Living with the Stars

  I don't know anyone who isn't interested in Ancient Egypt - the pyramids, the Pharoahs, the whole mystery of why they were built. Much has been written and said about them, and most people I know have heard about 'The Orion Mystery' a book written a wee while back by . What compelled me to write a blog post about them was the fact that driving home from work yesterday, was a van whose company name was 'Orion' something. Yes, I do smile when things like this happen.  What Gilbert and Bauvall suggest (well, a bit more strongly than that) is that the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau were built to mirror the stars in the belt of Orion. Not being archeologists in the academic sense, they were not taken seriously, though their work has been followed up. Whatever the case, the stories that the ancient temples continue to give us certainly captures our imaginations.  What we do know is that the ancient Egyptians were certainly besotted by fixed stars. Did they pract...

  This is likely to be a short  blog post. Looking through some of my astro data yesterday I realised that Malta will shortly be celebrating its second Saturn return. Let me explain.  Countries also have birth charts. This is usually set for the time and date a country takes on an identity of sorts, say, like when a when a new king establishes a new beginning for a country. An example of this is when William of Normandy defeated King Harold I of England in 1066, and was crowned on Christmas Day of the same year. This is known as England's 1066 chart. Later on, when Great Britain  and Ireland (Wales was already incorporated into England  ) were united  were united by an act of parliament in 1801 , that became the chart used by most astrologers.   Likewise, although Malta has a few charts which astrologers could work with, for example the 1528 chart (when the Knights took over the islands), and the 1921 chart (Malta's first parliament), most astrolo...

  We have a New Moon in Pisces on the 20th February at 8:05am. Pisces is the 12th sign of the zodiac and is traditionally ruled by Jupiter, its modern ruler being Neptune. Before the discovery of the outer planets, the planet Jupiter was given rulership of the sign of the two fishes (as well as being the ruler of Sagittarius). This is quite an interesting detail; apart from the Sun and the Moon (the two luminaries), each known planet ruled two zodiac signs, though the planets Mercury through to Saturn behaved quite differently in their assigned signs. In this case, Jupiter in Pisces takes on the role of the mystic because Pisces is the sign associated with 'giving up' one's ego. It is no surprise, then, that the sign of the two fishes is associated with early Christianity, for the 'saviour' is someone who sacrifces their ego for the sake of the whole. If you have a planet in Pisces in your natal chart, then that planet behaves quite differently from another water si...

  Good morning, all! We have a Full Moon in the sky occurring at 16 degrees of Leo at 7:28pm this evening. High in the sky we can see Mars, which is currently transiting the sign of Gemini. The real star of the show, however, is Uranus, an outer planet (outside of Saturn). Uranus is currently in the astrological sign of Taurus, where it has been since the 15th of May 2018. This planet takes 84 years to orbit the Sun and where it falls in your birth chart really tells us about generational influences. If it aspects another planet in your chart (Sun, Moon, Mercury to Saturn), then there is a story of how you do things differently.   Uranus was in the same position as today 84 years ago - in 1939. Well, we know what happened in THAT year! This does not mean that we will undergo the same types of events, far from that. What IS interesting is that at 15 degrees, it is aligned with the star Menkar, a star  in the mouth of Cetus the whale, linked with the power of the colle...

  New Moons are excellent for setting intentions. This is all down to the old ways - it's about sowing seeds. My grandmother was an avid gardener, who always told me that seeds are sown during the waxing moon period. This is knowledge that people way back then had - they were in touch with the Earth's rhythms.  Today's New Moon occurs on 1 degree of Aquarius, the sign to do with ideas, ideology and is traditionally ruled over by Saturn the task master. In traditional astrology, Saturn was considered to be the greater malefic (it conferred hardship). Venus is very close to Saturn in the sky and if anyone has this aspect in their natal charts, astrologers would say that the native would be naturally cautious in their approach to relationships. Once friends are made, however, they would last. The Moon is still out-of-bounds, donning something of a wild card vibe to this New Moon picture, which means that it adds extra energy to this chart. Mars, the lesser malefic, is also out...

  Full Moon tonight! If you look to the east, you might be able to see the Moon against the background of the Gemini Twins, with Orion to the right. Astrologically, it is a Full Moon in Cancer (something called 'precession'). The picture on the left is courtesy of Stellarium, a feature of my computer software. For those of us who live in well-lit areas, the above sight is something that we only see if it is computer simulated.  So what sky story is being told here? Well, if we take the story of the Gemini Twins, I think you'll agree with me that the story being played out in the media by the princes William and Harry has captured our attention.  From what I've read, Prince William allegedly called his brother by the name 'Harold' during a 'heated discussion', which made me recall the battle between William of Normandy and King Harold I in 1066, for the throne of England (another Will and Harry event). Interestingly, William Lilly, one of England's gr...

  There are forty-five minutes left to the old year and I thought I'd put fingers to keypad and quickly jot down a few thoughts. This old year has gone out with a trio of departures, that of Pope Benedict, Vivienne Westwood and the legendary Pele'. To be honest, when I heard that the faithful were asked to pray for Pope Ratzinger, I recalled an article written by the astrologer Bernadette Brady regarding the fixed stars in his chart. Brady wrote that his natal Jupiter near his rising sign had the markings of a spiritual leader, and that although he would rise to prominence, the chart indicated that his 'success' would be compromised in some way. She wrote this around the year 2006, years before his resignation.  Well, this prompted me to look at the position of Jupiter in the charts of Vivienne Westwood and also Pele' (that's what astrologers do, they look for patterns in charts). This is not to say that this would in any way indicate any prediction of death - a...