Zodiac Signs: Aries

I wrote this post on International Astrology Day 2010, on the day when the Sun enters Aries on 21st March, crossing the equator and moving into the northern hemisphere. This marks the arrival of Spring in this hemisphere and it is also the Vernal Equinox, when day and night are of equal length.

Aries is the first Zodiac sign. The sign of Aries is associated with the ram

This statue is known as the Moffat Ram, and is in the town of Moffat in the Scottish Borders.

Aries is also associated with new plant life shooting up through the earth, hence the symbol for Aries, which is like the ram's horns, and like the new shoots of a plant.


Here are some more Aries images: Aries carved in stone on the portal of the cathedral of St. Denis in Paris

and Aries and the labours of the month, from Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Look at the top and see the Sun in Aries on the right, leaving Pisces behind on the left. Farmers and land workers are preparing the ground, planting seeds.

 
More on Aries here in this short video on my YouTube channel:

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.