Living with the Stars

  Happy Chinese New Year - today 29th January 2025. The upcoming Chinese Year of the Wood Snake,  symbolises wisdom, intuition, and transformation. People born under this sign are known for their intelligence, grace, and enigmatic nature. This year encourages introspection, strategic thinking, and embracing change, making it a time for personal growth and new opportunities. This New Moon in Aquarius on January 29, 2025, marks a significant astrological event, ushering in the Year of the Snake. This New Moon is a time for new beginnings, innovation, and forward-thinking. Aquarius, known for its association with community, teamwork, and long-term goals, encourages us to embrace change and think outside the box. (The last time we celebrated the Year of the Wood Snake was in 1965. Martin Luther King Jr. and 700 demonstrators were arrested in Selma, Alabama, among other interesting facts. This particular fact is significant when you think that many on the planet are still figh...

  As with every other important event that we see on the news, the astrology of it is always something to ponder. This one is no less interesting - the inauguration of a new president.  POTUS45 becomes POTUS 47 at midday 20th January.... the time will be confirmed tomorrow when it actually happens.  Let's briefly look at the sky story of that given time.  Look, inauguration of US presidents always occurs at the same time of the year. That is a matter of counting all the votes, getting the election certified and a smooth transition time. So as such, astrological charts are always going to have the Sun in relatively the same position every four years. This time, however, there is a Sun/Pluto conjunction - and the last time that happened was in January 1778 (see below). That's when the US became a nation. What this tells us is that the USA will, as Pluto cycles are wont to do, go through a period of transformation. Pluto is about transformation; a prerequisite for trans...

  Welcome to the Cancer Full Moon, occurring on the 13th January at 23:26. Because it happens at night, you should be able to see the Full Moon rising just after sunset, reaching its pinnacle just before midnight. Because it is in its full moon cycle, the Sun will be opposite in Capricorn at 23 degrees.  Before we have a look at the full moon, we must make mention of Mars which is backtracking into the sign of Cancer, and is very close to the Moon. The Moon's Nodes, which are mathematical points (which mark the Moon's path across the Sun's ecliptic), and not actual bodies in space, work 'backwards' and have just 'flipped' from Aries/Libra to Pisces/Virgo. Mars (warrior) rules Aries, and as it was 'walking backwards' from Leo (fire sign), it 'met' Pluto opposite in Aquarius. When these two connect, there is bound to be action (Mars) and death/rebirth (Pluto) of some sort.  According to astro-sources, the fires in Los Angeles began as the Moon...

  On the 30th December 2024, at 23:26, the second New Moon in December marks the end of the calendar year. Although it marks the end of 2024, it also heralds the beginning of the new. And what a year it has been. It's also poignant that we have a new moon very close to the new year. Let's have a look at the story the sky is offering us.  The fascinating thing about this New Moon chart is that almost all the planets and lights (the Sun and Moon are called lights, in spite of the fact that the Moon reflects the Sun's light) aspect each other in some way.  The idea of a new moon is that it is the beginning of a lunar cycle which lasts 29.5 days. That is why we are asked to set our intentions at the new moon, which then reaches its peak at the full moon where we reflect (just as the Moon reflects the Sun's light) on what we have manifested in our lives. This New Moon is not only out-of-bounds (something of a wild card vibe) but is also is ruled over by Saturn -  by virtu...

  On the 21st of December 2024, at 10:20am, the Sun moves into the sign of Capricorn. Over the past three months, ever since the autumnal equinox, Planet Earth's wobble has tilted the northern hemisphere away from the Sun. Tomorrow, the Sun will reach it's maximum declination south of the equator (remember, it's the height of summer in the southern hemisphere) and will start moving towards the equatorial (the equator projected out into space).  So why is this chart is important enough for a blog post to be dedicated to it? This type of chart is called an Ingress Chart and is used in mundane astrology, which charts the progress of a place (in this case it is set for Malta) at the moment the Sun enters the sign associated with a solstice or an equinox. In short, the affairs of a nation can be judged by this type of chart and is one of the most ancient types of judged charts in astrology. The planets signify specific things; the Sun, the ruler of a nation; the Moon, its people...

  This Sunday, the 15th December, we will be seeing a big, bright moon in the sky. On the eve of that day, the Moon will be setting in the west, and as the Sun sets, it will be rising in the east. The Moon will be at 23 degrees of Gemini (whilst the Sun is at 23 Sagittarius). But before we get into the Full Moon chart, there are a couple of interesting things that caught our attention last week and the story the sky offered was in no way uninteresting. So I'll start with that first.  Story 1 : The Re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. When heads of state get together under one roof, you just have to sit up and take notice. What's going on? What's the symbolism?  Consecration of Notre Dame Altar 19/5/1182 The history of Notre Dame Cathedral goes back to the 12th century when the altar was consecrated on the 19th May 1182. The cathedral, according to historians, was built on the site of a temple to Jupiter. I mention this because this is a significant detail as w...