Living with the Stars

  The New Moon in Virgo occurs on Saturday, 27th August at around a quarter past ten in the morning. When the moon is new, it isn't visible, apart from the fact that it occurs during daylight hours.  The Moon changes sign every two and a half days, and will make an aspect to the Sun roughly every 14 days, either as a conjunction (New Moon) or as an opposition (Full Moon). Women's mensis  was called their 'moon time' as, before the days of artificial light, women's cycles would have been more in tune with lunar cycles. Attitudes towards women's mensis vary around the world, depending on the prevailing culture; some saw it as a time when women had to withdraw (read 'The Red Tent', by Anita Diamant) from their community whilst others saw it as a time when women came into their power.  The zodiac sign of Virgo is represented by a maiden holding a sheaf of wheat. Across many cultures, the Virgo maiden is associated with the harvest, including the process of s...

  Good morning, y'all.... there's a full moon out there. This full moon lies at 19 degrees of Aquarius (remember, a full moon is visible because it is opposite the Sun) and is also a supermoon. When the Moon is full and closest to Earth, it appears bigger and brighter. Remember, the Moon does not emit light, but reflects the light of the Sun.  The position of the Moon in a person's birth chart reveals a lot about the emotional make-up of the native (of the chart). Whereas the Sun in the chart tells us about the path of the native to encompass his solar personality, the Moon talks of how the person could possibly respond emotionally to life's situations. Remember, it is not only the zodiac sign the Moon is in, but also its placement in the chart and the aspects other planets or points make to it. Just saying 'Oh, I've got a Leo Moon' simply doesn't cut it. There's much more to it that that, though it does reveal a little bit (Leo Moons children are ma...

  I realised this morning that this blog is actually one year old as of the 5th August 2021! In one year, I've posted a total of 41 articles, the most popular being my  post on the autumnal equinox of 2021. Just as we all have birth charts, so do 'things' and events. One thing astrologers like to do is to get the exact timing of events, for example, when a new government is sworn in, or when a child is born. My blog was born on the 5th August 2021 at 00:37, and its 'birth chart' is very revealing. Writing is usually ascribed to Mercury, as god of communication. According to the blog's birth chart, Mercury was in Leo, at the time, conjunct the Sun, and in the 4th house. Leo is a sign associated with creativity, and the 4th house has to do with the home; put it together, and you'd have the perfect description of expressing one's creative impulses from within the home, or, home would be the perfect environment to exchange ideas and information. Also, both V...

  Before I put pen to paper (metaphorically speaking - because here it's fingertips to keypad), I often wonder what to include in a report or text about a new of full moon. Sometimes, I think it's more fun to include non-related details (though by a large stretch of the imagination, one could possibly link them), after all, not everyone comprehends astrological mumbo jumbo. So here goes.  Today's New Moon in Leo occurs at 5 degrees of Leo. The chart itself reveals that the Moon and Sun occupy the same space of sky - well, not exactly - but they are in line. The exact time is around sunset (which is why they are on the western horizon - see chart). The story the chart is presenting is not only one of a new moon, but also something astrologers are making much of at the moment: Uranus conjunct the North Node, with Mars about to join the party. Uranus is pretty much a generational planet; it was discovered during the time of revolutions in the late 1700s and is associated with ...

  Apologies for this late entry - what I thought was going to be a long, lazy summer has been anything but. Here's my take on things, nevertheless. The Full Moon in Capricorn occurred yesterday evening at approximately 19:37 local time. The Sun is currently transiting the last decan of Cancer and therefore the Moon would be directly opposite at 21 degrees of Capricorn.  Astrology deals with polarities, meaning that opposite signs lie across an axis, for example Leo/Aquarius, Aries/Libra and so forth. The Cancer/Capricorn axis has frequently been called 'The Gateway to the Gods', possibly because they were linked to the solstices. There is a lot of ancient literature concerning this subject which is quite fascinating. The Ancient Egyptians equated the zodiac sign of Cancer with souls descending to Earth because the Sun, at that time of the year, has the longest elevation in the sky, and therefore was seen as being closer to heaven. Conversely, during the winter solstice, dur...

  Welcome to the New Moon in Cancer which occurred early this morning, on a day known to us Maltese as L-Imnarja, or Luminaries. This is essentially a farming tradition which goes back centuries, according to sources. The word 'luminaries' indicates this was a festival of 'lights' of some sort, bonfires and candles would be lit to mark the successful harvest.  Today's New Moon is all about communication, both interpersonal and intrapersonal. The ruler of the chart is Mercury (which rules Gemini) and if you look at the chart, Mercury is just above the eastern horizon, indicating that it has just risen (nine o' clock in the chart). That area is what astrologers mark out as the 12th house, which tells us that Mercury the informer/messenger is working behind the scenes.  The Sun and Moon occupy 7 degrees of Cancer, where the fixed star Mirzam is found. This star lies in Canis Major and carries the energy of an 'announcer', in that it announces the rising of ...

Have you ever wondered why we were taught that summer starts on the 21st of June? Or why the zodiac sign of Cancer begins around that date? Or indeed, the others seasons were assigned the dates they were assigned?  It is all very simple - it all has to do with the movement of the Earth around the Sun.  The summer solstice (as opposed to the winter solstice) occurs when the North Pole has maximum tilt towards the Sun. It is at this point that the sun reaches its highest position in the sky (outside of the tropics) and is also the longest day. Depending on the calendar, the summer solstice occurs between the 20th and the 22nd of June for the Northern Hemisphere (and between the 20th and the 23rd December in the Southern Hemisphere).  This year, the Summer Solstice occurs on the 21st June at 11:13am. This is when the Sun is at 0 degrees Cancer. This zodiac sign is associated with the crab, but in actual fact, it is the scarab which is a more precise representative of this si...