Season’s Greetings stargazers! The nights are lengthening with more night sky viewing time but it’s frustrating with most of the visible planets so near the Sun, hmm must be time to get better acquainted with the constellations. How are you getting on with integrating new bodies in space into your consciousness and/or astro-interps? Deepening wars upsetting you?-sorry, it looks like getting worse before getting better. Dealing with your senior moments and yes, even young people have them-if you don’t know what they are, just wait. Your dreams coming unstitched? Maybe you’re just having trouble keeping up with so many changes happening so quickly. Or worst of all, are you fed up trying to stay current with the relentless demands on your time? I wish I could offer some solace but the October break is over, keep those seatbelts fastened the end of the year looks hectic. Ho, ho ho.

Wave goodbye to the waxing Jupiter/Saturn square…which broke up last century’s status quo well and truly and brought changes and world adjustments too numerous to list again. Did you notice that national politics shifted to the right in Europe and to the left in Latin America, the way Islam dominates the news, how we’ve finally acknowledged global warming and are painfully aware of our carbon footprints, we’ve even got a new Pope. Yeah, the status quo of May 2000 is largely deleted, it’s all change...you knew that.

Eris - Detail from Athenian vase

about 575-525 BC

Name Change: Eris, Goddess of Discord (Ares’ sister). The naming of this disruptive edge of space wanderer (with the most elliptical orbit) was perfect. Fer instance, consider the kerfuffle she stirred up amongst astronomers forced to re-define 'planet' and even create a new 'dwarf planet' category. (Head dwarf Pluto could bitch but Pluto does not care!) Still, events seem to reflect the mythology of Eris. There’s no doubt that she and her moon/daughter Dysnomia, the Goddess of Lawlessness, have been kicking up more than little dust along with some massive military fuck-ups around our world. Lawlessness reigns most notably in places like Afghanistan and Iraq where western troops have been turned into sitting ducks. Perhaps George Bush appreciates the company, he’s a lame duck president and just, well, lame. Or maybe Sudan where they’re butchering each other. Eris is here, so is Dysnomia I hope they have good moods, too.

Eris: 8 Jan 2005, 10:00 PST (+8), Palomar Observatory, Calif. 33 N 19, 116 W 53. Data: Mike Brown

Nuclear Change: North Korea tests the bomb. Anybody see "Team America?" The puppet movie in the image of Thunderbirds? Well anyway, there’s a scene with Kim Jong-il, Dear Leader, that’s hilarious…he’s so lonely (you laughed here if you saw the film). But N Korea’s not at all funny and the entire world freaked out in October when Kim announced he was the father of a bouncing nuclear bomb! So proud…nothing so handy as weapons of mass destruction. Of course, he’s more particular about N Korea’s human babies, if they’re not of perfect Korean genetics, they’re not wanted and are often killed (this according to a N Korean doctor who recently escaped). North Korea’s Saturn is 28 Leo, it’s Chiron is about 21 Scorpio. Tr Uranus (conjunct tr NN) opposes natal Sun in spring 2007, N Korea’s not going to settle down.

North Korea: 10 September 1948, time unknown (well, it IS N Korea). P’yongyang, 39 N 01, 125 E 45. Bomb tested: 9 October 2006, 10:35 LT (reported by S Korean official).

Limbo to Go: The Catholic Church has been involved in years of PR hassles with problems ranging from priestly paedophilia to insults to Islam (for which the Pope expressed regret but didn’t apologise) and big changes are to be announced. For centuries, un-baptised Catholic babies, barred from heaven if they died, were consigned to Limbo, nice but nowhere and not with God. The Pope intends to do away with limbo, ensuring that all babies go straight to heaven, much as in Islam (and N Korea?). In a process begun under the Pope’s leadership, when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger, and in a bid to woo both reformists and ultra-conservatives back to the fold he also intends to loosen restriction on use of the old Latin Mass. No formal announcements have been made as of mid-October. The transiting North Node has slipped back over his Mercury (conjunct his Uranus) and will reach his Jupiter in mid December. These changes have been discussed for some time and the September Solar Eclipse seemed to slow things down, falling on his Mercury but the 20 December New Moon, 29 Sag, accompanied by Pluto will square his Mercury/Uranus. Good time of year for the faithful to come home if it all goes to plan.

Pope Benedict XVI: 16 April 1927, time unknown, Marktl, Germany, 48 N 15, 12 E 51. Data: Wikipedia

Drop Your Veils - Jack Straw Neptuned and Eclipsed: The Leader of the House of Commons created a real storm of controversy when he wrote in his local newspaper, 5 October, that Muslim women wearing the full veil (Neptune) "made positive relations between communities more difficult." And "concealing a face was a visible statement of separation and difference." His comments continue to reverberate thru-out the media. Transits to Straw’s chart in October tell it all. Tr NN in Pisces opposed his Mars exactly, with tr Venus conjunct natal Neptune. The September eclipses also ignited relevant natal midpoints, Lunar Eclipse 7 September opposing his Mercury/Jupiter exactly and Sun/Jupiter. The Solar Eclipse 22 September was conjunct his Venus/Neptune! And the Full Moon, 7 October opposed his Jupiter/Neptune. There’s more but do you need it?

Jack Straw: 3 August 1946. Time unknown. Buckhurst Hill, England, 51 N 48, 00 E 38. Data: C. Gerard

General Tells It Like It Is: The US, dragging Britain with it into the shit, wants us to believe bullets can win peace but in mid-October, the new head of the UK military forces said in an interview that the sooner the UK pulls out of Iraq the better. Incredibly direct statement for a new military supremo and totally appropriate for transiting Mercury in Scorpio, doncha think? With his Mars conjunct UK 1066 Mars, General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the UK army since August, in an explosive interview on 10 October, spoke in opposition to the government’s plans in Iraq.

Dannatt, 55, said British troops were exacerbating the problem in Iraq and should get out soon. He also criticised treatment of injured troops on NHS hospital wards and expressed concern that the government was naive to think military involvement would help to establish democracy in Iraq as there was clearly no plan for the aftermath. Dannatt believes there’s a better chance of success in Afghanistan but troops are too stretched. “We’re running hot.” Asked if the army could cope, he said, "just." The General has blown the lid off of tradition and expressed his personal beliefs…and his soldiers are happy to have the support of the guy upstairs, a genuine moral boost for them. In the days following the interview he reaffirmed his comments.

This is probably the most fascinating story about a military commander in modern times. The 1801 UK chart is active regarding the military but the 1066 chart is all singing, all dancing on this event. March and September eclipses and other lunations thru this year and into 2007 should be illuminating. Meanwhile the 1066 UK chart is jumpin…12th to 6th house oppositions in Virgo and Pisces and tr Chiron's was poised S/D within hours, getting ready to roll over the 1066 Mars at 8½ Aquarius to celebrate the New Year. The synastry between the General and both UK charts is startling and it’s a loooong list. Short version, this is the right guy in the right place at the right time to encourage British troops (and right-thinkers everywhere) mired in the heat and dust of unpopular conflicts.

UK Coronation of King William: 25 Dec 1066, 12:00 LMT, London, 51 N 30, 00 W 10, Asc 23 Aries.

General Sir Richard Dannatt: 23 December 1950, Essex, 51 N 48, 00 E 40. No time. Data: Observer on Sunday 15 October 2006.

Did You Make History in the UK? Neptune turned direct 29 October a time to actualise dreams or make memories. Altho Saturn opposing Neptune presented some challenges it brought opportunities, too, one of the more fascinating was the chance to play historian. The National Trust (NT) declared Tuesday 17 October 'One Day in History' and invited interested participants to upload an online diary, of their activities of the 17th, until the end of the month. The NT’s project is described as a 'blog for the national record,' saying they want this day to have its own place in history, a snapshot of everyday life in the early 21st century. Students and teachers were invited to contribute but anyone with access to the web could too. Today’s bloggers are tomorrow’s historians. On 17 October, at 0:00 (BST) the Moon has just left Saturn in Leo, they both sextile Venus, Sun and Mars and trine Pluto. The NT may not gather as much information as they hope to since Mercury is conjunct Jupiter in Scorpio but for those who do 'speak up' it may be difficult to stick to the 1000 word limit. Then again, Mercury and Jupiter square Neptune so it could prove almost impossible to collate the information that is gathered.

Speaking of history, there are several places that could be making some, or headlines at least. Like Australia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador and Vatican City

The Full Moon 5 November, 13 Taurus (gonna be a helluva Bonfire Night) opposes unusually strong Scorpio energy with ½ of the planets in Scorpio. Change and transformation is everywhere, powerful energy is being transmuted through and around us. Tis the season, eh? The trine to the Scorpio stellium from Uranus suggests it may be easier to open to change, no matter how startling (careful at those bonfires!). Scorpio says, ‘resistance is futile’ but Venus and Mars are both on the current road trip with the Sun, in fact they’re closertthanthis and they’ll get to the ‘bottom of it’ whatever ‘it’ is, ready or not. Be part of the change.

The New Moon 20 November continues the Scorpio theme but now with Sun, Moon and Jupiter at 29 degrees and Mercury and Mars pushing hard from behind, whatever isn’t sorted, gets sorted now. Efficiency rules, you can do the sorting or the cosmos will do it for ya. Venus in Sag will no doubt lighten things up from the 17th but she’s on a mission from that pile-up in Scorpio and will be working her way towards Pluto who’s waiting for her in the outer reaches, and they’re both expecting Jupiter to get home. Challenging times for those who thought they could keep secrets, Pluto near the Galactic Centre is drawing it all in…all of it, whatever ‘it’ is. With all the planets direct right now for two weeks only, things are definitely moving.

The 5 December Full Moon at 13 Gemini/Sag brings more mutable energy than we’ve had since the September eclipses. Expect those mutable points to be triggered again, it’s time to finish up whatever was exposed or past it’s sell-by date. This time Pluto is the leader of the pack, no prisoners will be taken but with Mercury still in Scorpio the real dirt gets dished next New Moon.

And so, presenting…an all-star line-up in Sag for the 20 December New Moon and now only Venus has raced ahead into Capricorn, no doubt weighing up the potential for giving one gift rather than another. She’s in executive mode while everybody else wants to party, or travel, or pray, or preach. Discussion of law and philosophy should get pretty lively during the upcoming holidays. We’ll be watching Venus as she puts some air between herself and the Sun until her Rx period next summer. Right now she’s in Capricorn doing re-con for Mars, who doesn’t arrive there til mid-January. This looks ideal for bargain hunters, retailers beware, late holiday shoppers will be ruthless in their quest for value for money. If you hang on til the January sales, shop early.

The Winter Solstice 22 December starts with a bang…Mars square Uranus should liven things up but take care, there’s lively and there’s explosive. Perhaps late mutables should let somebody else deal with the electrics and the driving that day but get those lights and tinsel up, it’s the darkest time of year and we need some sparkle.

2006 ends with Pluto conjunct the Galactic Centre as it’s been all year but if the GC is 26 Sag 57, the conjunction is exact right thru the New Year celebrations. Could be some furious boogying on the other side of that huge black hole, I mean if the GC is sucking everything into itself, all that matter’s got to be going somewhere. An image springs to mind, a crowded basement disco with black light and strobes, yeah a wild party and an earth-shakin band and the odd stoned Centaur or 2…and some dwarfs. Personally, cocooning chez moi sounds ideal and I know where I’ll be waking up ;-) See you next year!