Prince Charles gets a glimpse of his future

On Tuesday 10th May 2022 Prince Charles stood in for the Queen at the state opening of Parliament and read, on her behalf, the overview of what the government plans to achieve in the forthcoming parliamentary session. It's an occasion filled with traditional ceremonial pomp, headed by the Queen who, for the last few years, had not worn the crown or her regal robes and has opted for the comfort of a nice matching coat, dress and hat ensemble. 

This time, however it was a bit different. At 96, she's having mobility issues and has recently cancelled several public engagements. It seems cruel and unrealistic to expect an elderly lady who has devoted her life to her role, designated by birth, to turn out and be undertaking such stiff and formal public engagements when she'd probably be happier in her slippers at home. This time Charles did the job for the first time, accompanied by son and heir Wills. It looked a rather sombre event, with wife Camilla wearing black and Charles and Will in very formal attire. When they filed into the House of Lords, looking very serious, they could have been going to a funeral. Perhaps, in a way, they were.

As the crown was placed in front of the empty throne, usually taken by the Queen, Charles looked intently at the crown, his face deeply serious as I suspect he contemplated what his future will be as king. To me, it looked like a real, tangible moment of recognition.

How does this relate to Charles' chart and his Age  Progression - where he is on his life journey and what psychological life stage he is at? A few thoughts on this:

Charles is 73; he'll be 74 in November. In terms of his LifeClock (click to see details of the Huber's book of the same name) his Age Point crossed over his Leo Ascendant at age 72 and is now travelling through the 1st house for the second time. This is often, for people in their 70s, a kind of second childhood when there is more time to do the things they've not had time to do when working, a time for relaxation, pursuing new interests, enjoying grandchildren etc. and not a time to be embarking on a new career or a lifestyle laden with responsibilities of state.

Of course, Charles has a privileged life but it's always been different, with the need to stay within accepted boundaries and live by protocol laid down by generations of tradition. But with that look on his face, I wonder if the reality really hit home and hard? What's currently going on in his chart?

His Age Point is approaching his 1st house Pluto, which is always symbolic of power, and power will certainly be his when he's king, although how he will use it is going to be important. He'll become the head of the family firm and the event will be a bitter-sweet one as it means he'll be experiencing the loss of his mother at the same time. Pluto is not to be dallied with, nor is the power it embodies to be taken lightly as it ultimately - on its highest level - has to be used for the greater good, and not personal gain.

At the top of his chart, intercepted in the 10th house, sits the Moon and the Moon's north node. The north node is a signpost indicating the way forward via personal grow and development. The 10th house is a public place; the Moon there, conjunct the node, suggests it could be somewhere he could learn to shine and come into his own. The downside is that both Moon and node are in Taurus, an intercepted sign, making getting this aspect of himself "out there" and recognised, will not be easy. 

I wrote about this and other aspects of Charles' chart when he turned 60. Read what I said here. 

Also see what I've written about the Queen's chart here. Her Age Point is now in the 4th house for the second time and there are currently no contacts with any planets, but note her strong Saturn at the top of the chart. A strong indicator that she's the Queen and head of the family firm.

Moon Node chart

The Moon Node Chart is unique to the Huber Method, and is one of the three charts used in Astrological Psychology. The other two are the Natal Chart (used by all astrologers) and the House Chart, which I've previously written about. You can find out about the House Chart here.

The Moon Node Chart can be likened to a mirror - we can look into it to discover more about the shadow side of the personality, those things which might be repressed and that we don't like in ourselves, and it can also reveal to us the accumulated knowledge and life experience we bring with us to this lifetime.

Moon Node Chart

 

The Moon Node Chart shown here reflects the aspect patterns and shaping shown in the Natal Chart below.

The orientation of the aspect structure in the chart is different. In the Moon Node Chart it has a more vertical direction, and in the Natal Chart below, it's more focussed on the horizontal. This is significant.

Natal Chart

Also note that the positions of the planets are reversed, giving the mirror image effect, which makes looking at the Moon Node Chart rather like looking into a mirror, where what is seen is not really there.

The Moon Node Chart is always used alongside the Natal Chart and never on its own. The two are designed to be used together, and this particular technique was researched extensively by Bruno Huber. It can offer insights, for those who are on a path of self-growth and awareness, into where they are coming from. It can also highlight some of their more habitual patterns of response to everyday life - the well-used behaviour patterns. The beauty of understanding and working with this chart is that it can help us to see what is going on in ourselves, decide if we want to keep it or make changes, and then actively and consciously choose to leave our familar and habitual patterns of response and behaviour behind us and move on.

Finding out more about the Moon Node Chart

There are several ways of doing this:

• Read Moon Node Astrology by Bruno & Louise Huber (see sidebar). It offers comprehensive coverage of this specific and unique chart. Click on Books by the Hubers in the bar at the top of this page
  
• Read The Living Birth Chart which specifically features using the Moon Node Chart and gives worked examples using the charts of real people. Click on  Books by Joyce Hopewell in the bar at the top of this page
• Have a consultation with an astrologer trained in Astrological Psychology. They will really know their stuff and will treat you and your Moon Node Chart with the greatest respect, as use of the Moon Node Chart is not to be taken lightly.  
• Louise Huber says that when we look into the Moon Node Chart, we have to be completely harmless. This should always be borne in mind when working with this chart.
  

 

Words of Wisdom?

A clear out and tidy up of shelves and drawers a while ago produced an old school exercise book, entitled, along with my name, "Autobiography" and "Form 4A". That would have been when I was 14 or 15 years old, at school in London, and mostly behaving myself.   

 

I'd filled all but a few pages at the back with recollections from early childhood up to my teenaged self at the time. The contents - probably the outline given by teachers for this project - included  "My First Day at School", "An Early Achievement", "A Film I always Remember", "My Happiest/Saddest Day"and so on. My handwriting was super neat; a fountain pen filled with Stephen's vibrant blue ink had been used, and my somewhat immature words of wisdom were illustrated with black and white photos of myself at various ages.

I tend to associate the idea of wisdom and visionary foresight with some of the qualities of the planet Jupiter; we gain sensory experience via Jupiter, which is associated with perception, sight and the eyes. I'd extend that to include insight - the ability to connect with an inner view and the use of intuition. Perhaps an "aha!" moment.

Back to my old school book - the whole thing made for a fascinating, nostalgic read and the photos brought back many memories, but what really grabbed my attention were the two final sections.

• The penultimate one, "What I want to be", begins: 

"My future ambition is to be a primary school teacher. I intend to stay at school until the sixth year, by which time I will be eighteen. The qualifications that I will need will be at least five GCE's at "O" Level, but I hope to pass English and History at both "O" and "A" level....." 

I got the 5 "O"s - English was one of them - and the 2 "A"s, but they were French and Art. And I did become a primary school teacher. Prophetic? Visionary? Jupiterian? Or just aiming for something I really wanted, and succeeding in getting there?

• What I'd written in the final section -  "The World I Want" -  was not so very far from where I am now, decades later, in my attitudes, values and viewpoints. The world my teenage self wanted then was one

 "....where disputes against foreign countries should be forgotten....every man and woman should have an equal chance to live prosperously....violence has no place as it creates fear...all children should be given an equal chance for a good education...." Idealistic yes, but much of what I'd written then I agree with now. It rings both true and relevant in light of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine and the devastation this is causing in so many lives.

These were formative years, and I now have the maturity and life experience (Jupiter again) to draw upon. But it's interesting and reassuring to discover that I knew what was important and what I wanted back then. 

Read what I wrote a few years ago about Jupiter's association with sight, perception and risk-taking:

Jupiter and the Art of Risk Taking

Vladimir Putin

This interpretation of Putin's chart was written by fellow astrologer David Kerr in 2014. I am including it here, with David as guest author, in view of the current situation between Russia and Ukraine and the threat of Russia's imminent invasion of Ukraine. David focuses on the Double Ambivalence figure in the chart; I focus on the Trapeze.

 

Vladimir Putin, 7th October 1952, 09.30, St. Peteresburg, Russia

 David writes: The eye is immediately drawn to the stellium in the 12th house and the aspects which emanate from it are reminiscent of the levers in an old-fashioned railway signal box, quite appropriate for someone who can be quite truly said to have his hands on the levers of power. The aspect pattern consists largely of fixed figures, a Trapeze and a Double Ambivalence figure. This suggests someone who is able to operate on a large stage, can learn much from a wide variety of experiences, but in spite of that is fairly inflexible. We can see that from his handling of the Chechnya situation, the lessons of history from Stalin right back to Tsar Nicholas 1 have not deviated Putin from his implacable efforts to impose Russian control.  

As befits a former KGB official, Putin is secretive and keeps his cards close to his chest, as shown by the 12th house planets including Mercury. On the other hand, Jupiter in the 7th allows him to present a more affable face to the world. These planets form the poles of the Double Ambivalence figure. This ambivalence is reflected by political commentators who cannot make up their minds whether Putin is a neo-stalinist or a closet reformer. The open and outgoing Jupiter is ultimately controlled from the conservative and secretive blue corner by Sun and Saturn so there is likely to be something in the closet. The enigma is compounded by having an unaspected Moon. Emotion does not obviously figure in Putin's makeup and it this adds to his inscrutability.  

 

On the 8th of July Putin's age point will enter Leo. [Editorial comment:This was so at the time of writing; Putin's Age Point is now in Libra and in the 12th house,where the stellium of planets is. His Age Point has recently been past the 12th house Low Point and he will be 70 in October]. When the age point enters a sign it activates any planets in that sign, regardless of which house they are in. In this case [when David wrote this in 2014] it is Pluto. Pluto is a transpersonal, spiritual, planet, but when it is on an angle as it is here it can be used, or abused, in the outside world.

Putin's Pluto is conjunct South Node, so there might be an atavistic tendency to exercise power in a Stalinist fashion. On the other hand, South Node is conjunct the IC, firmly in the collective zone, the people of Russia, and the controlling 12th house planets are in Libra, the sign of justice. Putin describes himself as a true servant of Russia so perhaps the evidence of the chart shows the sincerity of his goals, whatever methods he may employ to reach them.

 

Joyce offers an extract from Aspect Patterns in Colour:

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, has a Trapeze in his chart. Its pinning planets in the 12th house stellium (Sun, Mercury, Saturn, Neptune) are shared with two other aspect figures. However, the Trapeze dominates and its internal thinking and learning processes will feed into the Double Ambivalence figure and the all-blue Small Talent triangle (not discussed in this post). 

Strong multiple aspects from the stellium radiate out to the other pinning planets – red squares to Uranus, green quincunxes to Jupiter and blue trines to the Moon’s Node. But it is the stellium that holds the eye and indicates a formidable driving force of his will (Sun), his need for firm structure (Saturn), his ability to communicate (Mercury) and his ideals (Neptune) which drive this Trapeze along. Putin has headed the direction and mindset of Russia in the 21st century. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing the rule of law, yet corruption is also said to have increased. 

 

Bruno and Louise Huber describe someone with a Trapeze as having “a larger-than-life personality”. On the one hand, we have the outgoing Putin engaging with world leaders using Jupiter in 7th linked to Mercury, Saturn and Neptune. On the other hand there is the more inscrutable Putin with his strong-by-sign Sun dominating from the 12th, a master mind who controls and manipulates, pulling the strings like an arch puppeteer.

 

Masks - it's a Pluto thing

Masks made by particpants at an astrological psychology workshop. The masks they are wearing represent a part of themselves they would not nomally share or show.

 

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, mask wearing has become a hot and controversial topic. 

Some people are strongly against wearing masks, even though these are known to be the most effective barrier against spreading the Covid-19 virus and its variants. The airborne viral load breathed out or in by we humans is effectively sequestered by the wearing of masks which cover both mouth and nose. Masks protect both the wearer and everyone else they come into contact with. For me it's a no-brainer not to wear one; they're beneficial to all. Otherwise why have medical/surgical staff been wearing them long before the onset of the pandemic? How might a mask-denier feel about a surgeon operating on them without a mask, breathing goodness-knows-what out into the operating theatre and all over them?

So why don't people like them? Is it purely to do with not liking the effect they have on being able to breathe properly or communicate easily? Or is it something to do with people not liking being "told" what to do, maybe thinking they know best? Thinking they look a bit daft or strange wearing them? How vain and anti-social might that be?

In astrology, masks are associated with Pluto, the outermost planet in our solar system, most distant from the Sun, and is associated with the psychological drive of transpersonal will, which is engaged when our energies are directed towards perfecting ourselves and upping our personal ante.

Pluto operates at different levels of awareness. On a personal level it can be seen in disruptive, power-laden behaviour. Pluto is symbolic of the masks we wear to cover up what we don't want others to see. It can make us manipulative, allowing us to force our will on others, trying to dominate them.

Masks can also provide a hiding place for aspects of ourselves we don't want to show or share, to keep safe something hidden about ourselves - think of the smiling face and demeanour which hides a ruthless personality, or a person whose actions belie their true colours.

Masks are not all bad, as long as they are used as masks and not as a hiding place for truth. They can be fun too, but in a superficial way - think of masked balls, dressing up in costumes for a specific role, and make-up which transforms the face of the person beneath. Pluto is the transpersonal planet of tranformation, change and power, things which should definitely be used with awareness and always with the mantra of "do no harm". 

Pluto as a power trip is the expression of this planet at its lowest level; at its highest level of expression personal power has to be surrendered and control relinquished. Those who refuse to wear masks and disapprove of those who do have quite a way to go yet on their path to perfection, which is Pluto at it's highest level: the perfect being. 

That's something we all have to work at, but maybe the mask-deniers have to do it just that little bit harder.

NB - I'm aware that some people have exemptions for wearing masks because they have a medical condition. I know someone in this category who wears an uncomfortable face shield to protect herself and others when she is out, and I take my hat off to her for doing this selflessly.

 

 

 

There's more on Pluto and the transpersonal planets in my book,

 The Cosmic Egg Timer,

and in The Planets by Bruno and Louise Huber.

Both books are available on Amazon.

Click here and here for details of these and other books on astrological psychology.