided and since 2004 there have been no new cases but it was never considered eliminated, instead it was assumed to exist in an animal reservoir from which it could conceivably re-emerge. In December of 2017 researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China, published their discovery of a remote cave of bats in Yunnan province where they found a strain of coronavirus with all the genetic building blocks of SARS. Appropriate lessons were not learned from this time, which brings us to todays far more consequential pandemic.

At the beginning of this year, as China and the rest of the world were beginning to wake up to the existence of this outbreak, Mars entered Sagittarius and began approaching a square to Neptune in Pisces. This square symbolised the news of the rapid growth of the pandemic across international borders throughout January, as Mars did not reach the exact square until the end of the month. Once it reached the exact square Italy was declaring a national emergency and the WHO was categorizing the outbreak as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. This aspect therefore symbolises the rapid spread of the virus and the escalation of paranoia, panic and emergency actions as people began to wake up to the hidden threat.

Additionally, Mercury has been in Pisces since January at this stage, taking a long retrograde tour of the sign. Pisces is a sign that confuses Mercury and clouds clear analysis and thinking. An aggravating issue here has been the co-presence of Neptune which further undermines the sharpness and clarity that Mercury needs. The result of this is an uncertain, confused, chaotic assessment of the situation that could even be described as delusional. We have heard stories of people drinking bleach, avoiding Chinese food, gathering on beaches in rebellious parties, drinking lots of water and claiming that a sauna will kill the virus, among others, and there have been often dangerous claims that this or that will be an effective treatment or that a vaccine is ready or will be very soon, even that the outbreak will miraculously disappear. Critical emails about ventilators were lost in spam folders, tests and other vital products were in short supply and the shipping and travel industry ground to a halt or an extreme crawl (remember also that in the beginning the outbreak involved cruise ships). While Mercury was retrograde the WHO dithered, only declaring a pandemic when Mercury stationed direct on March 9th, effectively ending uncertainty over the seriousness. None of this has been helpful and Mercury will remain in Pisces until April 10th, making a final conjunction with Neptune on April 3rd. It seems we are not out of this ‘wet, fuzzy thinking’ period until mid April, and the first half of April will likely contain further confusion, misinformed opinion and possibly even intentional deception or spin. Once Mercury enters Aries our heads will clear of a lot of this nonsense and thinking will hopefully become drier, crisper and more directly focused on actionable advice. However, Mercury has another powerful partner to dance with in Aries, an extremely important matter which I will come to.

Saturn/Pluto: The Existential Threat

At the same time as all of the above the world experienced the conjunction between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. This was the core of the super-villain team up that is the heart of this emergency – the Doctor Doom/Thanos duet, if you like. Saturn/Pluto conjunctions occur once every 35 to 40 years, but what made this one special was that Saturn was in a sign of its rulership and was joined by Jupiter in Capricorn, a sign that is his Fall (a place where he has weak essential dignity) and also the South Node or Dragons Tail (which in mundane astrology tends to stir up bad situations into worse ones). This is an important part of what made the conjunction worse, as Jupiter was unable to provide a silver lining. The symbolism here is of the people and institutions that could provide assistance being unable to do so – essentially, the medical and health care system, industry and the financial institutions – businesses and stocks began a breathtaking decline as cessations in Chinese productivity and pandemic fears closed in on the markets. Thor, the potential hero on the scene, to continue the metaphor, was totally outgunned by Mars, Saturn, Pluto and their backup. In many ways the Fall of Jupiter is a problem of globalization, the placing of all eggs in one collective basket.

Backing up a bit it is important to understand this Saturn-Pluto conjunction in the context of the Saturn-Pluto cycle. Prior to this there was the Saturn-Pluto square of 2009 (Saturn in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn) during which global economic activity was crippled after massive financial bailouts of the banks were made. However this was also the time of the so-called swine flu or H1N1 epidemic. Prior to this there was the Saturn–Pluto opposition of 2001/2 (Saturn in Gemini, Pluto in Sagittarius), the time of the 9-11 attacks which changed the landscape of our lives and also the dot.com financial crisis. Yet, again, this was also the time of the outbreak of ‘foot and mouth’ disease in the UK and the beginning of the SARS virus outbreak mentioned previously. The previous square to this opposition was in 1993 just prior to an epidemic of bubonic plague and pneumonia in India (thankfully quashed) but following the break up of the Soviet Union, while the previous conjunction to the current one was in Libra in 1982 and came to symbolize the outbreak of the HIV epidemic which changed sexual practices forever (it is perhaps hard to believe but going to get tested for STDs was much more shameful before then than it is now). So there can really be no question now that hard Saturn and Pluto interactions like this one are connected with outbreaks of life-threatening diseases that bring threat escalated changes to society. On January 11th 2020, that overdue threat came due with the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto at 22° of Capricorn. On this day the Chinese government announced the first death and a couple of days later the Covid-19 genetic information was published and the first death outside of China occurred in Thailand.

This means that the Saturn/Pluto conjunction is connected to the potential death toll. There is cheering news here as this will be the only exact conjunction that they make out of a potential 3 – although Saturn is now in Aquarius (more on this below) it will retrograde back into Capricorn on July 1st and creep back to within 3° of Pluto before stationing direct on September 28th and then moving into Aquarius full time just before Christmas this year. The end of September seems to be critical because by the end of September Mars will also be in late Aries in a square with Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. The fact that Saturn does not retrograde all the way back to Pluto for a second conjunction and then a third after turning direct is definitely a reason to feel a little relief. It seems likely that the threat will return in September/October but it will not reach the same intensity (perhaps because of preparedness). However, this news does not mean that the death toll will be small – I think it will actually be very grim – but it seems it wont be as bad as it could be, as serious as all the worst projections.

In fact the Capricorn sign suggests that instead the coronavirus event is simply a precursor to a more destructive financial and political event that will take years and indeed lives to bite through. As regular readers of this journal will know, the first 5 years of this decade have been repeatedly forecast as bringing about the potential for economic Depression and the rise of dictatorships, along with the rapid decline of US hegemony and potentially also the other superpowers. Whatever the outcome of this crisis, nobody in the world is currently looking to Washington for a solution. Election season is looming and questions remain as to whether or not it can take place. Beneath the sudden storm of the pandemic, all the divisions and ruptures in US society remain. The same applies in the UK over Brexit and other situations in the world. The pandemic has just poured accelerant all over these fires, but our attention is currently occupied with dealing with the outbreak. It will eventually return to these issues, and there are likely to be consequences for China.

Saturn is, however, now out of Capricorn and in Aquarius. This takes him temporarily out of the team up in Capricorn but it leads us into new potential problems. The Pluto in Leo people with us are clearly among the most vulnerable over the next two to three year period. Social care of the elderly is more important than ever. Frugality and social distancing have immediately become the new rules, so large gatherings and wastefulness are out. People are using the internet more heavily than ever before. The internet itself is having its first Saturn return, a coming of age. All of this raises a certain concern in the mind of the astrologer – are we about to break the internet? Measures have already been taken to account for the massive demand, but what if this goes on? Whether there are partial or complete collapses, restrictions are placed on our usage or there are no such problems, it seems that in the short term we will all have to be more responsible with our use of time online, and take care that we do not spread ‘bad vibes’ or ‘fake news’. For the next 2 to 3 years we can expect massive investment in and buildup of the structure of the internet, probably involving VR and definitely involving 5G as well as other developments like robotic labour forces, as this pandemic will be used as a justification for robust and powerful changes to the WWW. It has finally arrived in its adult form, and we are now set to see that growth over the coming years. There are also likely to be many new laws regarding the web, further establishment of the internet as an inescapable reality of our lives, and a justifiable increase in fears over surveillance. Prototype quantum computers may arrive. We should in my view push for our privacy to be protected by law and through technology in any way that we can so that the rights of future generations will be protected. Taking the cynical view that the laws will be useless is missing the point Saturn always makes – what matters is not success or failure, what matters is trying. We have Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius squares with Uranus in Taurus to face over 2021-22, and given the financial dark clouds this may also mean a transition to electronic currencies (especially if reports surface that the virus was transmitted via cash). The battle lines over control of a new economic and technological reality seem about to be drawn.

Aside from this Saturn in Aquarius can bring about important scientific and technological developments of all kinds, a potential leap in the trans-human direction, and with all the focused activity on developing vaccines it seems likely that some unintentional discoveries will take place in the medical sciences. Perhaps we will soon discover some of us are immune to this virus. We may be about to understand something new and important about how our world works, something that has a typical Aquarian twist, surprise or innovation to it. Scientific rules in general are due for a major overhaul and revision in this period. Saturn in Aquarius may also herald more determined efforts to spread humanity into space as a consequence of this pandemic. In amongst all of this astrology itself may mature in some way. At the very least, all of the above should help make it clear that Saturn is still in a rulership position in Aquarius and is in no way deposed by Uranus.

In the coming year, Saturn will retrograde back into Capricorn on July 1st, move all the way back to within 3° of Pluto before stationing direct on September 28th, and then leave Capricorn for Aquarius on December 17th. This means that as far as the trouble in Capricorn is concerned, things are already better but that around the beginning of July of this year they will start to look bad again. The fear that is abroad and about us now will make a threat of return, either because the pandemic threat is actually returning or because of the consequences of the current situation, for example we could be looking at a time of severe economic turmoil beginning in that month. Whatever the manifestation turns out to be it is set to continue to worsen until it reaches a peak in September/October. This may well indicate a further shutdown. However, slowly but surely, after October the situation will decrease in threat, but then as I have said in 2021 and 2022 we have to contend with Saturn square Uranus, and so the difficult times stretch on in typical Saturn fashion. This crisis is an endurance marathon, not a sprint.

As far as the next month (April 2020) is concerned we have a very difficult period in the first half during which Mars exits Capricorn and joins with Saturn in Aquarius while both of them are in a square with Uranus, all under a Libra Full Moon. There will probably be some bad news and some freaking out in this period. This is very likely connected to the situation in the United States and the UK where the spread of the virus has not been properly contained. Additionally in this period we have the muddled problems with Mercury in Pisces conjunct Neptune which I mentioned above. So we need to brace ourselves for a rough couple of weeks ahead. The co-presence of Mars and Saturn in Aquarius continues until the middle of May when Mars enters Pisces, which may well be a mercy in the form of isolation being lifted in many territories. However, we have an extremely long period of Venus in Gemini in play which will not change until August, indicating people are going to get a bad case of cabin fever and suggesting isolation may be a feature of life until mid to late summer. Jupiter in Capricorn will be less besieged in the months ahead as a result of the exit of Mars, but once Saturn re-enters the sign his troubles are really beginning again. His conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn has proved to be timed with massive bailouts and relief packages (the last one was 12 years ago).

We could stop here. We have enough of an idea of the astrological picture. Yet that would be a mistake because there are other powerful factors involved , and one of them we ignore now at our peril. I suggested that astrology itself may change during Saturn in Aquarius, and if I were a betting man my money would be on one candidate.

Image is artists impression from Wikipedia

Our Dramatic Introduction to Eris

Bottom line up front: Eris, a planet probably larger than Pluto and only discovered in 2005, has been in late Aries throughout this crisis forming a square with everything in Capricorn. It’s time to accept that she is a thing. I am not the only astrologer pointing this out right now.

I’ve been writing about the astrology of Eris since 2010. In ‘The 26 Keys’ I explained my position at the time:

“Eris is the one who finally overturned the centuries old apple cart of classical astronomy enough to force its revision and a reclassification of the word ‘planet’. She is acting among us as a restorer of the active and dynamic (as opposed to passive) power of the feminine. As the more recently arrived goddess in the solar system she sees the treatment of the feminine in humanity and she is not going to take it lying down like Venus might (and has, in the view of Eris). She also highlights the discord we are creating in the balance of life on the planet. Eris is an initiator into the deeper feminine mysteries and the re-empowerment of the feminine in all of us, the magic beyond the trite ‘who is the fairest of them all’ syndrome it has been bound by. She introduces discord as a measurement of harmony so that any false harmony is revealed. The truth is, we have to get a little bit crazy and break out of our chronic rut of complacency before we are empowered enough to face the challenges of these do-or-die times. So Eris also signifies strife, she brings about discord such as the economic crises we are facing today, but such strife is merely a struggle to introduce something which is not unsustainable or too ossified and orderly.”

Make no mistake, Eris is terrifying – in her darkest forms she has a destructive nature that delights in our wails of despair, she can be devastatingly destructive like any force of nature, but even more so when she is disrespected or provoked, yet she can spur change and destroy things that are violations of good sense or things that are symbols of hubris and arrogance. She has no patience for excuses, she does not bluff, she gives no second chances, she just escalates. She is a celestial wrecking ball and we must come to terms with her on her own terms. To be blunt, this crisis is a blow to the gut that will be followed up with a knock-out punch if we do not let go of the old order and start to focus on a new one, right now. We may well be facing that sooner than we would like.

Eris will be a big issue in the problems of this September and October as she will be present in Aries to square Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. In addition Mars will be in conjunction with Eris in late Aries, throwing the same squares to Capricorn, and in early October the Moon will join Mars and Eris. This is an extremely tense moment and with events developing so rapidly hour by hour at this point it is very hard to forecast what it signifies. Involvement of a strong Mars in Aries suggests a new threat. It is sobering and humbling as well as horrifying to imagine what would happen were humanity to be suddenly confronted by a new problem this year, such as a volcanic eruption or a major earthquake, or a war. We can all feel our entire civilisation hanging by a thread, vulnerable to all kinds of apocalyptic complications in this time, from the medical to the political and economic, the social and ecological. Eris is really trying to make it clear to us here! We need to wake up! The message is that WE are the discordant notes, not her, and I think Mars is set to help her drive this home come October. Seen from this perspective, Eris is a positive evolutionary force of nature, the inevitable chaos we encounter when we venture far enough out of harmony with the world, a chaos that either removes the problem or forces it onto an entirely new track, for good or ill.

From that point on the latter part of this year leads us out of the current situation very slowly as Jupiter and Saturn move forward into Aquarius and leave Pluto behind, alone in Capricorn. By January 2021 both Jupiter and Saturn are in Aquarius and the new situation involving squares with Uranus in Taurus begins, like a new chapter in the events. It is reasonable to interpret this as meaning that at that time the coronavirus pandemic will have passed, but its consequences will linger and the potential for it to make a return is still there. Saturn in Aquarius (from now until March 2023) could easily signify an endurance test of multiple periods of isolation or social distancing. The big picture with Neptune in Pisces goes on for about another 5 years and during that time other pandemics may emerge, as Neptune can be deceptive and illusory. This crisis may well pass only for us to have to literally rinse and repeat at a later date. Our strategies need to take this into account. And of course, just because Neptune moves into a different sign it does not remove the threat of pandemics, it is more that it describes a general mutation or shift in the viruses. And then, of course, there is Eris and Pluto, who are going to remain in a square until Pluto enters Aquarius in 2023/4. This means that the late degrees of the Cardinal/Active signs are challenged by the Pluto/Eris square for the next 3-4 years. The key strategy with this is to accept the need for radical transformation and even disruption in order to embrace a new order of being, probably without even knowing what that new order of being even looks like. Old rules are being irrevocably shredded in the late degrees of these signs, so it is a place of renewal for anyone brave enough.

It is worth taking a moment here to run these degrees through some significant charts to show how they are each affected:

• The New York Stock Exchange and the 1801 UK Act of Union have Eris in the latter part of Capricorn.
• The Euro and the Australian Dollar have Venus in the latter part of Capricorn.
• The Japanese yen has the Moon rising in the latter part of Capricorn.
• The USA has Pluto in the latter part of Capricorn (it is having its Pluto return) as well as Chiron in the latter part of Aries.
• Saudi Arabia has its Sun, Jupiter and Saturn all rising on the ascendant in the latter part of Capricorn.
• Russia has a chart which is relatively untouched but Saturn conjunct Pluto is on the cusp of the 6th temple, signifying national health-care and the medical workers being directly and seriously hit.
• Italy has Venus and Saturn in latter parts of Cancer and Jupiter in the latter parts of Libra.
• Donald Trump has Venus and Saturn in the latter part of Cancer.
• Vladimir Putin has Mercury, Saturn and Neptune in the latter parts of Libra.
• Boris Johnson has a Moon in early Scorpio in out of sign squares with Saturn/Pluto and an out of sign opposition with Eris.

In the long run there is also a ticking clock, as by 2048 (when the children being born under the astrology of this crisis are having their first Saturn returns) Eris will enter Taurus, and at that point history strongly suggests that we will no longer have a choice, as I wrote in 2011:

“It has been noted by many astrologers that the 80-100 years of Eris in Taurus has a pattern involving the collapse or destruction of long established civilizations – first with the ending of ancient Egyptian culture under Cleopatra with the arrival of the Romans (the decades prior to and surrounding the switch from BC to 1CE), then with the fall of Western Rome itself (late 5th century through to early 6th), then with the final collapse of the Maya and the beginning of the decline of the Byzantine Empire (late 10th century), followed by the annihilation of the Aztec and other aboriginal cultures and the Fall of Constantinople in the 1500s. Given this pattern and the problems our civilisation faces in the 22nd century, the signs from Eris are that it will at least go into decline and that we must all prepare ourselves and our children for exceptionally difficult times. These times, while carrying notes of great strife, discord and an intercession of the scheduled programme, all serve a purpose, as the history of the pattern shows”.

By engaging now in a conscious co-operation with Eris we can create a new world rather than be eventually forced to rebuild everything.

There is one more layer of the astrology surrounding this pandemic that I would like to draw your attention to, the stars in parans with the outer planets, because not only is this a very powerful part of the picture but they also help us to see why certain territories have been hit longer and harder than others.

A Rising Tide

If you don’t know what parans are they are relationships that can exist between planets (or planets and other objects in the sky) that bind them together. There are four sensitive places in the sky wherever you are on the surface of the Earth – the horizon in the East where objects rise and the horizon in the West where they set, the point above in the sky where they reach the point where they as high as the Sun climbs that day and the opposite point below the Earth where they reach the point that the Sun is when it is at its lowest. When any two objects occupy any of these places at the same time, they are in a paran. This usually lasts only a few minutes, but it characterizes events in that location for each day that it continues to occur, a length of time that is determined by the speed of the faster of the two objects in paran. The Moon for example has parans that last only a single day while Pluto lasts months, however a Moon/Pluto paran will still only last a day. However, fast moving objects like the Moon can quickly reform parans just by moving on two or three signs of the zodiac. In this way, Moon/Pluto parans appear for a day and then reappear a few days later, just slightly differently because the Moon has moved to a new phase and sign.

Parans are ideally suited to working with stars, most of which live off of the ecliptic and so do not really form aspects with planets. By looking at the parans of slow moving planets with the stars in the sky we can see influences which symbolize mundane events. Additionally, we can see clues which indicate where on the planet those events will accrue or manifest. Paran lines always manifest as horizontal rings which circle the globe like the equator, but they gradually move north and south of the equator like oscillating rings between it and the poles. They always come in two pairs of two, two rings which are north of the equator and two rings which are south of the equator. As time passes these two pairs of rings either

A) Move gradually further away from the equator, kind of floating back and forth until they expire as the planet moves away from being in paran with the star or the paran rings reach the poles, at which point they collapse

or

B) Do the opposite, starting near the poles and moving towards the equator.

Visually, then, parans are like dual tides floating in the northern and southern hemispheres. Take a look at this image of the globe, which shows the paran lines for a paran between Pluto and Vindemiatrix (of Virgo) on November 1st 2020:

Notice the position of the yellow rings, this is the paran between Pluto and Vindemiatrix. Notice that it manifests on both sides of the equator in a pair of rings. Notice also that each ring extends directly east and west around the globe. Now compare it to the image below which shows the same paran on April 1, 2020:

Notice that both sets of rings have distanced themselves from the equator, one set going north and another going south. They move like a bobbing level of water, rising and then sinking back but always gradually moving towards the poles. Take a look at the same paran in Dec 2024:

This is just before the outermost rings reach the poles and are nullified. The lowermost rings will follow some time later.

The Light of Vindemiatrix (its astra-mental resonance) expresses the principle of sympathy and antipathy, the flow of attraction and repulsion. It has a power that can both pull things in closer towards and push them farther away from each other. It can both introduce spaces (quarantine) and close them off (borders) at the same time. It teaches us to be sympathetic to one another and other things and also to develop antipathy towards unpleasant and unhealthy ways. The Pluto/Vindemiatrix paran has the qualities of a vortex of energy which sweeps things up into it like a tornado. It is symbolic of major disruptions and natural forces which we cannot control. Because Vindemiatrix is a Virgo star this affects the medical world and behaviour regarding hygiene. Vindemiatrix also means ‘grape gatherer’ indicating it is connected to social gathering and celebration as well as harvesting food.

When we look at the same paran line – Pluto/Vindemiatrix – at the start of this month (March) but instead of looking at it on a globe we look at it on a rectangular world map we begin to see the relevance of what I said about where things manifest (all images on this site enlarge with a mouse click):

You can see that in the more populous northern hemisphere the upper paran line is now passing through Italy, Spain, New York and Chicago. Japan, Greece and southern Europe are also being covered. It is also just north of San Francisco and Iran, which it passed through in February. Mexico and Cuba, Florida, Saudi Arabia, India and northern Africa are bisected by the lower paran of the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa are bisected.

As the month moved on, this paran continued moving towards the poles in both directions. It continues to move towards the poles and the paran does not cease to exist entirely until the late 2030s. The two lines closest to the poles fade out in 2024. Throughout the period 2025 – 2035 the lower paran is still present throughout northern Europe, the UK, Russia and Canada. It is extremely long lived and its long shelf life means that we are dealing with its consequences somewhere in the world for the next 20 years. Its power will ebb and wane, rise and fall, throughout that period. Note that this paran is not necessarily symbolic of the actual coronavirus but instead the presence of ‘out of control’ tornado like situations of some kind. But this paran line is worrying for the current pandemic situation in New York because it is an indication that NYC was being infected at about the same time as Italy was.

Uranus has also been in paran with Hamal, the head of Aries, while Neptune has been in paran with El Nath, one of the long, sharp horns of Taurus. This has lent the situation a thrusting momentum and a puncturing, piercing quality – it is something we have to get out of the way of, like a charge from both of these animals at the same time. Both Hamal and El Nath are connected with the Fluids, Hamal with enlivening them and El Nath with balancing the active and passive forces through the Air Element. It often manifests as acts of nature. Neither paran helps with calming the situation as Uranus/Hamal creates major disruptions, it is pushing, forcing, leaving no choice but the hard and challenging path, honing independence and self sufficiency, crises which call for bravery and collective action on multiple fronts, while Neptune/El Nath brings a sense of hopelessness, loss of control and sacrifice in the face of acts of nature. Eris has also been in paran with Vindemiatrix and El Nath, amplifying the threat.

SUMMARY

The astrological picture is complex but the core is a Mars/Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto stellium in late Capricorn, square to Eris in late Aries. The first half of April heralds bad news and some rash actions, and most places will not be emerging until May at the earliest. Yet starting in July the fearful clouds are gathering again, leading to a new peak of bad news in September/October. After this, the current situation gradually changes into a different one that challenges us throughout 2021 and into 2022. Overall it looks like there is a brief respite from the crisis but either a return to isolation, hard consequences from the period we are in now or a new threat emerging in October. After this there is some kind of battle over what the new rules should be and a period of ‘on again off again’ while Saturn is in Aquarius.

I will be 50 years of age this year. Looking back, it is clear to my mind that this is the most tumultuous time I have witnessed so far. My heart on the other hand tells me there is much more to come. Looking within me, I perceive within my soul two distinct groups of feeling as I reflect on this, one is anxious concern, love and empathy for other human beings in this collective trial, for those helping others and those needing their help, the other is an immense relief for everything that is not part of the human collective, the rivers, clouds, trees and animals, etc. In perceiving these two very different states present in my soul at the same time, I also perceive that there is a way to reconcile them by bringing that sense of relief to the human world. Ultimately, it is not only possible to bring relief to the human collective temporarily in this way but also permanently. So it truly is a crossroads between light and dark this equinox. We are presented with a golden opportunity to change direction. If we do so, we will evaluate this time very differently in the decades and centuries to come.

I truly love you all. I send my love out to surround and protect you, and through this screen it reaches your mind from mine. Together, but apart, we grow stronger. Please remember that staying healthy is more than just being responsible with your physical body. It is also about nurturing your emotional and mental well being, which means thinking positive thoughts and not letting fear get the upper hand in your heart. Be good to one another, and just as good to yourselves. Exercise your power – whether you believe it or not, you have it in a vast supply. Bring it home, send it out into the world where it is most needed, and instruct it to lead us all out of the darkness.

We are in the crucible of transformation, let us push life towards a saner reality for all life.

The Keeper of the Waters: II

Greetings and welcome back to Journeys! This month I bring you the conclusion of my long message about the planet Neptune. We will discuss the astrological history of the new planet, the chart for its discovery and its significance for individuals and the world.

Arising Worlds II

Greetings and welcome back to Journeys! This month I give you part 2 of Arising Worlds in which we look at Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto on the ascendant. As was noted by a reader in the comments last month information on rising planets can be extrapolated to the characteristics of rising signs, so that Jupiter rising has quite a bit in common with both Sagittarius and Pisces rising, which are its two signs, and so on. 

Looms of Time: Saturn in Capricorn

Hello, and welcome back to Journeys! After my short vacation last month I’m back to share with you some thoughts about Saturn in Capricorn, which recently dawned upon us again, and so this message is not just relevant for people born with this placement but for life in general for all of us until the end of 2020.

Blossoms in the Dust: Saturn in Leo

Greetings, and welcome back once again to journeys! My first offering for 2017 is an article on Saturn in Leo.

Activations of 2017 (part 2)

Warm greetings, and welcome back to part 2 of our look into 2017. This time we look at Chiron, Saturn and Jupiter over the course of the next year.

Activations of 2017 (part 1)

Greetings, and welcome back to Journeys.

The Lorekeepers: Saturn in Cancer

Hello, and welcome back to  journeys. 🙂 This will be my only post this month, as I have unfortunately injured my hand – this writing was finished before my injuries. Since my hand will need several weeks to recover, I will only be posting once per month during this time.