The Blog, the Low Point and the Nodal Age Point

4.3.2006. 16.14 GMT, Knutsford, UK

On 4th March, this blog will be 4 years old. It started life with a dual purpose: to share something of the Huber Method of Astrological Psychology to a wider audience and to keep my astrological interpretation skills oiled and honed. In addition, it offered a discipline and structure (there goes my Saturn talking!) within which I could practise my writing skills.

I started writing it when blogs were very much the in thing; over the past few years they have perhaps become less “flavour of the moment” as Facebook and Twitter have moved to the forefront. However, my blog has proved to be very well read throughout the world, fulfilling my intention of spreading the word about Astrological Psychology and letting readers know where and how they could find out more about this. It’s attracted some new students along the way, some clients for me, and it provides a resource for students of the Astrological Psychology Association and other interested readers as well.

I didn’t elect the time and date to begin the blog; it happened when the time felt right for me. The chart didn’t exactly delight me, as it has no green aspects, but it also has redeeming features, like Sun conjunct Uranus in the 7th house - not bad for an astrological blog! Ah, you might say(especially if you're a student with APA)! having noticed that the Sun is on the Low Point of this house, that’s not so good is it? Well, I’m a great believer in working with what is and facing up to the challenges as they come along. I could have deleted the blog and waited for a more auspicious moment to launch it, but that would have dampened my initial enthusiasm to get it started, so I went with the moment that felt right.

Four years on, 158 blog postings later, and with thousands of hits worldwide, (thank you, thank you all you readers), I know it was the right thing to do. But there is a time for everything and I know it’s time to move on from making the usual regular postings on the blog. I was well aware that the blog's Age Point crossing the Low Point in the 1st house was a probable reason for this; the Low Point is a time to look inward, to connect with different energies and inspirations in order to move forward in new directions.

A look at the blog’s chart also threw some interesting light on the matter. Whilst the natal Age Point is on the Low Point and making an opposition to the Sun, the Age Point in the Moon Node chart is conjunct the Sun/Uranus conjunction in 7th. The nodal Age Point conjunct a planet or planets can be experienced as a nudge and a wake up call to look at, and use, these planets. As I see it, this points - appropriately! - to astrology yet again, but also to a change of mode and method. I shall continue to write, but not so very often for this blog. I need time and space to be creative in other directions and the Low Point right now pulls me towards looking at other ways of doing this. Some possibilities are already taking shape, so watch this space! In the meantime, the blog will stay accessible to all who want to read it, as a means of telling people interested in astrology and astrological psychology about the Astrological Psychology Association, the courses we offer and the way we look at charts, but also as a resource for all who are interested in this amazing 21st century approach to using astrology.

Want to know what Low Points are? And Age Progression? And the Moon Node chart? Read all about it in the books on astrological psychology, available at the APA on-line Book Shop, and also at Amazon. And do watch this space, as I will update as I create, and keep in touch.

Gordon Brown a bully?

Chart for Gordon Brown, born on 20.2.1951 at 08.40 in Giffnock, Scotland

The media are currently full of stories of British PM Gordon Brown being a bully. Here's a question for all you astrologers and budding astrologers out there who read this blog:

Where do you see Gordon Brown the bully in his chart?

Leave your thoughts on this in the comments box - I'd really like to know what you think! And I will reply.

Pluto and the art of reinventing yourself

I spotted this this graffiti on a boarded up entrance in the city of York. The building on the other side of the enclosure looked like an empty warehouse. It was dilapidated, awaiting attention, demolition, destruction, reinvention, regeneration. If and when someone starts using it again it could take on a different form and have a different use. If you look at the bottom left hand corner you'll see there are already suggestions in graffiti of a hotel, and flats.

I photographed these words as they reminded me of how we, when we're undergoing a lot of change and feel the need to reinvent ourselves, or change direction and do something new, are getting a big nudge from Pluto. Responding to the call of Pluto is not for the fainthearted because making changes often means giving things up, things which are a cosy and safe part of our existence, things through which we identify ourselves. This takes courage and demands we engage our will, through using the Sun, the planet associated with the mind, which we use to choose, decide and ultimately to create with.

The potential creativity of choosing to be something else was what drew my attention to these words. They provoked me to wonder what else I could be if I wasn't a professional astrologer, a writer, a teacher of astrological psychology and all the other things I am that I could list here.

Pluto is not always about tough, cataclysmic destruction. It can be about making conscious changes as and when we know the time is right, and more importantly, when we also feel the time is right and has come. So take away this thought-provoking piece of graffiti and ask yourself, "What else could I be?". Choose wisely, too - you may be starting on the next big step in your life.

Astrological Houses 1 & 7

The Astrological Houses are divisions in the birth chart which relate to different areas of the environment around us and are where we express all matters related to this particular area of life. The 1st house begins at the Ascendant, or AC, and is where we develop and nurture our self-image; the 7th house, which is opposite, is where we meet one-on-one with others, encountering them and forming partnerships of various kinds with them.

People with planets in the 1st house may be very self-aware or at least open to learning and knowing more about themselves. They probably won't define themselves through the expectations of others as they already have a strong sense of who they are or of how they would like to become. A focus of planets in the 1st house is shown in this chart.

People with planets in the 7th house may be very outgoing and sociable, not liking to be alone or without others to refer to, as they tend to define themselves and learn about themselves through their interactions with others. This chart shows a focus of planets in the 7th house.

The ideal is to gain some balance between the 1st and 7th houses if we have an excess of planets in one of these two houses. Of course, it's not as simple as that and everyone is different, so a chart session with a qualified astrological consultant who uses astrological psychology will offer help and guidance to anyone who wants to take their understanding and personal development further. Find one by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top of the page. You can see me talking about the 1st and 7th houses here, and about all the other houses on my Astrochat Channel on YouTube.

For more info on the houses, all aspects of astrological psychology and how to learn about this for yourself, visit the Astrological Psychology Association website.

Freddie Mercury's Age Point

I liked The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were OK, but the best band for me has to be Queen, with lead singer Freddie Mercury top of my list of singers with the most amazing voice ever.

Freddie was born on 5.9.1946 on the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania. His birth time is speculative, but is given as 05.10 in "British Entertainers - the astrological profiles" by Frank C. Clifford. Using the Huber Method of Age Progression I've checked out a few key life events, and find there is some validity in this time, so Freddie's chart is set up for this time.

It shows predominantly linear aspects, with only one complete aspect pattern - the red/blue Ambivalence triangle. This suggests an inner drive and motivation that was restless and adaptable. Freddie's family fled Zanzibar when he was 17 to avoid the dangers of the Zanzibar revolution in 1964, and settled in the UK. This event concurs with his Age Point making a quincunx aspect to Uranus when he was 17, Uranus being the sudden change and upheaval created by a revolution, and the move to somewhere foreign and completely different.

Freddie's contribution to British music is outstanding. He joined Queen in 1970, as his Age Point reached the 5th cusp and was conjunct the Moon. He was reputed to be a very private person, which is perhaps indicated in his strongly "I" sided chart with Sun in Virgo; it's only his Moon in Sagittarius which is up for grabs, just into the "You" side of the chart and more visible to the world. But the Moon is opposite Uranus, the highest planet in the chart and maybe it was this combination which allowed him to perform in an often outrageous and very individualistic style.

The Ambivalence triangle is quite a common aspect pattern in charts. The person feels the tension of work in the red opposition aspect, but they can escape into the planets at the blue corner of this pattern for R&R. With Venus and Jupiter here, Freddie may well have indulged in sybaritic activities.

Another Age Point quincunx to Uranus in 1975 coincided with the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, a groundbreaking and innovative song, which Freddie wrote. His imagination, creativity and wide appeal may well be due to his unaspected Neptune - was he able to tap into something less tangible for inspiration? Was this where his - at times almost heavenly - voice came from? Here I think of him singing Barcelona along with Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe, who said of him "the difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice"

Freddie's lifestyle eventually caught up with him and he contracted AIDS, dying of pneumonia at the age of 45 on 24th November 1991, with his Age Point in the 8th House, approaching the Low Point of the whole chart and making aspects to his Sun and Pluto. The world lost a charismatic performer, a creative writer and performer and a voice which as yet, is unsurpassed.

To find out more about The Huber Method of Age Progression see the Huber's book LifeClock, and my book Using Age Progression. You can read more about by clicking the appropriate tabs at the toip of the page. Both are available from the APA on-line Book Shop.