society and culture – Page 6

Season of Sagittarius, celestial archer of the sinking sun

Why is this time of year associated with Sagittarius the Archer? Two thousand years ago and more, the ancients looked up at this time of year and studied a constellation overhead that they decided represented the image of a man with a bow and arrow.

But the zodiac signs were cast in stone by Ptolemy in the 2 century AD and these dates remain unchanged, based on his arithmetic model of the zodiac. The astrology has parted company with the astronomy which inspired it, due to the wobble of the earth,and the effect known as the precession of the equinoxes.

The constellation of Sagittarius is now visible in the northern hemisphere in summer until September, and is visible in the winter in the southern hemisphere.

To find out where and how to see the constellation VIEW HERE.

But the zodiac dates endure, and the story and the meaning endure.

This was the time of year when the men of the family group went a hunting, to to catch, to kill, to cure and to store meat for the coming winter.

Common associations

Symbol:

Date of Birth: Nov 22 to Dec 21

Ruling planet: Jupiter

Element: Fire

Key phrase: I seek

Body: Thighs

Birth Stone: Topaz, Citrine, Turquoise

Colour: Light Blue

Tarot card: Temperance: Timing, Moderation, Education, Solstice, Healing of Chiron

More about the Astronomy

Sagittarius, the zodiac sign inspired by the constellation of Sagittarius, from the Latin meaning Archer, was recorded in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy.

The constellation of Sagittarius is near the centre of our galaxy, the spiral Milky Way, mainly visible in the southern hemisphere June-November. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation is low on the horizon from August to October.

Sagittarius has a nickname, ‘The Teapot’ on account of its vaguely teapot-shaped star pattern, or asterism.

To find The Teapot

The best time to look is in August or September, somewhere really dark. Locate the hazy band of The Milky Way stretching right across the sky. Looking in the northern hemisphere, the Milk Way seems to bulge as it descends to the southern horizon. This ‘bulge’ is roughly about the middle of the Milky Way and is contained within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius.

Photo by u200bu0468u0477u047bu048f u046au0454u0459u0469u04e1u04c4u047bu0487u0477 on Pexels.com

Sagittarius contains a massive star-forming region, the Omega Nebula, home to the bright blue hyper-giant Pistol Star, one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way. The Pistol Star was discovered with the Hubble Space telescope in 1930, and is largely hidden in the dust of its own nebula.

It is 100 times as massive as our Sun, and 10,000,000 times as bright.

Mythology

Sagittarius is the ninth sign in the Zodiac, not to be confused with the constellation itself, and represents those born between Nov. 22 and the advent of winter solstice, Dec. 21.

Sagittarius is nowadays generally associated with the ancient Greek story of Chiron. But the story is far, far older, and goes back to a Babylonian god, Pabilsag, and even further back than that.

Pabilsag and the Solstice

Pabilsag was the ancient Babylonian name for what we now call Sagittarius, handed down to the Greeks through the Sumerians and Kassites.

The Sumerian word ‘Pabil’ means ‘ancestor or relative’. Combined with the final element sag, meaning ‘chief, head, tip or foremost,’ his name can be translated as the ‘Chief Ancestor’ or ‘Forefather’.

Just as we were hunters at the dawn of human civilization.

Here, 3 millennia BC, we we have a winged centaur type figure, and yes, he is an archer too, and his arrow points at the heart of Scorpio, the red star Antares, but he also has a scorpion’s tail as the wheel of the Zodiac turns, and as Sagittarius gallops in, we leave Scorpio behind.

The distinction of Sagittarius, though, is that he is a solitary hunter. He does not work as one of a team to being down the really big prey. He is an individualist, working alone, just as many a hunter or trapper still hunts alone in winter.

Sagittarius – Psychopomp

The constellation of Sagittarius-Pabilsag is within the Milky Way, rising from the southern regions close to the horizon into the higher reaches of the skies.

This section of the Milky Way represents a symbolic bridge or a rainbow for the souls of the dead on their way to the afterlife, as the arrival of Capricorn draws near, marking the advent of the winter solstice. so that Sagittarius, or Pabilsag, is a psychopomp; a guardian and a guide to the dying year, and also to the souls of the dying as the sun sinks ever lower.

Chiron the wounded Centaur

Most modern versions of the story refer back to much later, classical variants of the old Babylonian myths, and say that Sagittarius represents the gentle, cultured centaur, Chiron, who was accidentally shot by Herakles with a poison arrow.

The centaurs in general were a rough lot, hard drinking, hard fighting, not remotely glamorous. It has been suggested that the legend of the centaurs rose from perfectly mortal, mounted ancient Greek cowboys.

But whatever the centaurs were, Chiron ‘the wisest and justest of the centaurs’ was something very different, representing a hope for the centaurs, and for Humanity itself, as collectively it strives to rise above the ever present tyranny of the Id and its own worst nature.

Here he is, trying to teach Achilles to control his temper, learning to play the lyre. Chiron had many other pupils, as well, including Asclepius, Ajax, Achilles, Theseus, Jason, Peleus, Perseus, and Phoenix. And Herakles, who brought about his death, when he was sent there to be schooled with Chiron.

Herakles had previously lost his temper with Linus, his music tutor back home. Linus, criticised his playing, and Herakles responded by smashing his lyre over the teachers head, killing him. Though in some accounts it was a stool.

Now Chiron, wounded by the poison arrow, was left in terrible pain. He was wise in the ways of medicine, none wiser, but he could not heal himself, and none could help him. Nor could he die, being Immortal.

Still, he carried on until he could bear it no more, and he asked Zeus to release him from Immortality so that he could die and be free of pain.

Zeus placed him in the heavens and the story goes, placed him there as Sagittarius.

However, Chiron already has another constellation, Centaurus, and in addition, there is another classical version of the story of Sagittarius, referring instead to Krotos, a satyr who lived on Mount Helicon with the Muses.

Krotos the Cultivated Satyr

Krotos was the son of Pan and Eupheme, and his mother had nursed the Muses. He was a renowned archer, hunter, horse rider – hence a possible source of confusion with the centaur, and besides all this, a devotee of his childhood companions, The Muses and their arts.

*By Aratus – Leiden University Library Catalogue, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7660666*

Krotos means ‘One who Claps his hands.’ He was credited by the Greeks with not only having invented archery, but introducing the convention of applause at artistic performances.

In this version of the story it was the Muses who, when Krotos died, asked Zeus to place him among the stars, which he did, transforming him into the constellation Sagittarius, says this variant of the zodiac story.

So Sagittarius is either the cultured wounded healer, Chiron, already represented in the constellation Centaurus, or he is the cultured satyr, Krotos; goaty, horse-riding archer, culture vulture and hunter extraordinaire.

There is a secondary link here, Krotos the Satyr linking Sagittarius with Capricorn, the next sign coming up, sun sinking to the winter solstice.

Chiron or Krotos?

Take your pick.

Or you can go Babylonian with Pabilsag.

The Muses

Sagittarius is keenly intuitive, and usually has a marked talent, a gift, in the field of the Arts. Winston Churchill for example, was a Sagittarius subject and probably psychic. He was certainly subject to visions and feelings of premonition, and he also painted.

Delphi said there were three Muses. But c 600 BC Hesiod wrote in his Theogony that there were Nine Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory personified) and this is the version that has generally stuck.

The Muses were not necessarily benign. They were touchy, sensitive to human hubris, and liable to exact vengeance of anyone they decided was getting too far above themselves.

Kalliope ‘She of the Lovely Voice’ was the muse of epic poetry. Also of Diplomacy.
Klio ‘She Who Proclaims’ was the muse of history.
Erato ‘The Lovely One’ was the muse of love poetry.
Euterpe ‘She Who Pleases’ was the muse of music.
Melpomene ‘She Who Sings’ was the muse of tragedy.
Polyhymnia ‘She of the Many Hymns’ was the muse of sacred poetry.
Terpsichore ‘She Who Delights to Dance’ was the muse of dance.
Thalia ‘The Cheerful One’ was the muse of comedy
Urania ‘The Heavenly One’ was the goddess of astronomy, astrology, and later, Christian poetry.

Sagittarius: The Astrological Personality

Of course there is no such thing as THE Sagittarius personality. Everyone is unique. We are speaking here of an archetype.

Sagittarius is ruled overall by the planet Jupiter, and rules the Ninth House of philosophy, law, travel, higher study, and the second life partner when we have one. The seventh house rules the choice of a first life partner. In any second choice we are looking to learn more, and to expand our inner horizons from meeting with a mind that is very different to our own. A third choice of life partner is said to be ruled by the eleventh house of group identity.

Sagittarius zodiac sign subjects need constant adventures to stay interested. Freedom is of the utmost importance to them. Movement. Travel. Space and room for manoeuver. Likewise they allow space and freedom to their partners.

The archetype of Sagittarius is brave, lively, warm, optimistic, curious, adventurous, rational, but also insightful, even visionary.

These are generally astute, clever and capable people. But they need career flexibility, and they may refuse to fail to apply themselves if bored. Like Gemini, they are prone to restlessness. They may fail to stick at a job or a succession of jobs, and may struggle financially long term in consequence.

Hence their challenge, but also their guiding light is the idea of Temperance,personified in the Tarot and symbolising patience, prudence, and the art of good timing.

They can do ‘domestic’. It’s not that. But you wouldn’t really call it how they roll.

And they do tend to roll, place to place, job to job, and a rolling stone gathers no moss. The problem being, other things it doesn’t gather either, like a steady home life, or steady income, or savings or other means of security in old age, if Sagittarius does not balance the need for freedom , space and independence with prudence and good timing.

Sagittarius tends to have lots of friends. More than almost anyone else, so much so, family and friends can feel neglected at times, forgotten, when Sagittarius goes off yet again, devil may care, to share experiences with new best friends.

Sagittarius must have inspiration, and the freedom to follow it, and to roam. But this humanitarian, kindly, if restless rolling stone sooner or later almost always comes rolling home again, expecting to find their loved ones exactly where they left them. And usually, they are. Though others do not enjoy being taken for granted, and this may need care.

Sagittarius will be the star of this show. But what they really need for domestic happiness, is a quietly confident, self-reliant partner who has plenty of interests themselves; and much life experience.

Who will be their rock but who will not roll.

Who will be above all, their best friend.

Till next time 🙂

Equinox, and the Tarot says Equipoise

Friday 23 September marks the the first day of astronomical autumn/fall in the Northern Hemisphere. and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal. In the United Kingdom the equinox will be 02:03 AM

Entering Libra

From The Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti

This is the day when we enter the zodiac air sign of Libra, and the Tarot cards specifically associated with 23 September are Justice and the Two of Swords, belonging to the first decan of Libra.

You will notice a striking similarity between this card and the Tarot’s Justice card, its major arcana counterpart.

The Two of Swords is blind like Justice. Wilfully blind, and for a purpose, either for tactical reasons, or because this decision simply cannot be rushed. Here, the wings serving as a blindfold denote the element of air, and impartiality, the use of cool, calm intellect brought to bear on a tricky situation.

If the card comes out upside down, then someone is being a refusenik. A decision must be taken but they are procrastinating.

The Two of Swords can describe a see-saw, and is reflecting what we all know, that internationally and domestically October looks like another tense month of watching, waiting, diplomatic stand-offs and tensions.

Mercury goes direct again 2 October, possibly smoothing certain communications, but October 2022 is going to be anything but a mild news month, and we don’t need the Tarot to see that.

I’ll be watching the first ten days or so of October when we are in Three of Swords territory. Meaning? Severance. Putin is a second decan Libra, which has all manner of wonderful qualities. But his personal chart features a difficult fixed star; born with his natal sun conjunct the ‘rapacious and fiendish’ Algorab, the right wing of the Crow in the constellation of Corvus the Crow.

The Two of Swords is difficult at times. It may suggest indecision, a delay, or a truce, a stand-off, a stalemate. Libra will see-saw in seeking to achieve an equilibrium. It may see-saw rather a lot.

On a personal level, more than once the Two of Swords has alerted me to the fact that a client has been experiencing headaches, possibly migraines. These have often been attributed to stress. Or they have been to see the optician, or have just scheduled a visit to see the optician. The Two of Swords may mean eyes-or teeth. This card may be talking, entirely literally, about needing to see the dentist.

Tarot can be literal like that. Rightly so. The reader is working in the real world. No, it isn’t always fun.

But the world keeps turning, and with it, the wonders of the wheel of the seasons.

Until next time 🙂

Bringing in Beltane…Magical May Eve

30 April is known as May Eve, marking May Day and the beginning of the ancient Celt festival of Beltane.

Beltane begins at dusk on 30 April and is matched by its European counterpart, Walpurgis Nacht, or St Walpurga’s Night in Germanic tradition.

St Walpurga or Walburge was born in Crediton in Devon, but travelled widely as a missionary in the service of her uncle St Boniface, and eventually became abbess of a monastery in Heidenheim in modern Bavaria where she died 25 February 777 or 779. She was canonized 1 May 870.

Walpurga is reputed to protect sailors in storms at sea, reputedly thanks to a miracle when she was sailing to Germany and a terrible storm broke out, and she knelt on deck and prayed and the storm cleared as if by magic…

And yet, interestingly, Walpurga is also a protector against witchcraft. Curious, isn’t it. That someone’s holy prayer is someone else’s satanic spell or witch’s invocation.

Origins

Two great festivals in northern Europe long pre-dating Christianity were Samhain (Halloween) marking the start of winter, and Beltane (April 30/May 1) marking the start of summer.

Beltane ‘the fires of Bel’ began as an ancient fire festival celebrated since at least the Dark Ages if not long before. The celebrations began at dusk on April 30^th when great bonfires were lit to welcome the height of spring now associated with the zodiac sign of Taurus the Bull, representing the fertility of spring in full bloom.”

Traditionally,” writes Glennie Kindred (in Sacred Celebrations), “all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. This was the ‘balefire’ or the Teineigen, the ‘need fire.’

Bel or Belenus (Celtic: possibly, Bright One) was a deity associated with pastures, meadows and animal husbandry and other agriculture. He was a fire god rather than a sun god as such, though the sun was used as a common motif in religious imagery.

The cattle were walked between two bonfires in a symbolical purification ritual, to be protected by the smoke from Bel’s fire before being put out to the open pastures for the summer. Bonfires were lit on sacred hills too, and the smoke was considered a magical blessing on the fields, animals, and community, and was also supposed to maintain a fragile balance, keeping up a smokescreen, literally, between the human and faery realms.

The month of May got its name from Maia, also called Flora, the Greek goddess of spring and new abundance. Maia was the oldest of the seven sisters known as the Pleiades, and she was the mother of Hermes (Mercury.) The last zodiac sign of Spring, Gemini, is ruled by airy Mercury, as the air fills with butterflies and pollen.

The name ‘May’ has been used in English since about 1430. Before this time the name of this month was spelled Maius or Mai. The Anglo- Saxons called it Tri-Milchus because all that lush new grass meant cows could now be milked three times a day.

The celebration of May Day has its roots in astronomy, celebrating the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It has been celebrated in the British Isles and through much of Europe as a fertility festival since the Dark Ages, and probably before that, with many stories and superstitions attached.

Superstitions

Like Halloween, May Eve and May Day is a magical time of year, liminal, when the veil between different worlds and realities is thinner than at other times of year.

Beltane or Walpurgisnacht is the mirror image, the spring season’s equivalent of Halloween when witches are said to dance at the Devil’s Sabbath.

This is a time for ghosts, but this is also the time of year when folklore suggests you are most likely to meet a supernatural being from the realm of ‘faery.’

The Fae are an ancient race, and they do not like humans whom they view as destructive, and who is to say they do not have a fair point there. The Fae are afraid of iron. To keep them at bay-

Touch wood no good

Touch iron, this you can rely on…

In this sense the Fae could be said to represent the spirit of humanity before the Iron Age.

They are not the cute creatures of fairy tale. Encounters are dangerous and are best avoided – or you may never be seen again. Do not, whatever you do, go to sleep on a fairy hill at any time, but especially not on May Eve or May Day and especially beware of going to sleep under flowering hawthorn bushes ….

Sex and Scandal

The Christian church made attempts to ban May Day festivities outright because of their overtly pagan nature and “lewd” context as an open celebration of male and female sexuality and fertility – ‘a heathenish vanity generally abused to superstition and wickedness.’

May Day meant drinking and fighting, another reason for the church’s disapproval, but this in itself harks back to the ancient traditions of the sacrifice of ‘The Green Man’ – a mythical figure representing the eternal battle waged between summer and winter, feast and famine. Many pubs in England are still named The Green Man.

In Padstow, Minehead and some other places in the UK, mischievous hobby-horses (‘osses) roamed the streets in search of unsuspecting young ladies to ‘carry away’ for undisclosed purposes.

*Morris dancers up to no good riding with hobbyhorses, Richmond embankment,1620*

Men who had been disappointed in love would make straw men representing their rivals and stick them on bushes. These depictions were needless to say, often deeply unflattering, and fighting might well follow once they were discovered and identified and the maker was known.

May Day harks back to the ancient traditions of the sacrifice of ‘The Green Man’ – a mythical figure representing the eternal battle waged between summer and winter, feast and famine. Many pubs in England are still named The Green Man.

This splendid depiction is on a boss in Rochester Cathedral, thanks to Wikimedia Commons.

The Puritans banned May Day under Oliver Cromwell but Charles 11 brought it back into custom after the Restoration.

Maypole Dancing goes back at least to the 14th century, but it seems the custom was very old even then, though the dance as we know it today, so pretty and decorative(and tame) -children dancing in village squares, is probably a Victorian invention . The maypole is generally assumed to be a phallic symbol, but the Norse peoples connected it with tree worship, and this connects British and Germanic tradition going back to a shared proto-germanic culture which is part of the common root culture in British life even today.

The Maypole dancing which so upset the Church and the Puritans comes down to us from the rites of spring dedicated to Freya.

The maypole originally represented a living tree, in particular the giant ash tree Yggdrasil, the great “world tree” of Norse myth, linking the nine worlds of the Norse cosmology including Asgard, land of the gods, Midgard, or Earth and Hel, the underworld.

“Ygg” means terrible. It was on this tree that Odin chose to hang nine days and nights, thirsty and fasting in exchange for the knowledge of the runes. The Norns sit beneath it and when every new person is born, carves their names into its bark…and with it, their destiny, although this can change. The Norns will allow us to rewrite it, unlike the destinies woven by the three Fates of Greek mythology.

Walpurgis Night

Also In the Germanic tradition, Walpurgis Night, on April 30th is a moon festival sacred to the goddess Freya.

“Walpurga” is another one of Freya’s names. The re-dedication of the holiday to “St. Walpurga” was a later Christian addition.

Freya (Old Norse, Freyja meaning “Lady”) is one of the pre-eminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She was the goddess of love and beauty in Norse mythology, the goddess of marriage and family and a great prophetess – a seeress. She taught her husband Odin how to read the runes, and like Odin, she had a fiercer aspect as a patron deity of war and death in battle.

Freya wears a cloak of falcon feathers and has a magical gold necklace called Brísingamen. She rides in a chariot pulled by two cats and a sacred boar called Hildisvíni runs alongside, though he is not shown in this picture.

The cats, it has been speculated, were two male kittens found by Thor. They had been abandoned by their mother and he took them to Freya. What kind of cats? I’d have thought Norwegian Forest cats, but legend suggests the kittens were grey-blue and on that basis it’s speculated they were Russian Blues.

Bringing in the May

I washed my face in water

That had neither rained nor run

And then I dried it on a towel

That was never woven or spun

The rhyme suggests we go out barefoot very early on May morning and wash our faces in all that magical dew (or late snow) Your complexion will instantly improve. Let the wind and sunshine dry our faces and we’ll have good luck all year.
Bringing in ‘the may’ means gathering cuttings of flowering trees for magical protection of the home. Bring in branches of forsythia, magnolia, lilac, or other flowering branches. Decorate the doorway to keep away unfriendly fae and other spirits
Make garlands or decorate a basket or a ‘May bush’ with flowers and coloured ribbons. This would often be a hawthorn bush but it doesn’t have to be.
If you need to move a bee hive, May 1 is a traditional day for doing it, hopefully clement for the bees.
Turnips are traditionally planted on May 1. Plant now for lovely mashed turnip later. What are you waiting for?
Fishermen expect to get lucky with catch on May Day.
It’s a powerful day for spell-casting…any spells to do with bringing in health, wealth, and abundance. Light a red or pink candle for love or passion…but be careful what you wish for, and it is unlucky to try and take what is not rightfully available to you.
Traditionally it is unlucky to get married in May. ‘Marry in May, regret it for aye.’ But not to panic if you’ve got the date already booked. The writer of this article was born on May Eve and got married in May – 30 years ago this year- and like all of us, has had mixed luck in life. But so far at least is still married.

This Beltane, Venus has moved into her astrological home turf of Taurus. Good for money, the Stock Exchange. Good for all things green and growing. Good for glamour…an old term for magic. Venus will stay here for almost a month. And Mars moves into its home sign of Aries on 30 April. Pow. Action time. Vim and vigour.

This Walpurgis baby turns 61 on 30 April. Vim and vigour, not feeling it so much, but we shall see…..I may report back.

Wishing you the best of Beltane 2024

Until next time 🙂

Halloween and ‘Alfablot’-‘Sacrifice to the Elves’

Did the Norse celebrate Halloween? Plus a message from the runes for you…

What we know of Norse Mythology comes largely from the Eddas, two collections of writings from assorted anonymous writers, dating around 1250 CE.

All Hallows Eve, Halloween or Samhain is a Gaelic custom, not Norse. The Norse peoples did mark this time of year, although in a different way, with Álfablót – the Elf Ritual.

Elves were associated with burial mounds (also known as barrows) as it was believed that they lived in or around them, and more than this, elves were associated with the souls of the dead, rather than fairies in the other sense of the word, as a supernatural entity that was never human.

Rakni’s burial mound, Noway, Public Domain

It is the largest burial mound in Scandinavia, 77 metres in diameter and over 15 metres in height. There are a number of stories associated with it, one associated with a roving sea-King Raki or Ragnar. Skull fragments were found inside it, of a man aged between 20 and 25 but there were no grave goods. The mound has been dated to the sixth century to the time of the great migration after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

It is possible that this chieftain was an ancestor of Rollo, the Norse ancestor of William the Conqueror.

Like the modern Halloween, Álfablót originally marked the general end of autumn, although it may technically be celebrated on any day around this time. However in recent years, it has been predominantly practiced on or close to 31st October (Halloween/Samhain).

Traditionally, Álfablót almost certainly involved an animal sacrifice, (blood) Records suggest this may even have been a (highly valuable) bull. It was intended as a sacrifice to the elves, asking for protection from the ancestors. Connected with this, the elves were also associated with fertility.

A chief difference here is, unlike Halloween/Samhain, Álfablót was not a community celebration. It was a private ritual performed at the homesteads. Strangers were not permitted to take part or even watch.

Old Norse Runes

What runes do we drawn this Halloween Álfablót 2022?

Ehwaz The Horse transport, journey progress

Mannaz Merkstave Communication difficulties, trouble with fellow man

Tiwaz Justice, Law and War (spear)

The message is not a cheerful one, I am sorry to say, but it will easily be understood why not in the context of the war in Ukraine and a lot more besides.

One might reasonably say, but the dead do us no harm? It is the living we need to watch for. Well, that depends upon their legacy, and the memories they leave behind. Jewish graves read ‘may their memory be a blessing.’

The rune of mankind has been drawn merkstave. This advice is a downer. In these days of travelling far afield almost at the drop of a hat, don’t be too quick at this time to get on your ‘horse’ and ride off to the lands of ‘strangers’.

Don’t be too quick to share your opinions with your neighbour, or all and sundry.

You do not know what they may be struggling with when you enter their space. Beware of the horses coming to your door carrying strangers. Some will come as friends, and honour us with their arrival. But not every stranger comes as a friend. The history books warn, it is a friendly fool that can’t tell friend from foe.

Why do you travel? What do you bring to the places you visit, for the sustenance of the people who live there?

Who is this that is coming now? Why do they come? What do they seek? What do they offer? Is it a fair just and lawful exchange? Or is this a hunting trip? What is the prey? What is the prize?

This grim counsel goes against our powerful instinct of hospitality and kindness to strangers. But that bottom line was always there, and the runes are reminding us.

The Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793 sent a shock wave through Europe. But this was just the start of something bigger. What was driving it? In part, changes to the laws of inheritance in Scandinavia, younger sons, now dispossessed of family farms, had to go in search of their own fortunes.

So they did.

Another way of looking at these runes in terms of comment or advice about the cosmic weather right now, which is, beware of joining the crowd.

Beware of crowds. This, following the tragedy in Seoul where 150 or more people have died in a crush at a Halloween celebration. And the death toll is still rising, following the collapse of a bridge in India killing over 141 people who were celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights.

This also refers to getting into arguments on social media, and avoid gossip at this time. Stay clear of group-think.

The runes here are reflecting the fact that fiery Mars, planet of war, has just moved into the zodiac domain of Gemini, the sign of communications and siblings, and it will stay there, appparently moving backwards or retrograde, until 12 January 2023. There will be spectacular events. One can see how this combination may represent aeroplanes, missiles or indeed any kind of projectile. The threat of a nuclear attack is real, though I haven’t been shown that it will happen.

Contagion travels by the same token, suggesting an inevitable rise of flu and covid cases starting now, at least in the northern hemisphere.

There are many kinds of ghosts. There are the whirling leaves that used to be buds. There are the echoes of the distant past. There are the ghosts of our hopes, not all of which can ever be realized, the grief, the fears and memories of the living.

But Jupiter is returning to Pisces and this brings a promise of good cheer. Even in desperate times we see a Ukrainian soldier rescuing a hamster in a cage, the hamster obliviously running in its wheel. The soldier places it in the back of the truck, returns for two rabbits.

In such moments rests the hope for humanity.

Death is the theme for the season- and this is an unusually tricky Halloween season, caught between the partial solar in Scorpio on 25 October, and the upcoming Lunar eclipse in Taurus on 8 November.