APRIL THRU SEPTEMBER 09, PLUTO RX

Hi everyone,

I'm taking a break from posting here for a while. I'm a Scorpio and Pluto, the ruling planet of this sign, is currently stationing. It will turn retrograde on April 4th 2009 until September 11th, 2009. This is a perfect opportunity for all Scorpio's to review matters relating to their Self and their commitments; particularly those which involve the way they communicate, interact, express themselves or share their knowledge (Pluto in Scorpio's solar 3rd). Personally I know this is the ideal time for me to devote myself to writing my book and regenerating other projects.

Wherever you have Scorpio on the house cusp, the people, things, places etc which that house corresponds to, combined with the house which Pluto is currently transiting (Capricorn) will give you a clue as to what themes you need to merge together. Retrogrades indicate what you may need to review, return to, or 'finish off' at this time. Once done, you can then expect to re-emerge - somewhat like a butterfly from a cocoon - invigorated and transformed when the planet returns to forward motion in September and particularly when it re-crosses the 3 Capricorn location, right at the end of the year.

Remember too, we always have to leave something behind for something new to come into being.

Under any Pluto transit, we feel pressured to eliminate and release the old, outworn, outdated and obsolete in our lives. When Pluto is transiting retrograde, we are urged to let go of attitudes, thinking or communication patterns, security drives, rigid emotions; a time to undergo an internal form of house cleaning....

For more on Pluto Rx read Lynne Koiner

I'm not abandoning CWF, just taking some time out, but please don't go! There are well over 350 articles on my blogs and website for you peruse and I also invite you to view my latest quarterly newsletter/e-zine, which contains a number of interesting articles by myself and other authors, plus numerous links to some fascinating sites. You can find Spring 2009 here

The archive for all previous ones can be accessed here.

Until next time then, thanks for your support and feedback - particularly to those of you who have been faithfully following CWF since 2006. I started writing for my own amusement, knowing that if what I wrote was meant to be shared with someone, they would find their way to these pages - I'm astonished just how many found their way and that's what has kept me writing for so long. Thank you.


Kathryn x

Oh and finally before I go..... Here's a link to the latest audio from Wayne Dyer. It's a couple of hours long but if you have resonated with me over the years, you'll definitely like this. What I noticed in listening to it is that Wayne sounds a little tired. I've been following his work for 29 years now (saturn return!) and this is the first time ever that I have noticed a drop in his energy levels. As a Taurus, Pluto rules Wayne's 7th and is in his 9th - so, maybe he needs to review his extensive travel and his teaching/lecturing commitments at this time? Anyway here it is, Enjoy

A MYSTICAL UNIVERSE

The late, great, Theosophist and Astrologer Alan Leo repeatedly used the phrase, Character is destiny i.e., As you think and act inwardly, so you attract and become.

When an actor or actress plays a part, the way we distinguish a good performance from a bad one is if it is utterly believable. This happens when the thespian merges their Self so utterly and completely into the role that they become the character they are portraying.

What I note is that in some, as yet, unexplained part of our reality, sometimes character reveals our destiny even when the character is an assumed one. This is extremely interesting to students of metaphysics because the whole premise of the efficacy of manifesting rests on a person's ability to assume the feeling of being, or having, something so completely, that it shows up in their life.

Incidentally, the words Self-efficacy is defined as a person’s perception of their ability to produce an effect or reach a goal.

So, what are we to make of the fact that Liam Neeson portrayed a bereaved husband in the film, Love Actually?* Or that he has already shot performances in the upcoming films "After Life" and "Five Minutes of Heaven," (neither of which are in distribution at this time).

We all know the phrase 'Art imitating life' but what is this phenomena? No one would ever want to be deemed responsible for attracting tragic events into their life and it's obviously not as simple as saying that if one plays a part then that precise destiny will befall you. That is patently wrong. You only have to think of some of the bizarre roles assumed in Sci-Fi films or thrillers - Anthony Hopkins won't suddenly be found eating human livers with fava beans and a nice Chianti like Hannibal Lechter.

That said, the roles one is drawn to, or invited to play as an actor/actress, may show some correlation to a repressed or unconscious side of the psyche. Maybe it is a case that we are all drawn to play out their greatest fears (or in some cases fantasies) at some level. Or perhaps to work through a role to prepare us for a later, real life event which, at some unconscious level, we know lies ahead. I am reminded here of the Professor who specialised in a very rare form of brain cancer and then died from this same disease herself.

No one knows what's really going on, but again metaphysicians/quantum physicists would say that the answer lies somewhere in the fact that every moment in time, has the quality of everything that will happen, has happened or will ever happen within it and that our Time/Space perceptions are illusory. So the fact that someone chooses some course of action at any given time can hold the outcome, just as astrology looks at the birth moment as describing the course of life.

There is a case to be made for this line of thinking for the 'synchronicity of life' is apparent all around us. Vanessa Redgrave ( Natasha's mother) was, in a few weeks time, due to reprise her role in the play 'The Year of Magical Thinking'. This is a story of bereavement and personal grief set around the real life personal loss of the play's writer, Joan Didion. who lost her daughter and husband. The daughter was in a coma in hospital and later died.

Reviews for the Broadway show which originally ran from 2007, told us that Didion found solace in "magical thinking," and was stunned by the realisation that "life changes in the instant".

The Redgrave family has been beset by drama both on and off the stage. Here is a brilliant article on Natasha and the family One that will be particularly interesting to astrologers wishing to know how the 'chart fitted the life'**.

There are many other cases of life imitating art; just a couple of very well known examples that spring to mind are the fact that Christopher Reeve had played a paralysed Police officer in the film Above Suspicion prior to becoming paralysed himself. Grace Kelly filmed The Swan in which she played a Princess. She then went on to marry Prince Rainier and become Princess Grace of Monaco.

The parallels are, therefore, not always negative. However, when a play or film come out where the actor or actress has an affair, becomes a parent, plays an alcoholic, is beareaved or faces some particularly emotionally charged event, it has been noticed that, in many cases, there is some issue around these themes playing out in their personal lives - or of those close to them. The 'law' of attraction, where like meets like, appears to be at work.

I'd be interested to hear of any examples you may have noted in this area over the years. I believe that discussing these subjects will help us to move closer to understanding more about how we may consciously, or unconsciously, collaborate with our fate.

* * * * * *

* The film Love Actually was produced by Tim Bevan who was married to Natasha Richardson's sister, Joely so the extended family were probably also immersed in this role to a greater extent than normal.

**For more on the astrology of Natasha and Liam Neeson please see my latest newsletter here

JEN/JOHN OFF/ON + Jade and Jack

So apparently Jen and John are off again. What's going on? Is it really the end?


I could give you one of those lengthy posts about the nature of the relationship between Aquarians (Jen) and Librans (John) and talk about how we astrologers look for signs of compatibility in personal charts (synastry) - and indeed it would all be very interesting. However, if we wish to zoom straight in and look solely at timing and the crux of the matter, I know of no better chart technique to do this than using the little known Coalescent system.

If you aren't sure what Coalescent charts are then here's a primer but suffice to say it is based on the system that I have the utmost respect for - harmonics.

Here is the chart for Jen and John with the transits on the outside wheel. The transits are set for last week when the latest break-up was announced. As you can see, Uranus, the planet of unpredictability, sudden breaks, surprises, shocks, perverse behaviour is conjoined to Mars in Pisces ( ignore house cusps as we don't have birth times). Mars in Pisces is the placement of will, action, activity and energy put into music, acting, imagery, photography, rumour, romance but also, if misdirected, into escapism - often through drink and drugs or just a sheer unwillingness to be defined in a role.

The transiting Sun was joined with Uranus conjunct C. Mars on the day of their latest break up, and the Full Moon also fell on this Mars 2 days before and Venus recently went retrograde. Click to enlarge.




There is undoubtedly an electrifying, exciting, nature to their relationship at this time but Mars/Uranus combinations are also the most volatile going. Unfortunately for these two lovebirds, due to retrograde motion of a few planets, and the ongoing Saturn/Uranus opposition, these transits guarantee it will remain incredibly unstable and unfathomable into 2010.

Without doubt though, even if we don't hear of it in the media, neither has totally walked away from the other - this is on/off, hot/cold and overall very exhausting for both if them.

You may be one of those asking, Why does 'poor Jen' have to suffer so much? Well we have to remember it is only the media who have labelled her as suffering. At some level she may enjoy the drama. The relationships we end up in are always characteristic of us, and our true nature. Jennifer Aniston is an actress, a dramatist; she plays roles. Does John Mayer see her for who she really is (his natal Moon/Neptune conjunction). Indeed can she separate herself from the characters she plays?

She filmed 'He's Just Not That Into You' (fun film, far better than Marley and Me) then went public with Mayer. Is Jen subconsciously setting herself up to re-enact the role she played in the film? She played the girlfriend of a guy who wouldn't marry her, so she reluctantly walked away. He saw the error of his ways and eventually proposed in true, storybook romantic fashion. Does she secretly hope that's what John Mayer will do?

Who's playing who?

Furthermore we must remember that Aquarians present a cool, collected friendly persona but they just don't do cool, uneventful relationships. With Leo on the solar 7th, it is extremely typical of Aquarians to get caught up in melodramatic love affairs and/or to seek a father figure. They can repeatedly attract partners who are 'showy' in some way or partners who draw attention to themselves and want to dominate the direction of the relationship. If she's used to being the star of every show, this can cause problems.

Mayer, meanwhile has his marriage partner shown by a Mars/Sun square. He 'get's off' on emotionally combative, feisty, passionate relationships. Is she playing too cool for him and his ideal?

I think Jennifer Aniston knows that John Mayer is' Just not that into her' at the moment. Certainly his body language always looks very revealing to me - she leans into him and he leans away - but we always attract what we most need to learn from. The fact that they got together, and then back together at all, plus this Uranus to Mars transit suggests to me that both have something left to work out. Although the tendency is to abruptly call a physical halt, cutting off from your feelings until you have learned what the lesson they are bringing you is, this is easier said than done.

Beyond all that, figures in the public eye and under great scrutiny by the masses, often play out roles from which the general population can learn. From Prince Charles and Brad Pitt we learned that it doesn't matter how lovely and 'nice' a woman may be - or be perceived to be - it is love that wins the mind and body over, every time. In the case of Jennifer's latest romantic problems we are again being shown that beauty, wealth and success matter not a jot. They are not an automatic passport to love, happiness and fulfillment.

JADE GOODY and JACK TWEED

I'm not in the business of predicting death. Here for the purposes of tracking transits, and seeing how exact these coalescent charts can be, is the coalescent astrology wheel of Jade Goody and Jack Tweed. Again, ignore the house cusps as no exact times are known for both. In these case studies I set the horoscope for symbolic 12 noon times. Astrological transits by conjunction, opposition and square to these charts will show the precise day of significant events in the life of the couples involved. Click to enlarge.

As above, So below.

FULL MOON MARCH 2009 & The Recession

The Full Moon occurs tonight at 02.38 GMT, 11th March 2009 at 20 Virgo/Pisces. This is a mutable axis. Mutable means flexible; not static; fluctuating; rhythmic; changing form, so the position of this lunation informs us that matters which correlate to the two signs are still in transition

Virgo is closely related to jobs and service industries including the armed forces, health care (servicing the needs of our body) shops ( serving the public) and trade unions (serving the rights of employees). Virgo and the 6th house describe what we do on a day to day basis - how we service the daily routine of our life on an individual basis.

Whilst Virgo is allied to serving in all its various forms, Pisces, its opposite sign, correlates to sacrifice, surrender and rescuing. It is more concerned with the overall picture than the detail. Pisces asks,'What can I give to others to make it better for us all?' Hence it is the sign of charitable concerns and the 'Sea of Oneness' where we let go ( surrender to the force) merge and recognise there is no separation - we are all like individual waves, differentiated parts of one source.

As both Virgo and Pisces relate to cadent houses in the astrological chart we are, for the most part, still looking at situations which are taking place in seclusion, behind closed doors or those that are in the final planning stage but will affect the collective. Even if we see no evidence of it yet, plans for assisting those who find themselves 'all at sea' or 'imprisoned' without a job, and missing the usual routine 'beat' to their daily life, will be well under way. It is in the subsequent signs of Aries/Libra, where these plans, decisions and ramifications of what occurs around this lunation will become apparent.

Sometimes companies have to sacrifice some employees in order to keep a company afloat. This would be a particularly Virgo/Pisces decision-making process, as attending to the detail may save the health (Virgo) of the organisation overall (Pisces). Whether employees, or those whom job losses affect, feel this has been done with any care, concern and compassion for their welfare will be a particular issue for many at this time.

The proximity of the lunation to the SA/UR opposition means that internal and external tensions are being ratcheted up, ever closer to breaking point and things ( good and bad) can happen suddenly, but it's also a time of imminent breakthroughs. Think of it like new shoots struggling to make their way through the ground. Before winter turns to spring, we still can't see any visible effects - the ground may even appear dead and barren - but there's a tremendous amount of energy and effort taking place, out of view. One day, where there was nothing, a sign of growth will suddenly appear, or an idea will emerge, as if from nowhere.

This whole Virgo/Pisces theme is currently analogous to unemployment and the tensions around Governmental plans to shore up the economy and rescue failing banks and organisations. Many of us feel we are still very much in the dark about the bigger picture and we are desperate to see signs that all the behind the scenes efforts are working; we are looking for those 'green shoots'.

To continue with the analogy, the reality is that the original seeds were sown in soil that had become very unfertile. They had also been badly tended, therefore although there will still be slow growth, we do have to expect the loss of more jobs. Ultimately though, what is being birthed will also lead to a widespread (Pisces) redistribution (Virgo) of wealth, accountability and skills that will form a new global economic landscape ( Aries/Libra= Cardinal Cross and World Points).

In the personal sense, you may have an idea or a plan of action which you want to implement. You may be trying to organise your life along better lines. If so you need to harness the natural cycles of life and wait just a couple more weeks before taking any overt action. Gather information and listen to your instinct at this time. Seek out, or offer help to, others wherever you can because many will be feeling like they are on the edge of a breakdown. It's likely that some people can be saved from experiencing depression if they are taught to see the current downturn as just part of a greater cycle that is ultimately assisting them in their personal growth. This instantly eradicates feelings of powerlessness and futility, as hope is restored.

Quite simply put, if you are waiting for news or unsure of your direction at this time, the advice is to 'don't push it or force it, relax and let it be!' for just a little while longer. Trust! You don't doubt when the Sun goes down that it will rise again, why doubt that your life is governed by the same forces.

In the more ego driven personalities, where desire (or anger) rides roughshod over awareness of the need for rhythm and process, sadly the 'breakthrough' will be forced, the energies will become quite uncontainable and may suddenly be expressed quite violently or in 'revolutionary' ways. However, you don't have to become embroiled in the negative manifestations.

As mutable signs equate to the mental realms, it would be far better to think outside of the box and plan to do something quite different or unusual, than to allow the energy to become misdirected and 'sink' you.

If you are one of those who have been made redundant or are experiencing acute anxiety over the economic problems, spend the next two weeks working out ways to 'revolutionise' old ways of thinking and embrace a vision of how you want your life to shape up in coming months. Replace negativity with positivity at every juncture. What resources will you need to nurture the tender young shoots ( the idea) that you have in mind? Who do you need to connect with? What transferable skills do you possess which can be utilised to increase your income? Virgo lunations demand that you take practical action and formulate plans, so talk to someone. Seek out counselling, coaching or visit the multitude of self-help websites online that can assist you in finding a way forward - here's a great one.

If I can offer just one tip to restoring your financial wealth it is this: Do what you love and the money will follow. Make the act of service - the job - the priority and don't focus on the financial reward.

This Full Moon is aiding and abetting the current 'Shift' in consciousness. Losing a job is not a tragedy but an opportunity to take responsibility for your life direction and fulfillment and to get 'on purpose'. After the Equinox of 20th March and the New Moon of 26 March renewed hope will surface. With Venus Rx during this whole period, it may be prudent to revisit people, skills and/or financial plans that you had shelved or had previously considered but dismissed - they may prove to be a hidden goldmine. Many people will feel compelled to give up (Rx) on luxuries (Venus) but that exacerbates the overall (Pisces) problem inherent in a recession as it can lead to deflation

Far better then to use this Full Moon to refuse to feel like a victim of a recession and review (Rx) ways to increase income rather than decrease spending!

At the top of the page is the ACG Map for the lunation. Remember with these maps the lines show where planets come to angularity. Angularity is associated with the 4th harmonic (divisions of the circle by 4) and concrete manifestation. Physical events and news will most likely emanate from these areas in the days preceeding the lunation and the two weeks afterwards. The lunations also mark areas that become sensitised to subsequent transits of planets to 20 mutables ( i.e., 20 +/- 2 degrees Virgo Pisces, Gemini, Sag) setting up an harmonic resonance.

If you look at the map you will see the blue arrow pointing to the Pluto line, correctly pinpointing the breakdown in law and order with regards to the drug war (Pisces) escalating in Tijuana Mexico.

Also highlighted is Pakistan and the Afghanistan border and there's a particularly difficult confluence of activity over Japan with Pluto setting while the lunation straddles the MC and IC. Planets on the IC often relate to earth related events, so it may be something to do with the Kyoto Protocol but earth tremors are an obvious possibility. When the Sun is in Pisces, under-sea quakes which produce tsunami's are more likely along that entire longitude. Speaking of under-sea activity these lines also straddle the area where dozens of whales beached themselves in Tasmania last week.

Also highlighted is Rio in Brazil, the UAE and Iran and the Middle East and once again we have Pluto ascending through Lisbon.

Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the US states of TX, KS, IA, MO and MN take a hit in the geodetic maps, not shown here.

* * * * *

My quarterly newsletter/e-zine will be delivered on the March Equinox. You can sign up in my sidebar.

THE MESSAGE IS GETTING LOUDER

I've written before about the rise in the number of Futurists - people who try and predict upcoming social and economic trends. Dmitry Orlov is not a fully fledged futurist, in fact he's a software engineer, but if someone becomes an engineer astrologers know they are naturally attuned to being prescient. This is due to the correlations of this type of work to the planet Uranus, which was discovered at the time of the Industrial Revolution and whose cycles coincide with the technological revolution that birthed the Internet. Uranus always seems to connect one to be able to receive 'information from the future'.

Anyway Dmitry is garnering the attention of futurists the world over due to his 'insight' over the parallels between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the now full blown economic crisis in the USA which, arguably, triggered the global meltdown. He has been 'shouting' out for over a decade now about the possibility of the social and economic collapse of the USA. You can read the transcript of a speech he gave in February here and/or you can read his presentation (with visuals) from 2006 here.

The message is certainly getting louder but we also have to ask, is it true?

The person who alerted me to Dmitry did so in the context of enquiring if the astrology supported such a dire view of a collapse of the USA.

The answer is yes and no.

Firstly cycles do repeat but never in exactly the same way. One has to see cycles as being like a spiral. We may come back to revisit a situation, but we will always do so one level higher than before. It's almost as if we say, 'Okay I recognise this, I've been here before' but what you learned the previous time ensures that the outcome this time is different as you are looking at it from a slightly higher perspective. In global terms, a cycle repeats but the actions of the people participating in it, and the level from which they perceive the problem will have a great impact on the outcome. So the more enlightened people are about a positive, possible future the more they can raise themselves up to look at it from a 'higher' perspective and avoid the previous problems. Forewarned is forearmed.

Astrologically the Jupiter/Neptune/ Chiron conjunction of this year could point to massive collapse of the economy, currencies and maybe even countries ( Astrologer Christeen Skinner is another prescient 'Uranian' who discussed all this years ago and wrote about it in her book The Financial Universe). The same Jupiter/Neptune associated with collapse can however, also give rise to hugely inflated fears travelling throughout the collective, fuelled by misinformed networks and groups (AQ) and even astrologers, (Christeen excluded!). So it's important that we don't all get swept off in a wave of fear and unwittingly bring about that which we are trying to avoid.

What I personally note is the transit of Saturn into Libra later in the year. This can bring about a reform of the structure of society via collaborative efforts. We can all get serious (SA) about co-operating with each other (Libra) in order for the good of the whole. This will involve huge restructuring of the Legal/Judicial system (Libra) too, but right action ( SA) allied with right thought (air sign) can bring about change.

To this end my eye was drawn to the 'manifesto' of a network of futurists called The Foresight Network. It says:

The network's goals are to help members listen and learn from each other, anticipate change, explore next practice, find new opportunities to collaborate and to co-create the future.

They also have a great URL - Shaping Tomorrow

It always amuses me that futurists have no idea how closely allied their work is to that of astrologers. One of the posts I see up on this site at the moment is Looking 7 years forward, looking 7 years back. Seven years is of course one sub-cycle of the 28 year Saturn cycle and Uranus has an 84 year cycle which is 12 periods of 7 years. Shaping Tomorrow would be a Saturn (shaping/structuring) theme while Tomorrow is a Uranian theme (Uranus = future) so they are bang on 'trend' in choosing this name when we are in a continuing Saturn/Uranus opposition cycle during 2008-2010.

What's the upshot then? Well. if the message 'is getting louder' we will all eventually hear someone's take on it. However, in my mind it should not be heard as a clarion call for us all to bunker down or head for the hills . That will energise a wave of panic. Rather it is that as a co-operative - a 'global family' of people and businesses, formed along the premise of: benefits that can be passed along for the good of everyone, we can and should 'collaborate with this fate' and actively begin to co-create ( Saturn in Libra) a better future.

Don't look to the Governments to 'fix' your future. You may feel that you are a victim and resent having to clean up someone else's mess but, to paraphrase Goethe if we 'all sweep in front of our own front door, soon the whole world will be clean'. Do what you can to bring change to your world and don't wait for it to come to you. Check out the Co-ops. and alternative power sources (Uranus also moves to the sign of Aries in 2010).

This is the way forward and my bet for the single biggest trend for 2010.



Update: This just in. Best newsletter for Trendwatching