26 Jul 2007

Cats are Solar, Dogs are Lunar

If you’re a cat lover, you’ll know that they can be fascinating, snooty and independent, all over you one minute and ignoring you the next. Any relationship will be largely on their terms; they can take us or leave us, living quite happily without our company for a lot of the time, yet we cat lovers always come back for more!


Cats live in a solar way with life revolving around them like it does with the Sun. They bask in it. They love its warmth and display “big pussycat” behaviour when relaxed and at ease. They’re a bit like people with the Sun in Leo, who like to be in the spotlight, have lots of friends (because they have warm and generous hearts), but because Leo is one of the Fixed Zodiac Signs, they are equally capable of digging their heels in and doing their own thing, regardless of what anyone wants. Leo is ruled by the Sun, which represents our sense of self, creativity, individuality, the mind, the ability to choose and make decisions, and the use of the will.

Photos of Cats and Worn Lions by Maylis Curie
Dogs, on the other hand, are lunar. With qualities such as feelings and emotions associated with the Moon, dogs need contact and don’t do well if left alone. They are pack animals and offer faithful friendship, and (probably without realising it) provide emotional support just by being there for their owners. Whereas cats don’t often splurge their feelings about very much, (although one of my cats used to growl menacingly and lash her tail when the dustbin lorry was in the vicinity), dogs will leave us in little doubt about how they feel: “Bark yap yap woof ” + wag = “yes I do want a walk”!

The Sun is the ruling planet of Leo. We can develop solar qualities of self-consciousness for ourselves, regardless of what Sign our Sun is in. Louise Huber says in her book Reflections and Meditations on the Signs of the Zodiac that “real self-consciousness shows itself when a person becomes conscious of his/her inner power, of his own creative potential…..”

Let’s aim high and go for the higher levels of how you might go about this: you can do it by developing your heart centre, and by consciously developing the sensitivity of your heart which will open it up to expressing real love.

The seed thought for Leo, which you could also meditate on, is

“I am That and That am I”.


Leo rules the heart and the heart is about love, acknowledgement and true acceptance of the other and of all humankind.
The world needs this - let your Sun shine!

20 Jul 2007

Roger Federer's Detective Aspect Pattern


Editorial comment, January 2018: I wrote this post back in 2007, and the amazing thing is that Federer is still going strong in 2018. He's just won the Australian Open at the age of 36, quite an age for a tennis player to be on top if his game and still be winning on the international circuit.
 
Tennis player Roger Federer strolled out on to Centre Court earlier this month for the Wimbledon Men’s Final wearing white blazer and flannels. Looking cool, and for all the world as if he’d time-travelled from the 1930’s, he went on to win his 5th Wimbledon title in the presence of the legendary Bjorn Borg, himself 5 times Wimbledon Champion. What makes Federer tick, what is his inner motivation, and how might he be using the Detective aspect figure in his chart?

Federer was born on 8.8.1981, at 08.40 local time in Basle, Switzerland. His chart looks like a hammock, a swingboat, or an upright push chair with hood up. His is an “I” sided chart with Neptune the only planet venturing on to the “You” side. Such an “I” sided emphasis suggests someone who is focussed on their own growth and self-understanding. The direction of the aspect structure is vertical, indicating the urge to stand out, make a mark on the world and be recognised as an individual. The colour ratio of aspects is 2 red, 4 green, 5 blue. Federer’s chart lacks red aspects, but this is compensated to some extent by the 3 pairs of conjunct planets, each having potential talent according to the planets involved. With 4 green aspects, Federer is likely to be sensitively attuned to the surrounding environment.

His chart contains a Detective aspect pattern (a quadrilateral figure with red, green and blue aspects, and in Federer's chart pinned by Venus, Moon, Mars and Sun/Mercury). The Hubers say people with this figure “can discover the smallest clue, insignificant information and slight alterations. . .” Someone with this pattern “sticks to a trail, has a wide-awake character that nearly nothing escapes…with this figure in the horoscope, the person can adapt themselves meticulously to things and eliminate disruptive influences”. With his Mercury conjunct Sun very strongly placed on the 12th cusp and at the apex of the Ear/Eye part of the Detective figure, along with his Virgo Ascendant, and the blue Small talent triangle that is also part of this figure, it begins to sound as if these could be some of the things Federer draws upon in competitive tennis: the ability to focus on the game, absorb all relevant and sometimes minute details on an ongoing basis whilst playing, focus in 100% on the game and the goal of winning, and not be distracted by external factors such as the watching crowds.

I mentioned the position of Mars and the Gauquelin Effect in the charts of sportsmen and women in my posting on Venus Williams earlier this month. Federer’s Mars is not only placed in the fourth quadrant of the chart where this effect is said to be at its greatest, but it is also a part of his Detective figure, and in its strongest possible position, on the cusp of a House.

For more on aspect patterns, see the Huber’s book Aspect Pattern Astrology and my book Aspect Patterns in Colour both available from the APA Book Shop.

16 Jul 2007

Age Point and LifeClock

Venetian Doors by Maylis Curie

Doors. Portals. Gateways. It doesn’t matter which name you use as they all symbolise a threshold which, when crossed, will take us into a new and different physical place or state of mind. Psychologically, doors can represent the threshold between past and future, between what has gone before and what is yet to come. Doorways, what they represent and what might be beyond them, can be exciting, forbidding, intriguing, scary, interesting, fascinating and stimulating.

Janus, the two-headed Roman god whom the month of January is named after, is depicted as a doorkeeper with one head looking back and one forward, the guardian of the first month of the year. In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings.

The on-going movement of the Age Point around the chart constantly offers opportunities for us to open doors to new psychological life phases and ways of being; the journey is progressive and at each stage there is something new to learn and experience about ourselves and the world we inhabit. There are the doors which lead us from one House of the chart to the next, and these are probably rather large and impressive as they mark the end of one psychological life phase and the beginning of the next. Being right on the cusp of a House, these doors can be flung wide open to the world in a big way - we have to go through them so we may as well enjoy the view! Then there are the doors which we pass through as the Age Point changes Sign. Perhaps these doorways are painted the colour of the element of that Sign; if so, a dazzling and vibrant blue door is not far away for me as my Age Point moves towards the Sign of Cancer! Then there are the doors which lead from the Cardinal to the Fixed zone of each House, and from the Fixed to the Mutable zone.

Of course, we must not forget that the doors which open on to the Mutable zone are the doors to the Low Point of each House. These may be less spectacular and impressive. They may appear dowdy or forbidding, perhaps even hidden away from public view, but once opened they can offer a direct route to the central core of the chart and to the connection between self and Higher Self. Louise Huber says that when we are on a Low Point, it is easier to get in touch with the soul’s purpose. These doors may appear less attractive, but there are hidden riches behind them.

Joseph Campbell, the author of many books on mythology said, “When you follow your bliss….doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else”. When I read this, I realised that his words could be related directly to the movement of the Age Point through the metaphorical doors I’ve been speaking about. Of course, these doors are uniquely your doors and uniquely my doors - they are experienced differently for every one of us. And if we follow our bliss we must do so willingly, knowing that whatever life phase we are travelling through is transient….and that at its end there will always be another door, leading us to a new beginning.



This article, together with the picture of the doors, appears on the front cover
of the July issue of “Conjunction”, the API (UK) magazine which focusses on Age Progression and aspect patterns.

Copies of “Conjunction” are available from the APA on-line Book Shop.


You can sample "Conjunction" on-line at the APA website.

13 Jul 2007

Superstitious?

It's Friday 13th, a day and date thought unlucky by some. Today I've been out in the rain (yes - it's still raining hard in my neck of the UK woods!) and have taken to the roads by car to accompany someone on a hospital appointment. All went smoothly.

I arrived at the hospital in time for a leisurely cup of coffee in the friendly and well-run snack bar (a tick for the NHS). Even the appointment began at the appointed time. Full marks NHS - Saturn would be proud of you.

I didn't go out with salt in my pocket in case I needed to throw it over my shoulder to keep the devil at bay. I wasn't forced to walk under any ladders in my path. I left the garlic at home as I forgot to take it with me. Good job I didn't meet any vampires. Even Mercury isn't retrograde.

In the light of no unlucky events happening today so far, it's been a pretty good day in spite of the persistent drenching rain. The Sun is shining somewhere - aha! maybe it's mine!

10 Jul 2007

The Family Model in Venus Williams' chart

I wrote this post back in 2007 - and 10 years later in 2017, Venus Williams is still winning tennis tournaments on the world stage - she recently won the Wimbledon Championship.
 
Venus Williams won her fourth Wimbledon title on 7th July 2007, grunting and shrieking her way to victory at every smash and volley after a taking a break from the tennis world. What might be seen in her chart that could contribute to her success?

Born on 17.6. 1980 at 14.12 local time in Lynwood, CA, her chart has an intricate tangle of aspects which could resemble the to and fro trajectory of a tennis ball across the court. The aspect pattern that stands out is the red Efficiency Triangle formed by Sun/Venus opposite Neptune, with Saturn/Mars at its apex and outlet point. All planets involved in this aspect pattern are either on or near a Balance Point, or are in the Cardinal zone of the House, and this pattern itself is concerned with activity, production and success.

Her parents have been instrumental in coaching and encouraging both Venus and sister Serena in their tennis - sometimes against all odds and in the face of racial prejudice and opposition - so it's worth taking a look at her Family Model. Sun, representing the fathering principle, is conjunct Venus; Saturn representing the mothering principle, is conjunct Mars. Might this suggest that she experienced interchangeable role reversal in her parents? Each could stand in for the other and both could be equally paternal or protective when this was called for. Her Moon, representing Venus the child, is in the 11th House, sandwiched between Jupiter and the North Node. This suggests the ability to take risks, to perceive, experience life and learn from it....and as Jupiter is in Virgo, the next Sign along from her Leo Moon, perhaps an acute attention to big as well as small details - the use of the eyes, the gaining of knowing and wisdom through experience, which is carefully filed away so that it can be easily accessed.

Her Moon is close in position to Saturn, but only aspects it indirectly. This could indicate a less binding relationship with her mother than the relationship she has with her father. The Moon and Sun directly aspect each other, linked by a blue sextile which could signal a harmonious relationship, but might also hint at adapted behaviour which aims to please.

Venus's Age Point is currently opposite her Moon, with her Nodal Age Point making a quincunx to Jupiter. This is a period of extreme focus and activity on these two planets, and on 11th House in her chart, where selectivity and chosen friends and pursuits reign supreme.

A final thought. The Gauquelin Effect, which looked at the position of Mars in the charts of successful sportsmen and women, says that Mars should fall into the fourth quadrant of the chart, as it does in Venus's. It doesn't do this in her sister Serena's chart, but it does in the chart of Roger Federer, this year's men's Wimbledon Champion, whose chart I shall also be taking a look at this month.

For more on Age Point see the Huber's book LifeClock and my book Using Age Progression. For more on the North Node and the Nodal Age Point, see Moon Node Astrology
by Bruno and Louise Huber, and for more on the Family Model see The Cosmic Egg Timer by myself and Richard Llewellyn. All are available from the APA Book Shop.