The Blogathon Lives On

Astroair Astrology celebrates its 10^th birthday this month and with Mercury currently retrograde, it’s a perfect time to recall past highlights. Today I remember a most exciting and memorable high point!

In 2010 I was thrilled to be invited by the late, great Donna Cunningham (author of many books, but most notably Healing Pluto Problems) to participate in an amazing Blogathon to celebrate International Astrology Day.

It was themed around the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto cardinal T-Square and comprised more than 70 articles from professional astrologers around the world. These articles provided helpful resources and advice to help readers deal with Saturn, Uranus and Pluto issues.

Donna, naturally, edited the Pluto section. Uranus was compiled by CJ Wright, better known as the wonderful Auntie Moon and Astroair Astrology compiled a series of articles about Saturn.

While some of the articles were of their time and others are sadly no longer available, many of them are still live and remain relevant today.

Here’s a selection of the best timeless articles:

Pluto problems have you perplexed? Here's what helps...

From Lawrence Grecco: Dealing with Pluto on the Angles

Pluto and Bullying – How to Recognise and Stop It and What to Tell Astrology Clients about Pluto in Capricorn both by Donna Cunningham and full of helpful resources and advice.

And from The Radical Virgo blog: Sleepless in America, What’s Pluto got to do with it?

Browse the full Pluto section, edited by Donna Cunningham, here

Uranus - claiming a self-reliant future

From the inimitable Steven Forrest: Transiting Uranus through the 12 houses

From the Void, Of Course blog: A Guide for Teens Studying Astrology

CosmiTec discusses break up transits in: When Love is Over - Divorce Horoscopes

From the technology section, Neeti Ray’s advice for astrologers on using social media: Astro Tribes and Connecting in the Age of Aquarius

Browse the full Uranus section, edited by Auntie Moon, here

Look after Saturn and Saturn looks after you...

From Donna Cunningham’s Skywriter blog - Saturn Transits – What do they mean for your Career?

In Tightening Your Belt with Saturn Mandi Lockley looks at Saturn transits to the money houses

Kathy Loveless on using the Emotional Freedom Technique to help with Saturn issues: Tapping for Saturn – Astrology & EFT

Using insightful client case studies, Jessica Shepherd Takes up the Long Conversation with Astrology

Browse the full Saturn section, coordinated by Mandi Lockley here

Planetary Tests

Donna devised a series of very clever tests to assess the strength of the outer planets in your birth chart!  Take the Saturn test here (and scroll down to test the strength of your Uranus, Neptune and Pluto)

Dedication 

Dedicated to Donna Cunningham, one the great astrologers of our time. Although we never met in person, she remained a friend and mentor after the Blogathon was completed. Her work lives on through her books and magazine articles as well as in all the incredible free articles and resources on her Skywriter blog.

And also a huge shout out to CJ Wright (Auntie Moon) from whom I also learnt a lot and who was a fun and supportive colleague on this project. Her website has gone from strength to strength over the years since and is also really beautiful – check it out here

With love,

Mandi xxx

How can Saturn help us live from the heart?

Are Saturn transits to the Sun in the natal chart destined to be depressing, to suck the joy out of your life?

My article, How can Saturn help us live from the Heart? discusses this concern. It was first published in Infinity Astrological Magazine and was recently re-published on the popular astro.com website.

Here's the introduction below and you can read the full article here

If you've ever taken an interest in self-help books or films, especially of the more spiritual variety, you'll have heard about the importance of following your heart, being true to your heart and living your truth.

There's no doubt that having a sense of purpose unique and authentic is crucial, but what does following/living from your heart really mean? Fortunately, astrology offers some clues.

The Sun in our birth chart represents our heart – the organ in our chest, but also in the emotional and psychological sense. Think about how we describe unsympathetic people as heartless or cold-hearted and supportive, generous people as warm-hearted or all-heart.

An understanding of the sign our Sun falls in, the House it tenants and its aspects with other planets and points, helps take us to the centre of ourselves, where our true heart lies. Our Sun complex describes our life direction and purpose and the hero we are meant to be.

When transiting Saturn contacts your Sun, it can feel heavy, restrictive, depressing even. Saturn's challenging transits – the Conjunction, Square and Opposition in particular – ask you to question whether the structure of your life supports your heart purpose, questions whether you are living in a heart-centred way… Read more here

And while you're there, check out some of other articles - astro.com republishes articles from every issue of the three main astrology mags - The Mountain Astrologer, AA Journal and Infinity Astrological Magazine (IAM). You'll find the work of some of the most respected names in astrology amongst them and a good mix of all the major schools of astrological thought - just scroll down on the home page http://www.astro.com/horoscope 

After the Transit ~ Saturn and Uranus

This article first appeared in Issue 10 of Infinity Magazine in November 2016. Read every issue of the mag for free here

So, transiting Saturn/Uranus/Neptune/Pluto has finished its Conjunction/Square/Opposition to your Sun/Moon/Mercury/Venus/Mars/Jupiter/Saturn/Angle [Delete as appropriate!]

You breathe a big sigh of relief. It’s over. Finally.

If you track your transits, you were anticipating it long before it came and as it inched ever closer to its target, you watched carefully for signs of its influence. Perhaps the transit reflected major life changes, challenges, losses or new opportunities? Maybe years of hard work started to pay off or conversely, you had to face the consequences of unwise decisions made in the past? Possibly, the shift was more internal as you chose to (or were forced to) confront deep-rooted baggage, heal old wounds, grieve, move on, let go. Perhaps your resistance to the process, to the shifts in your physical, material and/or psychological circumstances, caused you to suffer. Maybe you were aware of your resistance, maybe you weren’t.

But now what?

If, under your transit, you experienced any kind of loss, setback, shock or major change, the chances are, now it’s over, you’ll be seeking to replace those losses, reverse the changes, return things to how they were. It’s human nature. We are creatures of habit - most of us take comfort in even the things we know aren’t good for us, because that’s the way it’s always been, the way we’ve been programmed. It’s simply easier to carry on as before than it is to change.

Here’s a familiar scenario.

A relationship breaks up under a Uranus transit. Now the transit is over and after a while you feel ready for romance again. You’re attracted to your new partner because he’s just your type. Consciously or unconsciously, something about him reminds you of your old flame. Your new partner pays you constant attention, says you belong together, whispers those three little words in your ear and proudly shows you off to his friends. It’s all so flattering and is just how your former relationship started. The nice part, before the possessiveness and jealousy kicked in. Your new beau doesn’t approve of your friends and you start to see less of them (he’s taking up all your time, anyway). You attend a party and have a brilliant evening chatting and dancing, but you barely speak to him all night and he makes his feelings clear about that later.

If you’re not in denial, not telling yourself that this time it’s going to be different, you realise that your old unhealthy relationship pattern is starting to recur. After all, you know it’s written in your birth chart, in that difficult aspect, so what can you do?

But maybe this time something tells you (maybe your inner self or maybe your friends, or both) that this is a good opportunity to put the lessons of that completed Uranus transit to good use, to allow your life choices to reflect the higher promise of your birth chart rather than the lower expression.

You consider your options.

Do you (1) run a mile, but feel miserable alone and then either repeat the pattern down the line with someone else, or stay lonely; (2) leave the relationship, but work on your own issues, through therapy, self help, through your chosen spiritual practice, or simply by giving yourself proper time to reflect, heal and claim your independence, to learn that it’s OK to be single; (3) stay in the relationship, but confront the issues early on and do your best to set healthy boundaries that allow you to be yourself and to have a life independent of the partner, remaining prepared to move on if it doesn’t work; or (4) stay in the relationship, do nothing and hope for the best? 

There’s no right or wrong answer, this is not a quiz, nor is it an advice column. Options (1) and (4) seem least likely to lead to growth and learning, however. But then, none of the options are without risk and all of them, except (4) involve change, but at least options (2) and (3) carry forward the lessons of the Uranus transit that occurred during the breakup of the last relationship.

But remember, it’s not as easy as it sounds on paper. If this is a client’s situation, while it’s our job is to make them aware of the processes their transits represent and to help them to better understand the meaning of those processes, it is not our job to tell them what to do.  

It’s also worth remembering that often, for those going through the scenario described above, the idea of being alone may be more terrifying than staying in an awful relationship. While for us astrologers Uranus transits are often welcomed as exciting and invigorating, for our clients they can signify scary, confusing times and after the initial transit they may be dealing with the fallout of what was set in motion for some time to come.

Here’s another scenario:

You lost your job under a Saturn transit. Saturn’s moved on and so must you.

You didn’t like the job much and would love to do something completely different or perhaps work for yourself, but you also have to think about the practical and financial issues. Can you afford the time and money required before a new business starts to pay for itself? And can you run the risk of it failing? Or are you prepared to abandon years of hard work, a good salary and status to start at the bottom in a totally different career?

Saturn transits might be about getting us back on track, but unfortunately they don’t let us off the hook when it comes to the material necessities of life. Saturn teaches that our dreams need to be tempered by reality, need to be ‘grown up’ (a Saturn transit at any age is about growing in maturity).

Here are three possibilities in keeping with carrying forward Saturn’s lessons:

Conscious that you might be missing an opportunity to fulfil a dream, you do the sensible thing and look for a role similar to your last one because you have responsibilities. The dream might be on hold (you hope not forever) but using the ‘be realistic and patient’ lesson of your Saturn transit, you realise that there are things you can do to make things better reflect your needs in your next job.

For example, you think carefully about what you liked and disliked in previous roles; you target companies which better reflect your personal values; in interviews, you don’t just ask about what the job itself entails, you ask also about the company culture, the personalities of the team you’d be working with, enquire about the future direction of the company, about opportunities to develop new skills. On your resume, you emphasise the skills that you most like to use, making less of those you don’t.

Or perhaps you use your years of experience in a different way, by seeking part time or contract work. It might lack the security of a permanent role, but it provides an income and buys you more time to consider your future, to start laying down the foundations for the business you want to start or for the new career you want to pursue.

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones, able to follow your dream all out. However, if you remember the lessons of the Saturn transit, you will plan it out carefully, give yourself a timeline and a budget, learn any new skills you need (or hire an expert to do the things you can’t do) and so on.

However, it’s wise to reassess our dreams, goals and priorities after a Saturn transit. We age, we grow, the world changes around us, responsibilities fall onto our shoulders, spanners fall into the works.

Think about that dream of old. What does it boil down to? What’s its essence? Why did you want to be an artist/cosmonaut/vet/photographer/lawyer? Were you following an innate talent or a personal interest? Were you trying to please a parent or conform to a social stereotype of success? Was it because of the things you thought that career might bring - money, power, status, glamour? Or did it stem from a need to express yourself creatively, to help others, to give something back to the world? 

If you look at it from this angle you can see more easily where you need to let go of old dreams and also when to hold onto dreams that are still valid, but need to be adapted so they better suit who and where you are now. You may even find that you have already made your dream come true, in essence at least, but didn’t realise it because it manifested differently to your fixed expectation.

Whichever path you take, you remain realistic, patient and focused and you don’t give up because you know you are laying down solid foundations for the future. You’ve absorbed the lesson of your Saturn transit.

But please don’t ignore the feelings of depression and self-doubt that can often accompany a job loss - even the loss of a hated job - which can linger long after the transit the loss occurred under has passed. And of course, as professional astrologers, this also applies to our clients. 

In Part 2 we will look at how we, or our clients, might be feeling after a long Neptune transit.

With love,

Mandi

P.S. Check out the Academy of Astrology YouTube Channel, which includes talks from me on The Descendant, Venus in Art and Mercury Retrograde (with more to come soon):

Academy of Astrology YouTube Channel

Songs for a Saturn Transit

Happy 2016. I saw in the New Year with my husband and a bunch of good friends and because they are metal fans, there were Lemmy Christmas cards, vintage Motörhead t-shirts and just before midnight our host shared a bottle of Motörhead Shiraz he'd been saving for a special occasion. We head-banged to Ace of Spades although perhaps not as violently as we might have done 20 years ago.

This made me remember something I wrote in 2010 - Sounds for a Saturn Transit - so I've reposted it below not only because it features the music of Mr Ian (Lemmy) Kilmister and his band, but also because it provides a little music therapy for those of you having, or looking forward to, a Saturn transit this year.

One, two, three, let's go....

Music therapy is a recognised and widely used therapeutic technique, which uses sound, dance and movement to aid physical, emotional and mental health.

In fact, as early as the 17th century it was said that music was critical in the treatment of melancholy, that very Saturnian state of mind that "goes and comes upon every small occasion of sorrow, need, sickness, trouble, fear, grief, passion...which causes anguish, dulness, heaviness and vexation of spirit, any ways opposite to pleasure, mirth, joy, delight"*.

 

And haven't most of us used music as a form of self-therapy? I mean who of you doesn't have a personal soundtrack to your life, for the best of times and for the worst? Remember being a broken-hearted, put upon, fed up, stressed-out teenager hiding in your room, listening to some angry rocking tracks and mournful dirges to make yourself feel better? Perhaps you were having a Saturn transit at the time?

Most of us still still use music as catharsis, even if we don't admit it, so in that spirit, here are some musical gems especially selected to indulge a Saturn transit.

 

"You win some, lose some, it's - all - the same to me"

Plug in your best air guitar and shout along, very loudly. Lead singer Lemmy was a Christmas Capricorn with a strong Saturn signature in his chart, so he knew just how you feel!

Also check out Capricorn by Motorhead "When I was young I was already old, My Life, my heart, black night, dark star, Capricorn."

"A song in which to weep, While we rock ourselves to sleep"
Nick Cave's trademark hybrid of lyrical blues, gospel, rock, and arty post-punk, results in a dark, challenging sound, full of emotional intensity, but somehow lifting. A talented song-writer, singer and author, Cave expresses his natal Mercury square Saturn perfectly, helped along by creative quintiles from Saturn to his Sun and Mars in Virgo.

"And I'm here to remind you, Of the mess you left when you went away"

Alanis Morissette's harsh and angry break up song has helped many a wronged woman through the worst. It's even rumoured that she wrote it about one of her own relationships! Like Cave (above), Morissette is also a Mercury-Saturn native, hers an exact conjunction in super-sensitive Cancer. [Warning: explicit lyrics]

 

"I try to laugh about it, Hiding the tears in my eyes"

This tune from post-punk, goth-pop band The Cure is a tale of a man who desperately wants to get his lost love back, but instead of showing how he really feels and asking for forgiveness, he hides his emotions, because boys don't cry, do they? An expression of singer-songwriter Robert Smith's Mercury-Mars-Saturn T-square perhaps? 

 

"How does it feel?"

Dylan's classic, written in 1965, was revolutionary and controversial in its day and it's gone on to become one of the most influential tracks of all time. It's easy to see how Dylan's natal stellium of Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in his creative 5th house, are reflected in his music, with its Saturn-Uranus themes of protest and rebellion against tradition.

 

"Living just to find emotion, Hiding somewhere in the night"
If Dylan's classic symbolises Saturn-Uranus, then rock band Journey's rousing anthem was a great track for the [2010] Saturn-Pluto square. Originally a minor hit at the start of the current Saturn-Pluto cycle in '81/'82 it suddenly became a meteoric hit during [the most recent] Saturn-Pluto square, thanks to covers on the X-Factor and on popular TV show Glee.
 

Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age

No collection of Saturnine music would be complete without the Saturn movement from Gustav Holst's The Planets. Of all the seven movements, Saturn was said to be Holst's personal favourite. Enjoy the steady, serene, deliberate sound of stoicism.

What are your sounds for a Saturn transit?

NOTE: This is part of a collection of articles about the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto Cardinal T-Square for the International Astrology Blogathon, March 19-21, 2010. The rest of the collection is here: https://2010astrologycarnival.wordpress.com/
 

*The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton, 1621.

Artist birth data from http://www.wikipedia.org/ and Astrodatabank

Music selections by various persons

If you want to look further into how you can use music and sound therapeutically, type "music therapy" into Amazon and you'll find a long selection of books and other resources to choose from.

The 7 Year Itch

So my beloved and I have just enjoyed our seventh wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we went to see one of our favourite bands and the occasion was marked with a couple of intriguing coincidences.

My husband discovered that a couple of his friends - a couple - were attending the gig so we arranged to meet for a drink beforehand and as soon as they walked through the door I realised I hadn’t seen one of them since our wedding. Then, when we arrived at the venue, I spotted a guy at the back of the room on his own looking a bit out of place. I looked and then I looked again. It was who I thought it was; the ex of one of my husband’s relatives. And when was the last time we saw him? At our wedding of course! The gig wasn’t his thing; he was only there to help his friend who was doing the lights for the show. He was thrilled to see us and vice versa.

As I’m the type who looks for meaning in these things and in signs and symbols in general – I wouldn’t be into astrology if I didn’t – I got to thinking about what this strange synchronicity means.

As so often happens with me, my train of thought led me to the planet Saturn. Bear with me, this will make sense…

You see, the theory is that after around seven years a relationship can hit a point of crisis or dissatisfaction or even hit the rocks completely. It’s known as the seven year itch and it’s a testing time when we’re invited to take stock and decide whether another seven years is a viable prospect. We might consider what restraints and responsibilities our partnership demands and ask if these are balanced out by commitment and security and the promise of longer term rewards. More than anything, it’s a time to get real about our relationship.

The description above brims with Saturn imagery: testing time; getting real; restraints, commitment and responsibilities; hitting the rocks (Saturn rules rocks literally) and if you don’t know already, you’ve probably guessed that the Saturn cycle hits a hotspot once every seven years or thereabouts.

Using a marriage as an example, the date of the wedding is where the foundations are laid. Ground zero. After seven years, transiting Saturn has travelled three zodiac signs and makes its first Square aspect to Saturn’s placement in the marriage chart. The ‘rules’ of the relationship have been laid down over the preceding seven years and at the Square the urge may be to test the relationship’s boundaries, to challenge the status quo, to push  back against the duties and constraints the marriage demands. We might ask, does this relationship allow me to express my authentic self? Some may even stray (that seven year itch cliché) but the consequences of what we do, of the decisions we’ve made to date, will need to be faced and fresh decisions reached and a new path forged.

It can also be a positive time of course. Just because Saturn isn’t all jolly bells and whistles, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bestow deserved rewards from time to time. That seven year point, the Saturn Square, is a good opportunity to take stock of the relationship, to plan, together, for the next seven years. What do you both want? Do your goals and aspirations synchronise? Where do compromises need to be made? It’s probably fair to say that avoiding issues at this time won’t make them go away, so you may as well face them.

I should say here that my own marriage is happy. We are using this time to think about how far we’ve come, to celebrate that and then pack for wherever it is we’re going next. Together.

But what of those chance meetings with the two people I hadn’t seen since our wedding? Well the seven year cycle fits for them too. You see, the couple we met in the pub had only just got together when my husband and I married and now they are in a committed relationship. As for the other guy, his relationship with my husband’s relative broke up shortly after our wedding. Now, seven years on, he’s a parent and his ex is very happily married to someone else and about to become a parent for the first time.

So, time marches on and we get older and wiser and we take on more commitment and responsibility, but for any heartache along the way, oh what joy and love life also brings.

With love,

Mandi

News update:

I’ve been concentrating on fiction writing these last few months and that’s the main reason why there have been fewer posts here as Astroair, and I’m very pleased to reveal that one of my short stories, The Box - a dark tale exploring psychic oversensitivity - will be published in the January edition of Massacre Magazine.

After Your Transit (& Some Good News)

So, you survived your big transit. Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and/or Pluto has finished its conjunction, square or opposition to your natal planet.

A big sigh of relief all round.

If you follow your transits, you were probably anticipating it long before it came and as it inched ever closer to its target, you watched carefully for signs of its influence. Perhaps your transit reflected major life changes, challenges, losses or new opportunities? Maybe years of hard work started to pay off or conversely, you had to face the consequences of unwise decisions made in the past? Possibly, the shift was more internal as you chose to (or were forced to) confront deep-rooted psychological baggage, heal old wounds, grieve, move on, let go.  

Now what?

If your transit brought any kind of loss, shock, major change or disruption, chances are, now it’s over, you’re seeking to replace those losses and reverse the changes, to try to return things to how they were. It’s human nature.

Here are a couple of scenarios.

A relationship breaks up under a Uranus transit. After a while, you’re ready for romance again. You’re attracted to your new partner because he’s just your type. Consciously or unconsciously, something about him reminds you of your old flame. Your new partner pays you constant attention, says you belong together forever and shows you off to his friends. This is all so so flattering and is just how your former relationship started. The nice part, before the possessiveness and the jealousy kicked in. Your new beau doesn’t seem to approve of your best friend and you start to see less of her because he’s taking up all your time. At parties, you chat and flirt your way around the room because that’s the way you are, but your partner doesn’t like it.

The old pattern could be recurring, but this is your opportunity to put the lessons of that Uranus transit to good use.

Do you (1) run a mile, but feel miserable alone and then either repeat the pattern down the line with someone else, or stay lonely; (2) leave the relationship, but work on your own issues, through therapy, self help, through your chosen spiritual practice, or simply by giving yourself proper time to reflect and heal; (3) stay in the relationship, but confront the issues early on and do your best to set healthy boundaries, remaining prepared to move on if it doesn’t work; or (4) stay in the relationship, do nothing and hope for the best? 

There’s no right or wrong answer, this is not a quiz, nor is it an advice column. Options (1) and (4) seem to be the least likely to lead to growth and learning. But then, none of the options are without risk and all of them, except (4) involve change.

Scenario two.

You lost your job under a Saturn transit, so you look for a new one. You would love to do something completely different, but you also have to think about the practical issues and the bills that need to be paid, especially in these straightened times. Conscious that you might be missing an opportunity to fulfil a dream, you give yourself the best odds by going for roles similar to your last one. The dream might be on hold, but using the ‘be realistic and patient’ lesson of your Saturn transit, you realise that there are things you can do to make things better in your next job.

For example, you think carefully about what you liked and disliked in previous roles; you target companies which better reflect your personal values; in interviews, you don’t just ask about what the job itself entails, you ask also about the company culture, the atmosphere in the office, the personalities of the team you’d be working with. On your resume, you emphasise the skills that you most like to use, making less of those you don’t. Perhaps you consider temping, freelancing, part time or contract work. It might lack the security of a permanent role, but it can provide an income and buy you some time to find something you truly want to do.

Overall, you remain realistic and you’re prepared to be flexible. You’re patient and hopeful and you don’t give up. You’ve absorbed the lesson of your Saturn transit.

You’ve Got To Have A Dream

Maybe you’re one of the lucky or brave ones, who really can follow your dream. If you’re not, never lose hope. As the old song goes, if you don’t have a dream, how’re you going have a dream come true? It’s wise though to reassess our dreams on occasion and particularly after a life changing transit. We age, we grow, our priorities change, the world changes around us, unexpected spanners fall into the works.

Think about that dream of old. What does it boil down to? What’s its essence? Why did you want to be a painter/cosmonaut/vet/photographer? Were you following an innate talent or a personal interest? Were you trying to please a parent or conform to a social stereotype of success? Was it for the money, the power, the recognition, to fit in? Did it stem from a need to express yourself creatively, to help others, to give something back to the world? 

If you look at it from this angle you can see more easily where you need to let go of old dreams and also when to hold onto dreams that are still valid, but need to be adapted so they better suit who and where you are now. You may even find that you have already made your dream come true, but didn’t realise it because it manifested differently to your fixed expectation.

As Within, So Without: What We Can Learn From World Events

This post explores how, so often after a difficult transit, it’s too easy to carry on repeating the mistakes of the past, when instead we could use the wisdom our transit brought to break unhealthy, outdated patterns of behaviour.

I think the current world situation is a lesson to us all of the dangers of not learning the lessons of the past, of blindly trying to tread a path that just doesn’t work for us anymore. Since the banking crisis of 2008 (when Pluto moved into Capricorn and Saturn squared Pluto and opposed Uranus) most of the energy and resources have been directed towards restoring the old ways of doing things. The capitalist model based on constant growth which benefited so many of us while Pluto was in Sagittarius simply doesn’t work under Pluto in Capricorn. Somehow, we need to find another way of doing things that suits the world as it is now, while at the same holding those people and entities who contributed to the crisis to account. Seven upcoming hits of Uranus to Pluto will see to it that major change does occur, but collectively we need to choose wisely, in keeping with the symbolic themes of Pluto in Capricorn.  Let’s hope we make the right choice.

Some Very Exciting News!

You may have noticed less posts from Astroair Astrology, so I wanted to let you know why. The good news is that I am working on my first book. The subject is a secret for now, but I will be publishing some teasers and excerpts in the weeks to come. All being well, it will be published as an e-book in late September this year and can be downloaded from here, amongst other places.

In the meantime, thanks sooooooooooo much for continuing to support Astroair Astrology

Click on this link for July's Moon Signs and Void of Course Moon Signs
Click on this link for July's Moon Phases

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With love, Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

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Transits of 'Imprisonment' and 'Liberation'

The reversal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher was a story which gripped and polarised the public and the media. Whether the pair really had anything to do with the murder we may perhaps never know and that’s not a subject I’m going to speculate about here. When fascinated me about their story is how the timing for the original conviction, the appeal and their eventual release key in to the timing of major outer planet alignments, namely Saturn Square Pluto, Saturn opposite Uranus and the incoming Uranus Square Pluto.  Both Sollecito and Knox have had these alignments touching their charts by transit, with Knox in particular experiencing them very strongly.

What intrigued me even more were the parallels between what happened to them while Saturn, Pluto and Uranus transited their charts and what happened to me while the same transiting planets were touching my own chart. No, I haven’t been convicted, imprisoned, retried and then acquitted of any crime, nor have I had my personal life and character hauled over the coals for all the world to see, but what I did experience with these transits was similar on the psychological and emotional level. Feeling trapped (imprisoned) by external circumstances apparently beyond my control, a sense of ‘fighting back’ and eventually, release and freedom.

By making this analogy, I hope to demonstrate how the themes we associate with outer planet transits to our natal planets can manifest in our lives on so many different levels... From the most literal, external, public events to processes and feelings that occur at the most private and inner level. Often of course, they manifest on many different levels at once and fortunately for most of us, they are not nearly as dramatic or public as the Knox and Sollecito case.

On 4^th December 2009, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. This conviction occurred very close to Saturn’s first exact square to Pluto at 2 degrees Libra and Capricorn in November 2009. Saturn and Pluto’s next exact alignment was at the end of January 2010 at 4 degrees of Libra and Capricorn. For both of them, Saturn and Pluto were transiting personal planets in their charts.

Saturn-Pluto transits can seem, at least on the psychological level, to take away our freedom and our free will. In the case of Knox and Sollecito, the loss of freedom was literal. In fact, losses on any level can occur under this transit. It tends to be a time of forced change, fear, pressure, negativity, crisis, restriction and a psychological journey to the underworld.  We may feel that invisible forces are working against us, that we are fighting for survival on some level. Even as our personal power is taken away, we need to find the strength to carry on, to work hard and then even harder to face and banish our demons. For this we need courage, strength and staying power. We need to tap into inner and outer resources to help us through. Readers with planets or angles at 1-5 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and/or Capricorn are likely to identify with some of these themes if they look back over the last couple of years or so (get your chart for free at www.alabe.com).

The charts below show how the Saturn and Pluto square picked up on personal planets in Knox and Sollecito's birth charts. Knox has Venus at 4 degrees of Cancer, so just after the conviction transiting Pluto was exactly opposing her Venus, with Saturn squaring her Venus. She also has Mercury conjunct Venus, with Neptune in early Capricorn opposing from the public seventh house. The Moon’s Nodes, in early Aries and Libra, complete a dynamic, but no doubt stressful cardinal grand cross.  With Pluto and Saturn transiting this grand cross it’s not surprising that she has been called a liar, a manipulator, a seductress, violent, perverted and a she-devil, but imagine having to face your demons when the world is naming you as the demon!

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Sollecito has his Sun at 5 degrees Aries squaring Neptune at 1 Capricorn, within orb of the Saturn-Pluto squares of late 2009 and spring/summer 2010.  While he has attracted less attention than Knox, the Saturn-Pluto transit to his Sun and Neptune is telling. Was he a victim in all this or was he deceiving everyone when he proclaimed his innocence? It’s hard to tell with that Sun-Neptune square, except to mention that it is reasonable to expect martyrdom on some level, or at least the sacrifice of the ego, with this aspect, especially so because both the Sun and Neptune are angular in his chart.

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For myself, I have Sun in the eighth house at 4 degrees Capricorn, which meant that for most of 2009, transiting Pluto was in orb of conjunction with my Sun, with its first exact hit in January 2010. Transiting Saturn was in orb of a square to my Sun from late 2009 through autumn 2010, with the first hit in December 2009. What happened to me? Well, a change in personal circumstances beyond my control meant that I felt trapped in an unhappy situation both literally and emotionally. Any attempt to get myself out of the situation seemed blocked at every turn and I felt like a rat in a maze. I won’t go into great detail, except to say that it was all very eighth house on every level!  Friends will testify that during this time I would often say that my situation felt like a prison sentence, but that I wasn’t sure what my crime had been!

We all know that in life nothing is forever and like life, transits are temporal. With Saturn-Pluto transits, there is, thankfully, a light at the end of the tunnel, with the eventual promise of empowerment and emancipation, but not before a lot of hard work and a lot of seemingly endless patience.

Sollecito and Knox‘s legal teams filed appeals against their convictions in April 2010 and the appeal process began in December 2010. It was during the time between the filing of the appeal and the actual appeal that the Saturn-Pluto squares and the ongoing, status-quo upsetting Saturn-Uranus oppositions formed what has been widely dubbed by astrologers as the cardinal climax – a t-square in the early cardinal planets that had been building since 2008 and has come to symbolise shocks, changes, intense challenges, restriction, losses and hard, hard work. Its most obvious manifestation has been in dramatic change of fortune in the world’s economies, the effects of which have filtered down into the lives of individuals everywhere, but overall, these aspects have been reflected in individuals’ lives in many different ways and on many different levels.

Whatever the manifestation, I’m proposing that it was accompanied by these feelings of entrapment and imprisonment that I have described, along with the feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself and in many ways out of your control. Despite this, many of us have emerged much stronger and more resourceful, even as we find our material circumstances reduced.

So, for those of you still feeling trapped and repressed, where and when is the release? Let’s look again at the charts of Knox and Sollecito. 

They won their appeal against their murder conviction and were freed on October 3^rd 2011. By now, Saturn has moved out of the picture, with the much anticipated Uranus-Pluto square forming. On the day of their release, Uranus was at 2 Aries and Pluto at 5 Capricorn, connecting with the cardinal planets in their charts very closely. Under Uranus-Pluto moving aspects we demand freedom, we question authority, we don’t accept the letter of the law and we won’t tolerate being controlled. We want to feel free to do what we want to do and we want to make a difference.

Knox’s father summed up Saturn-Pluto followed by Uranus-Pluto perfectly, "she's almost kind of reborn in a way. I mean, living for four years inside a concrete and steel, you know, prison, and now being able to kind of just look around, smell the air and - and just do what she wants to do, hopefully when she wants to do it, it makes a huge difference." (quote from cbsnews.com)

For myself, after a year or more of Saturn and Pluto transiting my Sun, I had the first squares from Uranus to my Sun in May this year. Around the time of the second hit, a surprising event happened that changed everything for me. As I sit here writing, I am looking forward to the next few months leading up the third and final square of transiting Uranus to my Sun, with Uranus is also making a series of sextiles to my MC and 10^th house Aquarius planets.  I am now in a position where I feel free do whatever I want with my life. Yes, there has been much upheaval and masses of change, but finally my appeal has been heard and I have been released from my psychological prison. I still don’t know what my crime was, but that doesn’t matter, because what I do now know is that I have the inner resources to cope with an uncertain future and it doesn’t matter that I can’t control everything. All that matters is that I use my time and energy wisely from now on and follow my heart.

Readers, have you experienced similar feelings and events over the last couple of years or so? How are things now?

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

Chart data from Astrodatabank.

A note to subscribers: an apology that at the end of Astrology for October there was an error in the text for Venus and Mercury opposing Jupiter. This has now been corrected:

http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2011/10/astrology-for-october-golden.html

Good News Transits ~ Jupiter and Saturn

Everyone loves a bit of good news and I have been heartened to hear quite a few glad tidings recently from friends, family and colleagues. It’s certainly been a welcome lift after the doom and gloom of the last few months.

Where can we find good news in our horoscope?

The first and best place to look to is our transits. Here is part one of a light hearted summary of the good news that transits of Jupiter, Saturn and the outer planets can bring into your life. Yes, even Saturn and Pluto!

Jupiter

Joy, hope, optimism, good luck, opportunity. Jupiter transits promise a lot but doesn’t always deliver! So how do we make the most of them to make sure we turn them into good news?

 Opportunities don’t usually appear out of thin air, we have to go out and find them. If Jupiter is transiting your MC for example, this can spell good news for your career. Perhaps you are after a new job or chasing a promotion? It is unlikely to come if you don’t at least meet the universe half way. Letting your boss know that you are ready to move up or applying for a few new jobs is the obvious thing to do. I started a new job when transiting Jupiter was conjunct my MC, but it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been very actively looking.

 If you’re very lucky and an opportunity comes your way without you pursuing it, then you will still probably need to put in a bit of effort to capitalize on it. The good feelings that often come with a Jupiter transit can sometimes make us lose out on opportunities because we're too busy having a good time to follow up!

 Put yourself in the right place at the right time. Staying home and not connecting with other people just won’t cut it!

 Hang out with Jupiterian type people – magnanimous, adventurous, jovial people can really lift the spirits, infuse us with optimism and make us believe that anything can happen!

 Broaden your horizons - study a new subject, travel to somewhere new, explore other faiths and cultures. It could mark the start of an exciting new life journey.

Jupiter is currently in Aries. Here’s an exploration of the themes of Jupiter in Aries which might provide food for thought if Jupiter is currently making a transit to one of your chart’s planets or angles: Jupiter in Aries Brainstorm

Saturn

Obstacles, limitations, delays, hard work, fear, caution. On paper, Saturn transits don’t sound like much fun at all! How can we turn that Saturn frown upside down?

 Saturn transits call for hard work and taking responsibility. Doesn’t sound like much fun? Remember that hard work, tenacity, responsibility and putting in the hours form the basic building blocks of success achieved over time. That's good news, so hang on in there!

 Saturn is the planet of structure, so a Saturn transit is the perfect time to re-structure parts of your life that aren’t working, so make the most of the opportunity and you'll reap the benefits in the long run.

 Slow down, be patient, take your time, stop rushing, don’t cut corners and do it right! This applies to any kind of task or ambition during a Saturn transit. We all love a bit of instant gratification, but when you’ve really, really worked at something, isn’t the satisfaction sooo much greater when everything finally comes together and you get what you've earned and deserved?

 Hang out with the old and the wise. When we’re younger we think we know it all! As we get older we realise how naive we were and how much we still don’t know! Whatever age you are, spending time with older people can be very rewarding. They’ve been through everything you’ve been through and probably worse! Their wisdom and advice could prove invaluable.

 Put it all down to experience! Saturn transit getting you down? The good news is that Saturn transits give you invaluable experience and a real opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Then one day you'll be a wise elder others come to for advice.

 If you get any kind of reward during a Saturn transit, know that you have really, really earned it, with no luck or fluke involved. ‘Maria’ was disappointed to be passed over for a promotion she felt she deserved. One year and a whole lot of hard work later, Saturn crossed her IC (opposing her MC – the career point). Not only did she get the promotion, but she won the employee of the year award! Now that's Saturn!

Still struggling with your Saturn transit? Here are some very useful and healing articles that might help: Look After Saturn and Saturn Will Look After You.

Saturn is currently transiting Libra. Here’s a look at the Saturn in Libra's transit through the houses.

Next up, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto

With love,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

Saturn in Libra Through the Houses ~ Part 2

To Read About Houses 1-6 See Part 1
To Read About Houses 7-12 See Below

We’ve already had a taste of Saturn in Libra…it was in the sign of the scales from October 2009, before turning backwards and re-entering Virgo in April. Saturn moved back into Libra on July 21 2010 and will stay in Libra until October 2012, so what will this mean for us?

Saturn in Libra Themes

Saturn in Libra brings lessons and tests around diplomacy, compromise and fairness.

It’s a time to set healthy boundaries in relationships and to get the give-take balance right. Relationships generally need to be taken more seriously. Any kind of relationship could feel like a heavy responsibility under this transit. Solid relationships can become more committed and grounded and real during this transit, or they can suffer the harsh light of reality and die away.

How we communicate and relate to others comes under scrutiny. It’s time to play by the rules, stop competing and learn to cooperate and negotiate. It’s a good time to settle disputes, arguments and claims, or to start them, but don’t expect things to get resolved too quickly! Peace and harmony is more than possible, but we will have to to work hard to achieve it.

Saturn in Libra Through the Houses

For Houses 1 - 7 Click Here
For Houses 7 - 12 See Below

The house in your chart that Saturn in Libra is moving through will reflect the area of your life where you are likely to meet Saturn’s tests, delays, obstacles and challenges. Saturn will ask you to take responsibility, meet obligations and learn lessons, according to the house it’s transiting. Being prepared, taking responsibility and actively taking on the challenges represented by the house in question is a great way to tackle Saturn’s transit through a house.  Because Saturn is a practical planet, here are some tips to help you navigate your Saturn transit.....

(If you don’t know which house Saturn will be transiting, please scroll down to the end ~ also includes a tip for finding out which house to look at if you don’t know your birth time or rising sign).

The Seventh House

The 7th house is about relationships and partnerships, both personal and business, and the kinds of people we attract into our lives. It’s also about how we project our ego out onto the world and how we are received by others. Anyone we enter into a legal contract with such as marriage or business partners falls under this house.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 7th House – Relationship Reality Check!

Take off your rose tinted spectacles, the honeymoon is over! With Saturn in the 7th, your relationship could face a reality check. If you like what you see, this could be a time when your relationship becomes more serious, deep and committed. If you don’t, it could be time to move on.

Significant others could make heavy demands on your time during this transit, so ensure you maintain healthy boundaries and take some time for yourself.

Be prepared for the possibility of old flames coming back into your life. Yes, that boy who broke your heart in high school might ask you to be his friend on Facebook! Approach it as a good time for closure, rather than an opportunity to reignite lost love.

Don't turn your relationships into a battleground. Instead, use this transit for conflict resolution. To resolve conflict you will need to learn skills of negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy, great lessons for a Saturn in Libra transit.

Do your best to be honest, up front and fair in all your dealings with others.

Ensure all legal documents and formal partnership agreements are checked and re-checked.

The Eighth House

The 8th is the house of mortgages, inheritances, insurance, the resources of our partners and the dreaded taxman! Psychologically it is about the power money holds over us and the power others have over us when they hold our purse strings.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 8th House – The Power of Money!

It never feels like the right time to make a will, especially if you’re still relatively young, but it really is essential, so stop putting it off.

If you have parents who are elderly, encourage them to get their finances in order, in preparation for the time when you may have to make financial decisions for them. It goes without saying that you will need to approach this sensitively, as most people’s emotions run deep when it comes to these matters.

Take a look at your long term financial commitments such as mortgages, loans, insurance policies, investments and debts. Take some professional, independent advice on how to make your money work better for you (and don’t forget to read the small print before you sign anything).

Contemplate the power money has over you. Why do you desire/need money? Is it because of the security it affords or is it the power and status it can bring? Think about whether you need to change your perspective on money to something a little healthier. Remember that money is merely energy we exchange for the work we do and then exchange in turn for the things we need. Yes, money makes the world go around, but it is our attitude to it that gives it so much power over us.

Work on releasing your fears about money by doing some prosperity work through meditation, affirmation or some other preferred energy work. [OK, my personal opinion here: the bookshops are chock with spiritual books on manifestation and prosperity work. While there are some really good approaches and methods out there, it is my belief that prosperity work should be about healing your attitude to money, such as your fears around not having enough. It should be about learning to feel emotionally rich, whatever your income. Doing this kind of work with the aim of becoming literally rich is counterproductive and probably doomed to failure – we’re talking Saturn here – get real!]

Who gives you money (other than your employer/clients)? Are there strings attached? Perhaps it’s your partner or your family? Are you allowing yourself to be ‘bought’ by them? Do they expect you to do certain things or behave in certain ways in exchange for what they give you and is this a trade-off you are comfortable with? If not, it might be worth considering whether you are allowing them and their money to control you. Difficult issues, but ones which may become important under this transit.

How are your partner’s finances holding up? Under this transit, you may need to support them as perhaps they are out of work or sick. If you are able to help them, do it with good grace, for they may be feeling depressed or powerless. Consider that while this can be a very stressful and challenging time financially, it can also be emotionally rewarding, an opportunity for your loving bond to grow in time, the gift of Saturn in Libra.

The Ninth House

The 9th house is about the religion and philosophy we embrace in life. It’s also about vision, learning and deep understanding and therefore rules higher education and advanced study. It’s about travel and far flung foreign places and how we seek to broaden our horizons. For a house that is essentially about expansion, a Saturn transit doesn’t seem like a good thing, but this transit could be very beneficial if you handle it as a valuable learning experience.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 9th House – Lessons Learned!

If you become frustrated by limitations, challenges and obstacles to your dreams and ambitions during this transit, remember that Saturn will transit the 10th next, so use this time to clarify your objectives, put the hours in and work hard. Then, by the time Saturn hits your 10th you could be ready to reap the rewards of your efforts.

Be prepared to have your world view, philosophy or religious beliefs challenged. The lesson of this transit is tolerance and you would do well to appreciate that there is more than one point of view, or life path.

Embark on a course of deep study and learning.

Broaden your horizons by traveling and/or socializing with people from different cultures, countries and religions. Under this transit, this could be a valuable learning experience.

Cultivate pragmatism and understand that anything worth achieving is worth working for and waiting for.

The Tenth House

The 10th is the house of vocation, career, status and reputation. It’s where we’re heading and what we hope to achieve. It’s also about authority figures and how we ourselves embrace authority and responsibility.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 10th House – Take Responsibility!

This is not a great transit for winging it in your career, the chances are you won’t get away with it. Go to meetings well prepared, know what you’re taking about, become an authority, go the extra mile, be a team player.

You may be pushing very hard to achieve your ambitions under this transit, but make sure you play fair on your way to the top. Ultimately you will achieve more with the cooperation and support of others.

Embrace any opportunity to take on new responsibilities and leadership roles at work.

Set tangible, realistic goals, building on what you’ve already achieved, as opposed to going off in a completely new direction.

Use social networking to raise your professional profile, but if you want to see some rewards you have to put some effort into it, so make sure you have a solid, serious, quality product, service or idea to promote.

Don’t neglect your personal life/home life, maintain a healthy balance.

The Eleventh House

The 11th house is about our hopes, dreams and desires. It's also about our friends, our peers and the groups we belong to, our social consciousness and the social issues that get us fired up.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 11th House – Group Effort!

A great transit for cooperating in team efforts, but be prepared to compromise and ensure that everyone in the team gets their voice heard.

Take on new responsibilities in groups you belong to. Lead by positive example.

Be prepared for a few difficulties with friends. Don't despair, Saturn is just helping you weed out unhealthy associations.

Remember that you can't please all the people all of the time!

What social issues get you really worked up? This is a good transit for forming or joining a well structured, practical, realistic campaign that, with effort, can make a real difference. Don't forget the power of networking, get others involved in your cause.

With Saturn in this house, fulfilling your dreams and aspirations could feel like an uphill struggle, so be prepared to work extra hard at it. Saturn will help you recognise unrealistic aspirations so you can concentrate on more realistic ones. Remember that any reward earned under Saturn is yours for keeps, it can't be taken away from you!

The Twelfth House

The 12th house is about that which we repress or hide. It's about how and why we withdraw and retreat and about our spirituality. It's also about self-defeating behavior and can be about health issues. Traditionally, Saturn is said to be in its 'Joy' in this house, this is probably because Saturn gives this nebulous house a structure and a framework to work with. Antother theory goes that with Saturn here, it can't do much, so its negative effects are minimised.

Tips for Saturn in Libra in the 12th House – Saturn Takes A Break!

Pay attention to the delicate mind-body balance. Good mental health boosts the body’s natural immune system, but mental health issues can weaken the immune system. Look for ways to reduce stress and negativity. Contact your doctor or alternative health practitioner if you think you need help in this area (the same applies to Saturn in the 6th).

If your energy feels low during this transit, don't push yourself too hard. Rest and prepare for the next cycle of  action when Saturn crosses your Ascendant.

Review your life! What have the last few years been like, what do you want for the next few years? Consider getting some life coaching or making a life plan.

Start a dream journal and look for recurring themes. Before you go to sleep, ask your subconcious to give you a helpful dream. 

Think about any self-limiting and self sabotaging behaviour patterns you may have. Where do they come from? Consider how these behaviours have been blocking your progress Think about how can you release them and stop doing it. Get some therapy or some self help to assist you in your process.

If you feel the need to hide under the bed covers and withdraw from the world for a while under this transit, then do so, but remember there's also a real world out there, this is not a transit for losing yourself in fantasy.

For Houses 1 - 7 Click Here

For Houses 7 - 12 See Above

Which House is Saturn Transiting?

You will need to get your birth chart done. You can do this for free at www.alabe.com The chart that comes up will be divided into 12 segments. Find the segment/s that have the Libra symbol (shown right) and that’s the house you will need to look at. The first house starts at the horizontal line on the left. Count that as 1 and then count anti-clockwise from there. For example, in the chart below, Libra is on the cusp of the 7th house. You can see Saturn in that house too – it’s the one that looks a bit like a h.

What if You Don’t Know Your Birth Time?

No worries. In fact this is even easier, because all you need to know is your Sun sign to work out which solar house Saturn in Libra will be transiting. Even if you know your time, it’s work looking at this house as well:

Aries Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 7th solar house
Taurus Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 6th solar house
Gemini Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 5th solar house
Cancer Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 4th solar house
Leo Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 3rd solar house
Virgo Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 2nd solar house
Libra Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 1st solar house
Scorpio Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 12th solar house
Sagittarius Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 11th solar house
Capricorn Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 10th solar house
Aquarius Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 9th solar house
Pisces Sun - Saturn in Libra will transit your 8th solar house

Saturn in Libra image from http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/2010/01/dumb-and-dumber/

[Please note, these tips are offered as suggestions to help you understand your Saturn transit. The astrologer is not a trained therapist or financial advisor and accepts no responsibility for the results of following these tips. Please consult a relevant qualified professional if required.]

http://www.mandilockley.com/