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Season of The Scorpion 2025

The Stories in the Stars

undefined — **From Uranias Mirror 1825**

The fixed water sign of the celestial Scorpion is the zodiac archetype of Halloween. Still waters run deep, truly, but this is water as steam, like the steaming geysers of Iceland, bursting out from sources deep down in the heart of the hot rock.

Traditional Associations

Zodiac glyph

Scorpio’s glyph is symbolic of a serpent representing the life force energy, the flow of that energy and the release of it. Imagine the M as a coil with the energy flow going outward with an arrow sign attached. This arrow represents the sting of the scorpion. It also represents futurity, but is also the arrow of Sagittarius, the next sign of the zodiac. The other “m” glyph in the Zodiac is Virgo, but here the M is imagined as a coiling serpent with its tail folded inward in protective, healing mode.

Ruling planets: Traditional: Mars. Modern: Pluto following Pluto’s discovery in 1930.

House: The Eighth House of power, secrets, sex, death, finance, legacy

Symbols: Scorpion, Serpent, Eagle/Phoenix (nearby constellation, Aquila, the Eagle.)

Element: Water (but this water STEAMS.)

Quality: Fixed

Keywords: I desire. I transform

Hebrew letter: Nun, meaning the snake. Scorpio has three glyphs, the only sign to do so; the snake, scorpion and eagle (or phoenix.) The snake sheds its skin and thus represents transformation, healing and magic.

Colour: Dark red

Birthstone: Yellow Topaz, Opal, Aquamarine, Tourmaline

Body: reproductive/sex organs

Tissue cell salt: calcium sulphate, repair of tissues and resistance to infectious diseases.

Trees: Walnut, hawthorn, blackthorn

Tarot Cards: Death, King of Cups, 5, 6 and 7 of Cups. The major arcana card in the Tarot representing Scorpio is the Death card, one of the most feared cards in the Tarot deck. Note the Biblical ‘pale horse’ of Death and the white rose. He comes for all, the king, the archbishop, the child. But the rose signifies beauty and immortality. All that has ever once been, is recorded somewhere, somehow, forever.

The Death card is not usually about the literal death of any person. It may represent the death of something else, like the ending of a situation, chapter, project, plan, or relationship.

But. BUT. I have learned in my own experience as a reader, the Death card can mean exactly that, physical death, like it or not. The cards can mean exactly what it says on the tin and this has more than once hit me hard and very close to home in the literal, physical human sense. There is no Life without Death. We die. Even rivers can die. Even the stars die.

Old age is not our natural birth-right. Few animals reach old age living in the wild. It is this sharp focus of such an awareness that gives Scorpio its drive, intensity, its passion, or its preoccupation with the “darker” side of life, and with the occult and the mysterious, but also its power of regeneration, and the drive to procreate new life.

The Real Life Scorpion

A scorpion crawling on a piece of wood — Photo by Andrey Tikhonovskiy on Unsplash

The scorpion is a staggeringly ancient creature. The earliest evidence dates from the Silurian period 450 million years ago, when the first scorpion ancestors left the seas for the land. Fossils from the Carboniferous 300 million years ago indicate little change since then but early scorpions may have had compound eyes.
They are arachnids: arachnida scorpiones, with a body in two sections, 2 pincers or pedi-palps, 8 legs like a spider, and an exo-skeleton made of chitin. They are more closely related to Harvestmen than spiders.
They dance before mating, a stately promenade. They give birth to live young and carry them on their backs until the babies have their first moult and disperse. The mothers may eat the young if resources are desperately scarce.
They have a long life span compared with other arachnids, 2-3 years in the wild but they have lived up to 25 years in captivity. They can live a year without food and they eat insects, spiders, other scorpions and lizards. They also eat small mammals, such as mice.
They glow in the dark except when newly moulted. Scorpion fossils still fluoresce, despite spending hundreds of millions of years embedded in rock.
They are famously venomous. However of the nearly 2,000 known species of scorpions, only 25 have venom powerful enough to be dangerous to an adult human. In the U.S., the Arizona bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus, produces venom strong enough to kill a small child, but anti-venom means deaths are rare.

The Stars of Scorpio

Nature, science, religion, astronomy and astrology were intertwined in the ancient world.

Scorpius is a massive, spectacular j- shaped constellation located in the skies over the southern hemisphere near the centre of the Milky Way. In the Northern hemisphere it can be seen in July and August, and in the Southern hemisphere, it’s visible from March to October.

Sometime around four thousand years ago the Babylonians looked up, discerned the huge and brightly leaning “J”- shape in the summer stars, saw in this the shape of a gigantic scorpion and called this constellation MUL.GIR.TAB – the ‘Scorpion’, literally read as ‘the (creature with) a burning sting.’

The movements and relative positions of Scorpius were mapped by Babylonian magicians and astrologers, who left written records of the omens they observed.

“When a halo surrounds the Moon and Scorpio stands in it, it will cause men to marry princesses, (or) lions will die, and the traffic of the land will be hindered.”

A comet appearing in Scorpius (Scorpio) was read as a dire warning of a coming plague, but when the Sun rose in Scorpius, alchemists saw their chance for the transmutation of lead into gold.

There are 18 known stars in Scorpius, the most famous being the red giant star Antares (rival of Mars, the god of war and the original planetary ruler of Scorpio) Antares, its biggest star, is almost unimaginably huge – our sun is barely more than a dot in comparison- is one of the brightest stars in the night sky.

Methuselah

Scorpius contains exo-planets, some extremely old, while others may be potentially habitable. The planet PSR B1620-26 b, nicknamed “Methuselah” is estimated at 12.7 billion years old (The universe is about 13.7 billion years old.) Methuselah has a mass about twice that of Jupiter and it orbits around not one, but two stars.

Cue existential angst. I may need to lie down awhile in a dark room. Where, pray, is the eau de cologne?

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Zr9MxbFBV70?start=12s&rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

Scorpio Season 2025

Hot water under pressure but it’s in a hosepipe this month, and it has sprung a few leaks, spouting scalding jets and clouds of steam. Water as steam. Full force.

Veritable spiders webs and networks. Flexing. At home here in the UK, amongst so many other terrible and furious things on the world stage right now, we see China threatening the UK government behind the scenes. Long suspected. Now we see it in plain sight. We are told it is presented as a case of “You will authorize the building of this monstrous new super embassy in the historic heart of your capital. Or there will be consequences.”

One thinks of the unquiet ghost of the failed Guido Fawkes. There are fireworks outside my window even now.

a bunch of fireworks that are in the dark — Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

More hopeful news, The Met Police are now declaring they will no longer be policing NCHI’s – Non crime hate incidents. No more knocking on the doors of the citizenry to threaten them over social media posts that have upset “someone.” May the other police forces now swiftly follow suit. This is Britain, not North Korea, and there can be no apologies for drawing the parallel.

A bill to introduce Islamophobia as a new crime has not passed in the House of Commons. Thank goodness. But after all the furore a few weeks ago, they seem to have kept that rather quiet. England finally did away with blasphemy laws in England in 2008. The history is cruel. Ans so are the things that still happen now, in countries where blasphemy is still punishable by death. We do not want blasphemy laws creeping in again by the back door, enabled by our government in the name of so-called diversity and inclusion.

Just as in Scorpio season 2024 we are challenged with keeping our own equilibrium while watching yet another intense month of massive threat and fury in world events. And keep it we must, while maximising our own energy bursts to fix, to clear, to burnish, to cherish all those and all that which we most rightfully hold dear.

**Eruption of the Strokker Geyser, Iceland, public domain, credit Andreas Tille**

This month we are all children of The Scorpion. Scorpio may sting. And it may heal us. Scorpio is a great healer. Natural charisma and…anti venom.

Human Uses of Scorpions

I beg your pardon

I never promised you a rose garden…

But remembering the Death card, and Death offers a perfect white rose. Still, there are roses, always and for ever, even in the season of the Scorpion.

a black and white photo of a rose — Photo by KOKESHI on Unsplash

Salutations to the celestial Scorpion. Wishing a very Happy Birthday season 2025 to our savvy, deep and subtle Scorpio friends.

Till next time 🙂

The Devil walks abroad: The Tarot’s Own Psychic Whiff of Sulphur

We entered strange times in 2020. Strange times. The news all over the world right now is almost a perfect storm. Where to focus? What good news to be guaranteed via divination? Great change is here and it is unavoidable. There will be turmoil for quite some time to come, above what we have been used to for a long time. This is not a short term cycle, and we are all affected.

Imagine being a cottage industry weaver, at the time of the Industrial revolution. The enclosure of the land, the decline of the villages, the rise of the cities and the giant satanic mills, that grew the power of the British Empire. Entrepreneurs grew rich, the rural poor got poorer. The urban poor exploded in numbers as people left the land, looking for work in the cities. How to calculate the human cost? The Luddites resisted and were hanged or transported for life.

This is broadly the kind of place we are at again, collectively, living in the early days of the so-called fourth Industrial Revolution, (and some might say, the WEF, and the person who coined this term, Klaus Schwab, are inimical, not friends of humanity, agents of the Devil.)

All this, even without adding in the inextricably interconnected red-hot state of global politics. I will leave this with the mundane astrologers, at least for today, but, unsurprisingly, the Devil card is showing up a lot right now.

The Devil card is not necessarily bad news at all when it turns up in a reading. It may be neutral and entirely benign in a card interpretation. The Devil corresponds with Nature and with Saturn, Old Father Time. He may stand for Pan, The God of all wild creatures, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” in The Wind In The Willows.

The Devil may be neutral and entirely benign in a card interpretation. But the Tarot addresses everything known in the totality of human experience and it has only 78 bits of cardstock with which to do it. This cannot be all sweetness and light. The Devil card also has the job of addressing Desire, Hunger, Rage. Fear. Frustration. Power and powerlessness. Dependency. Addiction. Prison and how to break free. How to respond to unwelcome change.

“Change is like death. You don’t know what it looks like till you’re standing at the gates.” – ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, 2018

a view of a city through a chain link fence — Photo by Vadim Koza on Unsplash

A true Tarot story from 14 July, 2015.

I was away from home, my younger daughter’s graduation in Carlisle and I was unsettled at what I saw in my cards. My question to the Tarot was a run of the mill question, almost idle, really. A general day-ahead reading. What kind of day could we expect the following day? We had another long drive next day, stopping off to see my parents on the way home again.

I drew three cards. The Devil, The Chariot and The Wheel of Fortune. But while I am showing these cards the right way up, the better to display them, I had actually drawn two of these cards, The Chariot and The Wheel of Fortune reversed, that is to say, upside-down or ill-dignified. Not in their positive dignity.

The Devil card may be referring to Capricorn timing. It may be flagging up Tenth house matters (professional life, public life) or it may be pointing at a Capricorn sun sign native. When it turns up as a problem, it may mean passion, wild nature, the wild god Pan. It can mean obsession, addiction, entrapment, fear, rage, loss of control, imprisonment. I have known it to mean manslaughter and a prison sentence. One time the Devil card came up with the Ten of Swords, The Tower and the Ten of Pentacles, prompting me to ask, somewhat diffidently as you will imagine, if a man in this lady’s life had knocked someone down? (The Devil and Tower). Yes, she said. In a fight. And the other man died? I asked. (Ten of Swords) Yes, she said. A fatal head injury. And he had received a 10 year prison sentence? (Ten of Pentacles) Yes.

The Chariot can mean the summer solstice, Cancer season. It can mean parents (most usually the mother) It is the home, or the homeland. It can mean teamwork, success. It can also mean exactly what it looks like. It can be saying car, road, travel, journey, garage, driving test, motorbike, horse, etc.

The Wheel of Fortune in general, means sudden changes and events beyond our direct personal control. Luck, Fate, a gamble for good or for ill. It can mean a Thursday.

I did not like this card combination. I felt it spelled bad news for a vehicle, or a journey. Fear, anger or violence might be attached. I felt a lurch in my tummy, thinking of our drive over the moors next day, and the M6.

I am not an all-seeing psychic with reliable remote viewing capabilities. I do have those experiences. Usually via dreams over which there is no direct control, or not usually. It has happened that I have requested a dream asking a certain question, and received an answer in dream form. But using cards, one asks a question and gets an answer, or at least a response on demand.

So now, looping back to this row of cards above, The Devil, The Chariot (Reversed) and The Wheel of Fortune (Reversed) I considered the cards first and foremost in terms of my general question, what to expect next day, thinking primarily of immediate events in my own situation.

‘We’ll need to be extra cautious on the road tomorrow,’ I said to Il Matrimonio. ‘There’s something here I’m really not liking, something to do with wheels. And that parking space is tight. Why are wheels jumping out at me? I’m seeing tyres. Maybe we’ve got a flat tyre?’

He went and checked the tyres, and everything seemed fine. Ok. Well then, I would just have to wait and see, and learn what this was all about with the benefit of hindsight. But I knew I didn’t like it.

Next morning, Friday the 15th (and The Devil is the Tarot’s fifteenth major arcana card) we woke to this appalling news from Nice…

“On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and injuring 434 others. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France. The attack ended following an exchange of gunfire, during which he was shot and killed by police.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Lahouaiej-Bouhlel answered its “calls to target citizens of coalition nations that fight the Islamic State.“

So now I understood that I had drawn The Devil, The Chariot Reversed, and The Wheel of Fortune Reversed only about an hour ahead of the horrible real-time events in Nice.

This had not been an instance of prediction. I had formulated no such prediction. But this had been a clear and terrible instance of psychic foreshadowing. I had “seen”, I had been “shown” Tyres. Rage. Terror.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/m6YDhVeW5Kc?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

By now I am left in little doubt there is such a thing as the collective mind. The hive mind. We communicate telepathically en-masse more than we usually get the chance to notice, and we are not constrained in our perceptions by linear time. We, for all our individuality and separateness, and sometimes, loneliness, are more like bees or starlings than we might think. Sleep easy, les pauvres. Vive la France.

Could the Tarot be used to avert such horrors and disasters as this Nice attack? A reading may help an individual to avoid trouble if they heed a warning, and is able to act upon it. I have witnessed this happening, just as I have known of warnings that went unheeded, and the consequences. We have personal agency at all times.

But for an event on a public scale, this would need such precise intel, reporting a detected risk of (event X)-happening at (location Y)- on this day around that time (Z)

And that person in receipt of that intel would need to have the authority and the resources to take action based on that feedback. What happens in maximum security outfits, military and other, who knows. Dowsers are employed by councils to find hidden water pipes underground. I have seen them at work myself, in a field behind my parents house, and dowsing is a form of divination (finding what is hidden)

It was attempted once before, after the tragedy in Aberfan, when a giant coal heap collapsed slipped and crushed a school in a mining village.

“The British Premonitions Bureau was formed in 1966 by psychiatrist John Barker after the Aberfan mining disaster in which 144 people, including 116 children, died when 500,000 tons of debris smashed through the Welsh town and buried the primary school. Reports of precognitive dreams foretelling of the catastrophe prompted Barker to form the bureau in the hope of predicting and avoiding future tragedies.

In the 18 months the Premonitions Bureau was open, nearly 1000 reports of premonitions were collected, and while a few seemed to foretell disasters, over 90 percent failed to predict future events and none prevented any disasters.”

Pitifully, there was more than one story of people experiencing a psychic foreshadowing of this horrific tragedy. One was a little girl, saying she was scared to go to school that day, asking not to go to school that day, and she went and died that day. You can read more about this on my old blog HERE.

A foreboding, like other psychically sourced data, is rarely sufficiently detailed, specific and precise to be treated as directly actionable. This is the meaning of the so-called “Curse of Cassandra”. To feel that something is badly wrong, to know vaguely what this bad thing might will look like, but to be powerless to prevent it, like the seeress Cassandra at the Fall of Troy. She told them not to bring that giant wooden horse in through the Gates. They just thought she was a nutcase. But you would tear your hair out, wouldn’t you?

cassandra troy princess prophetess — Cassandra, Evelyn de Morgan

This is the challenge with divination. One takes soundings. One expects to get it at least broadly right far more often that not. If we can only do 50:50, then a guess is just as good. Only time will tell. But if you ever get a particularly strong whiff of that old sulphur, call on Michael to come and kick ass. And he will roll up his sleeves, buckle up and sigh, “ffs, here we go again.”

Archangel Michael binding Lucifer, Jacob Epstein, Coventry Cathedral

Another tragic and dramatic instance of the Devil card hit the news that same year, in May 2015. A tarot reader had called the police after her client told her he had killed someone. He had told her this by way of feedback after she had drawn The Devil, followed by the Death card and The Emperor Reversed.

The tarot reader, with his permission (!) called 999, and was advised to call the non-emergency number, which she did, going outside to make the call with the client still sitting at the table in her front room. The Police arrived 52 minutes later, arrested him and it soon emerged the man was telling the truth. The Emperor Reversed was the victim, another man, found lying in a pool of blood.

But, asking my brother, who was at that time a serving police sergeant in Wiltshire, what he made of this news story, he was horrified that the tarot reader’s call had not immediately been treated as an emergency. The tarot reader should have been assessed as being at immediate risk. The man could have changed his mind about wanting to confess, and then done her in. BBC interview here

This of course, is The Devil at its most violently extreme. All the Major Arcana cards have extremes of polarity. When The Devil turns up drawn reversed, it tends to indicate that the worst is over, whatever that was, and now order is restored.

The Devil card in its guise as Capricorn embodies the very best of Saturn, and our natural instincts. There is a good reason some artists have depicted him in the tarot as one heck of a sexy beast. “That ole Devil called Love”.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/D7KypAf0iac?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

Here is artist Ciro Marchetti’s take on The Devil in The Gilded Tarot Royale. If the force we refer to as The Devil was such a plug-ugly turnoff as he is generally painted, where would be his power of attraction and temptation?

We are not in Nature. We are of Nature. When the Devil strikes and sears our soul, we turn for a salve to the wild god Pan, and rest ourselves, go feed some birds, water some plants, watch a bee, sit out under the moon, get up to greet the dawn. Nature is often cruel, but absent of malice.

My mother once said if she ever met Old Nick she would say, fuck off you. She said, we know he hates us, so why we would we give him the time of day? One of my sisters, a lawyer, said she would ask him in for a coffee and ask him to tell her his side of the story. And no doubt she would be royally entertained. He is a great story teller. The best. But a filthy liar. And nothing wastes precious time like a liar.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth– Buddha

Thank you for reading.

Back again soon!

The Story of The Star Lion Leo

Stories of our Seasons in the Stars

Most of us know something about our zodiac sun sign. But what’s the ancient story behind it? This month it is Leo’s star turn under the spotlight.

lion in close up shot — Photo by Luke Tanis on Unsplash

On July 22 we left the zodiac domain of Cancer; the zenith of the summer in the northern hemisphere, and moved into the sun sign territory of Leo until 22 August.

Traditional Associations

Ruler: The Sun Lucky Day: Sunday

Symbol: Lion

Element: Fire Quality: Fixed

Hebrew letter: Av (father, regal) Tet (coiled serpent) Tov (goodness)

Metal: Gold

Body: Heart, aorta, circulation, blood pressure, spine

Constitutional salt: Magnesium Phosphate (Mag Phos) Leo rules the heart and this salt is a cardiac tonic. Mag Phos is a muscle and motor nerve nutrient, helping to empower the muscles, or to relax them, helpful for all types of cramp or spasm, whether induced by physical exertion or by the menstrual cycle. May be beneficial dissolved in warm water for cramps in the stomach, or for colic in babies, crushed and rubbed onto the gums

Trees: Palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees.

Plants: Marigolds, sunflowers, dandelions, (dents- de- lion =”lion’s teeth”) celandines, passion flowers

Gemstones: peridot, sapphire

Key phrase: I love/I desire

Tarot cards: Strength, Sun, 5, 6, 7 Wands

Astronomy

Leo has since ancient times been associated with the sun and royalty, ruled by the sun in astrology, and is one of the oldest constellations collectively recognized as a lion. Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians recognized the star grouping we later came to know as Leo as early as 4000 BC. The Persians knew this constellation as Shir or Ser. The Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (“the great lion.”) The Syrians knew it as Aryo and the Turks as Artan, while the Greeks associated Leo with the story of the Labours of Herakles/Hercules, and the slaying of the man- eating lion of Nemea.

Leo is the 12^th largest constellation in the zodiac, and one of the most recognizable in the skies of the northern hemisphere due to its many bright stars, and its distinctive shape suggesting a crouching lion facing to the right, located between the constellations of Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east. The bright planet pictured beneath Leo is Jupiter.

The best time to see the Leo constellation is in Spring in the northern hemisphere, from around the March equinox, and in the fall/autumn in the southern hemisphere where it can be seen in the northern skies, but is seen as if upside down. In early April, the constellation Leo reaches its high point for the night around 10 p.m. By around May 1, Leo reaches its highest point for the night around 8 p.m. local time.

In early May, Leo is beginning to set in the west around 2 a.m. local time, and by June it is descending in the west in the evening, drifting ever further westward. By late July and into early August, the Lion is fading into the sunset before disappearing, and by late September into October it is visible again, reappearing in the east before dawn, below the Big Dipper or as it is perhaps better known in the UK, The Plough.

The Lions of The Nile and the Dog Days of Summer

a plowed field in front of a body of water — Photo by Mohamad Sameh on Unsplash

Leo season includes the so-called Dog Days of summer, July 3 to August 11, the window of the warmest days in the Northern Hemisphere.

The ancient Egyptians and later the Romans noticed that the brightest star Sirius “the scorching one,” aka The Dog Star, aka, Canis Major, reappeared in the sky, rising in the east just before the sun each year 21- 23 July when the sun entered Leo. See more here on You Tube:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PFtCuw9VP5Y?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

This was immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River which started around August 15 for two weeks every year. The Nile floods, while potentially massively destructive, replenished the soil, bringing forth new life, renewing the lifeblood of their agriculture- and the nation entire.

New life, such is the symbolic meaning of the Sun in Leo, correlating with the Sun card and Strength in the tarot deck, and also the 5, 6 and 7 of Wands.

adult lioness lying on ground — Photo by Chris Rhoads on Unsplash

Lions were once upon a time a common sight in Egypt, roaming the semi-desert regions on either side of the Nile Valley, and there are surviving depictions of pharaohs hunting lions. The lions began to disappear during the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1070 B.C.) until eventually they became extinct in Egypt as the climate and environment became drier and the human population increased. But not before they had become an eternal part of the zodiac story.

By August in Egypt, the desert lions were becoming increasingly desperate for water after weeks of drought, coming ever closer in sight of the city walls in their search. But this lowest ebb in the lives of the desert lions was a welcome sign that the Nile floods were shortly on their way, the tributaries far upriver massively swollen by tropical storms over the highlands of Ethiopia and southern Sudan, and in their joy, the people honoured the lion with festivals.

Statues of lions can still be seen along the course of the Nile River, while the lion-headed fountains so popular with later Greek and Roman architects was a direct legacy of this great story of the zodiac, symbolizing the life-giving waters released by the sun in the season of Leo.

August the Eighth, the 8 of the 8th, is known as the Lions Gate, a mythical portal said to represent a peak of intensity in human affairs. 2024 is a number 8 year and we already know we are living in a time of new and increasing intensities.

Lion statues on a water fountain — Public Domain, photograph Petr Kratochvil

Thank you for reading. Back again soon with more on Leo in the Tarot, the decans, and the astrology of this Leo season 2024.

Mars in Scorpio transit, 2023

The Scales of Justice and the Claws of The Scorpion

The current Mars in Scorpio transit began 12 October and continues until 24 November. Mars in Scorpio is passionate, intuitive, subtle, cunning, proud, brave, strong and energetic. But may be violent or downright cruel. Vengeful and vindictive. A lot of stuff can get sorted out on a political or personal level, but it is wiser to do it with restraint and respect, or else watch out for the karmic comeback, and that sting in the tail. It may be a long time coming, but come it will.

The Tarot card associated with Mars in Scorpio is the Death card. Other Mars cards are The Tower (shock, storm, cataclysm) and The Emperor (war, government, law and order) Sweet reason and moderation. Desperately needed in the world right now.

But Scorpio steams and bubbles and boils. It is not moderate. It is Life and Death and they are not moderate. It takes a massive surge of energy to get born. It takes a massive release of power to release our hold on life and get ourselves dead, returning to the source or the dreamland from which we have come. Unless we die suddenly, the natural dying process is a job of work, requiring our co-operation. I watched my mother having to work at it, dying with pneumonia that did not respond to three courses of antibiotics.

The fixed water zodiac sign of Scorpio is a metaphor of water (feeling) that bubbles up from deep down, whether this is down on the ocean bed or on land. It emerges under pressure like a geyser.

smoke over geyser — Photo by Kelsey Mirehouse on Unsplash

Such is the power of Scorpio. And the Scorpio native may have healing charisma. But for healing we think more of the Temperance card of Sagittarius or the hopeful Star of Aquarius. It is no coincidence however, the stars that were originally known as the Claws of the cosmic Scorpion, were later made to do double duty as the Scales of Justice in the constellation of Libra next door.

No lasting peace without justice, at home or abroad. We talk about natural justice, but there is no justice in Nature. only natural law is red in tooth and claw. But we are part of nature, so why do we cry out for justice like we do? We’re hardwired for justice. Even small babies have been proven to demonstrate a keen sensitivity to what is fair and what is not, while the Roman writer and poet Manilius apparently observed that a higher than average number of judges in Rome were born under the sun sign of Libra, which had by his time, borrowed, shared or co-opted the stars of the constellation next door. The Claws of the Scorpion were now Libra’s Scales of Justice.

Death in natural. It is deeply painful to lose loved ones. It is frightening to contemplate our own ending. But we can rise to it with a measure of philosophy and poetic understanding. But we can’t do that when we have experienced an injustice. If it is small enough, we may shrug and walk away. But only if it really is small enough. While there may be no justice in Nature, nothing corrodes, nothing eats away at the human heart like Justice denied. It is the sting the corrodes like acid. The sting is pure venom.

Famous Scorpio natives:

Hillary Clinton, politician, born 26 Oct 1947

Dylan Thomas, poet, born 27 Oct 1914

Billy Graham, evangelist, born 7 Nov 1918,

Carl Sagan, astronomer, born 9 Nov 1934

Robert Kennedy, born 20 Nov 1925

King Charles 111, born 14 Nov 1948

Until next time. Thank you for reading True Tarot Tales.

Mars Cazimi, 17 November 2023

Both Celestial and Earthly-The Heart of The Ram, The Scorpion- and The Phoenix

eight blood moon illustrations — Photo by Jordan Opel on Unsplash

A Mars cazimi is happening Friday 17 November, when Mars conjuncts the Sun in the night sky to within around 1 degree, seen close to Capella, aka the Goat Star in the constellation of Auriga, The Charioteer. Mars is the traditional ruler of (cardinal fire sign) Aries and (fixed water sign) Scorpio in Western/Tropical astrology while the Goat star, Capella, was regarded by the ancients as an omen of high renown.

Via Wiki: Capella is the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga (upper left).

Cazimi comes from the Arabic word word “kaṣmīmī ” which in turn is thought to have evolved from the Greek “kardia” meaning “in the heart” – or in this context translating as, “in the heart of the sun.”

Mars rises at the core. What are our core objectives right now? What are our core values?

This Mars Cazimi marks the start of a new 2 year Mars cycle for each of us, upping the ante wherever it happens to be sitting in your own birth chart. In which astrological House might that be for you?

Mars initiates. It is ardent, proud, fierce and above all pro-active. Living it large. In Tarot, Mars may be expressed through drawing The Tower card, The Emperor or the Death card (modern ruler Pluto) and the potential for destruction could not be plainer, as we are witnessing right now in tragic real time world events.

The Tower card represents shocks and storms, both literally and metaphorically. It may describe or detect collapse. Forthcoming explosions. It tears things down whether for good or ill.

The Tower from the Golden Tarot, Emperor from the Legacy of The Divine Tarot and Death card from the Rider Waite

The Emperor of Aries season is law and order on the one hand. Wise governance. Or conquest, excess, tyranny and cruelty or maladministration on the other. Note the Aries Ram’s horns adorning his throne.

Aries is headstrong. In medical astrology it rules the health of the head and brain. When ill aspected it may warn against an excerbated risk of accidents and injuries caused by a) speed b) fire.

The homeopathic tissue salt of Aries is Kali Phos, Potassium phosphate, used as a “coolant” or calming agent on the nervous system.

The Death card of Scorpio, ruled by Mars and Pluto, may, and sometimes does refer, not only to the idea of human mortality, but to the death of someone in the literal physical sense, but more generally stands for any and all kinds of endings. The end of a situation or a job, or relationship, and in this context,the Death card may be a welcome sign of much needed change.

The homeopathic cell salt of Scorpio is Calc Sulph, Calcium Sulphate, used as a cleanser of “overheated” blood for removal of pus, fever and other manifestations of infection, or strain upon the liver and gallbladder .

The world stage is non stop fieriness between now and the spring/vernal equinox 2024 – bookmarked by entry into ARIES. Even though the spring equinox in 2024 technically occurs during the last day of Pisces season, 20 March, still, the spring equinox is associated with Aries, while there is also the solar eclipse in Aries on April 8 2024 to be factored in here, signifying monumental Mars type events, though I do not personally detect any sign of an impending WW3.

More here about the spring equinox.

Mars Cazimi is warrior energy. But it is more innocently, newborn optimism. The ebullient primal energy of the first ram lamb of spring. New things. Young energy. Birth itself is a fierce act, whatever kind of birth it may be; a person, an animal, a nation state, a business, or some great creative work; a building, a bridge, a machine, or a work of art, music or literature.

Life, as Professor Malcolm so famously put it in Jurassic Park, “finds a way.” And Mars in Aries MAKES a way, charging headlong, while Mars right now in Scorpio is steaming and blasting or plotting its way through opposition.

The Aries lamb can kill you once it grows to be a ram. It’s not personal. You got in its way and you were on its own territory. If it knocks you down, then stay down, and chances are it will wander off. Unlike the Scorpion which may bide it’s time and catch you later unawares. Both are the faces of Mars.

Where the passion is, and the will-power of Mars, then, like it or not, whether by playing fair or foul, the thing gets done.

white sheep on green grass field during daytime — Photo by Tom Bradley on Unsplash

The zodiac sign of the Scorpion is also a symbol of rebirth. Another face of Scorpio is the Phoenix. Maps get redrawn. Life is for living and while we live, we can still arise and act to launch or build anew.

That’s the wind now blowing through. We can stand foursquare in our power, raise the roof, blast free and shake off the dust during this Mars Cazimi. If we have been stuck, it looks as though we are going to get ourselves unstuck during the next two years.

Once more unto the breach.

40 000+ Phoenix Bird banque d'images et photos libres de droit · Téléchargement gratuit · Photos Pexels

“Happiness we can only find in ourselves, it is a waste of time to seek for it from others, few have any to spare. Sorrow we have to bear alone as best we can, it is not fair to try to shift it on others, be they men or women. We have to fight our own battles and strike as hard as we can, born fighters as we are.”

–Axel Munthe, The Story of San Michele

Bon courage! Let us discover what new things we shall do and build and make over the next two years, driven by that adrenaline of this incoming Mars Cazimi in Scorpio season 2023, and thank you for reading.

The old Norse rune associated with this Mars Cazimi is Tiwaz, associated with Tyr, the god who gave his name to Tuesdays, signifying war, justice, nobility and physical and moral courage.

The rune Tiwaz is reputed to bring good luck in health and legal matters

Tyr put his hand in the mouth of the giant wolf, Fenrir, as surety, and then Fenrir permitted himself to be chained. But when Fenrir discovered he had been tricked and would not be released, he bit off the hand of Tyr,who had known this would happen. But the wolf had to be tricked and bound, or he would have devoured the Sun itself. Perhaps this myth was inspired by the fear of a total solar eclipse.

Tyr matches courage with duty and integrity.

May Tyr be with us, and may Fenrir never break his chains.

Till next time 🙂

Halloween, Tarot and a true ghost story

Scorpio Photo by Jo Kassis on Pexels.com

Halloween is designated the season of ghosts. Why is that? We can encounter a ghost any time of year.

But there is an especially potent natural reason for the ghostly season. Halloween or All Hallows Eve is celebrated 31 October each year, marking the cross- quarter of the year, half-way point between the autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the winter solstice, which in 2023 will occur on Friday 22 December.

Halloween began as a pre-Christian Iron Age festival 2000 years ago among the various peoples of Britain and Northern Europe popularly known as the Celts.

In parts of Britain and the Republic of Ireland Halloween is still called Samhain (pronounced Sow-an, from Gaelic/Irish meaning ‘summer’s end.’)

This is a critical turning point of the year from an ancient survival point of view: food production, harvesting and storage as the days grow shorter, the nights longer, vegetation decays, temperatures drop – and more people get sick. We are now in the zodiac sign territory of Scorpio, and the Tarot card correlating with Scorpio is the Death card.

From Halloween in the Anglo-sphere to Alf-blot (Elf Blood) in Scandinavia, to The Day of the Dead in Spanish speaking countries, the period 31 October – 3 November is a festival marking the end of the harvest season.

Russia does not celebrate Halloween as such. It is not recognized by the Orthodox Church, though it has been gaining popularity among young people since the 1990’s.

In France, again, Halloween is not a traditional festival, though certain elements may be catching on nowadays, cultural imports in the twentieth century. But La Toussaint or All Saints Day, is a widely celebrated national holiday celebrated on the first of November.

Now we are preparing for the decay of vegetation, the coming darkness, the time of hibernation of many animals, and the hardships of winter. This is a natural time to be marking the remembrance of the Dead.

Do I believe in ghosts? I have had some deeply strange encounters, and met enough perfectly sensible people who have told me their stories, and had no reason to doubt their common sense, and the validity of their account.

What is a ghost? We have the dictionary definition:

“Now chiefly, an apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image and attempting to right a wrong done in life; this sense of the word is recorded from late Middle English.

The word is recorded from Old English (in form gāst) in the sense ‘spirit, soul’, and is of Germanic origin; the gh- spelling occurs first in Caxton, and was probably influenced by Flemish gheest”. – Source

But the question still remains, what is a ghost, really? Are they sentient? Do they know they are there? Do they have intent? Or are they some kind of an echo? Do they know who they are- or were? Do they know who we are? What do they want?

I recommend reading up about the Cambridge archaeologist and paranormal researcher Tom Lethbridge T.C. Lethbridge

The Moon card

The Tarot card that in a reading can suggest a vivid dream, a vision, a psychic or supernatural experience or even a ghost is The Moon card. And this Halloween, we have only just passed through a Full Moon lunar eclipse. Perhaps you have been experiencing unusually vivid dreams.

From The Gilded Tarot Royale, illustrator Ciro Marchetti

This time of year represents a ‘liminal’ space, a threshold – a doorway of some kind, an ‘in-between’ space between outside and inside, one room and another, or between summer and winter, night and dark, and therefore symbolically, between Life and Death.

Being half-awake or half-asleep is an ‘in-between’ state of mind or consciousness, when we are might have a powerful frightening or psychic dream experience or even experience sleep paralysis, traditionally known as a visit from The “Night Hag” aka The Mara, as portrayed in a famous painting in its several variants, The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli.

This is a not uncommon experience that can occur when the brain is in-between deep and lighter sleep stages. The person thinks they are awake when they are not. There is a strong sense of threat, a malevolent presence, and they cannot move a muscle to defend themselves. I have experienced it myself, very unpleasant. Read here for the scientific medical explanation.

The Death card bears the Rider of the Pale Horse who comes for one and all. But the white rose is a symbol of the sanctity of life, and is a promise of resurrection.

A True Ghost Story

Some years ago, my phone rang one Saturday night, about 8 PM, a lady calling from Preston, about ten miles away from where I live. She had found my number in the psychic pages of the online telephone directory, and she wanted a psychic medium.

Note. I have never advertised as a psychic medium, but there is no separate listing for Tarot readers who are frequently listed under that same heading, along with astrologers and clairvoyants.

This lady was calling to ask me to come over to her house. Right now, please! There was ‘something’ in the hallway and it was blocking the stairs. She, her partner and the children were huddled in the sitting room with the door shut, too terrified to leave the room.

I could not go in person, sadly. Nor do I advertise such a service. But there are others who do. I gave her the name and telephone number of a local lady who specialized in clearing ‘haunted houses,’ -I didn’t know her but she had positive reviews, and meantime I reached for my cards, asking the lady what exactly had happened?

Her youngest child had been upstairs, she told me, when an invisible lady started whispering in her ear. The child panicked. Then her siblings panicked. Then the mother panicked too, and so did her partner.

Now there was something outside the sitting room door; a cold spot, a moving shadow.

I asked, what had this invisible lady said to the little girl?

The caller said, the ghost told her youngest child, her hair was very pretty.

I was looking through my cards while we were talking. This figured. The cards confirmed a benign presence – or influence. A grandmother?

The cards also indicated the lady on the other end of the phone had been under a lot of strain. I asked about this, and she confirmed a prolonged period of acute financial and other worries. Her mother had died three years earlier, and she was still missing her, really quite badly. But, she said, the littlest child was too young to remember her grandmother. Why, the lady wondered, if the ghost was her mother, had her mother not talked to her, but instead to the child, she had never known in life?

It was because the little girl happened in that moment to be the one tuned in on the ‘right’ wavelength to receive such an incoming message. The little girl had ESP in other words, and was hyper sensitive to atmosphere. This was why she alone had heard it. If there was a ghost, if the grandmother was still around, then she was tuning in to the living, seeking to deliver comfort to the mother who was her child.

The little grand-daughter was the most receptive conduit.

First things first. The lady had called to ask for help. I had given her the number of a reputable medium but she needed support right now, and help to restore order in the household.

To do this she needed to assert herself and reclaim her territory, ‘psych it out’, and show the children it was safe to go anywhere in the house.

The living can talk to a ghost, or say boo, just as it can say boo to us.There was no nastiness in these cards. If there had been, then the living can use aggression too. And tell the presence to GET GONE.

photograph of person facing opposite in smoky spotlight — Photo by Mads Schmidt Rasmussen on Unsplash

This presence was not nasty. Or at least the original one was not. But it was not wanted. I suggested that she tell the family, ‘it’s all gone now’, open that sitting room door, put lots of lights on, go herself down that hallway, alone if need be, put the kettle on, serve up something for supper. Light, movement and noise will shatter such a spell, and fear is contagious and feeds upon itself.

I later heard directly from the medium whose number I had given the lady. The lady gave her my number. The medium and her team had gone to the lady’s house next day, taking with them an array of electronic equipment. The medium confirmed there was an old lady’s ghost in the house, that it was the grandmother, and that the mother’s state of stress had called the ghost forth. The ghost had behaved in character, affectionately, but since the child had been startled, and then the mother had reacted with fear, everyone became frightened, and the thing took on an unpleasant aspect. The medium said that now the mother was consciously aware of it, the house should stay quiet now.

No suggestion of judgement attaches to the lady’s handling of the situation by the way. None whatsoever. Fear was and is a natural reaction to such an inexplicable experience. But if it happened again, now that she had some kind of explanation, however questionable, and reassurance that it was not malevolent, she could choose a more controlled and matter of fact response, whilst not dismissing the child’s experience.

“The Mind has many corridors” – Emily Dickinson

Psychic author Cassandra Eason has written a book with advice for parents with psychic children available from a range of second hand book sellers online.

https://cassandraeason.com/https://cassandraeason.com/

From my point of view, since I had never spoken with this lady medium myself before her visit to the house, but had simply provided contact details, I was interested that my tarot and this lady, this psychic medium, had detected virtually identical stories.

The power of the physical, the element of Earth, is the power of the living moment, here and now. We are exalted in the Earth. We take in air. We take up space.

This time is ours. Our inheritance of Earth. Our ace card in otherworldly dealings, the Ace of Pentacles. A nice cup of tea? How about a biccie? Fed the cat. Take the dog a walk.

Take it a walk to the cemetery.

It’s nice in there.

ALL SOULS

The transient day dies silently, and at its edge,

four grey hounds hunt for signs among the graves,

snuffling in the leaves, they lift their legs

on dead bouquets and faded wreaths.

A wind sprite sneaks round urns and angels,

and whisks the skirt of a woman kneeling

with a basket beside a new earth mound.

Two small children crouch behind.

Lights come on as dusk draws in,

and the woman with her kids drifts away

with the mist, all grey, sky as one,

into the Hesperian town.

The hounds stay running among the stones,

backs bridged over their skittering bones.

Circling together they lift their heads

and howl for the souls of their ancestral dead;

hunters, and all the prey that gave up the ghost

dying together in the close embracing hills.

They know who they are calling; The Host,

All Souls, rising from the earth like smoke.

Torches have blazed with saxophone and drum.

Masked revellers with candles in the town

finally sleep. And, under the windy moon,

the graveyard walks.

-Margaret Whyte

RIP Mam who wrote this poem (23 December 1939- 27 February 2023)

I saw my darling mother’s ghost just once, the day after she died in her own bedroom at home, released from hospital on end of life care. A movement caught my eye and there it was, a faint cloud, a movement on the turn of the stairs.

But she did not linger long. She was out and through “the valley” by the tenth day, and smiling up at hills the other side, clouds chasing sunlight across the tops. A child of the Pennines always. I reckon she has found her way to her own perfect heaven.

Life is for living. But Time is not linear. There is much wisdom in superstition, and we give thanks this All Souls season and every day, for the time we have shared with all those we have loved, who have gone on before us.

Thank you for reading.

Libra, Celestial Scales of the Equinox-Weighing the Balance in the Stars

But what’s the bigger picture? What’s the ancient story behind the zodiac sign as we know it today? Read on for the story of Libra…

22 SEPT 2023

Traditional Associations

Quality: Cardinal

Element: Air

Affirmation: I (seek to) Balance

Ruling planet: Venus

Body: Lower back, buttocks, kidneys

Colour: Indigo Blue

Flower: Rose, Hydrangea

Birthstones: Sapphire- September birthdays. Opal- October birthdays

Lucky Number: 6 (community, childhood)

Tarot card:

Major Arcana: Justice showing the dual goddess, Astraea and Dike

Court card: The Queen of Swords

Minor Arcana 2,3 and 4 Swords.

Justice from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Astronomy

Libra (technically, it is correctly pronounced Ly-bra as in Library) is a small but distinct constellation, 29th in size of the 88 constellations, next door to the constellation of Virgo.

The Libra constellation has been described as looking like a lop-sided diamond and is visible from April to July in the northern hemisphere.

Libra used to be regarded, not as a constellation in its own right, but as part of its neighbouring constellations, Scorpio and Virgo. The stars representing the scales of Justice are the same stars representing the claws of the Scorpion.

Libra, like Cancer, is faint in comparison with other constellations, and contains no spectacular first magnitude stars, but contains its own galaxy cluster, possibly around 10 billion years old, the same age as our own galaxy, The Milky Way.

There also is a red dwarf star Gliese 581 with three orbiting planets, two of which may possibly be suitable for life, about 20 light years from Earth.

The brightest star in Libra is a binary star about 77 light years from Earth. α Librae. or Zubenelgenubi, meaning in Arabic “the Southern Claw.”

The second-brightest star in the constellation of Libra is β Librae, or Zubeneschamali, from the Arabic for “The Northern Claw.”

Equilibrium and Equinox

The Sun used to pass through the constellation of Libra at the time of the equinox (c. 23 September) when the length of hours of night and daylight were almost the same- hence the Libran concept of natural balance.

But the zodiac sign of Libra ceased to coincide in real time with the actual placement of the constellation way back in AD 730 because of the wobble of the Earth, and the resulting effect known as precession – the movement of the equinoxes relative to Earth.

Since 2002, the Sun has actually appeared in the constellation of Libra from October 31 to November 22.

This is different to the dates used for this sign in your media horoscope, which is based on modern western or tropical astrology, and says Libra begins around 23rd of September, coinciding with the autumn equinox (in the northern hemisphere).

But this fact of astronomy does not invalidate your horoscope. The symbolic, historic and astrological concept still stands in all its original meaning, absolutely, based on the arithmetic model of the zodiac as codified by the mathematician Ptolemy in the 2nd Century.

Mythology and History

We have the Romans to thank for the name of this constellation, as well as the sun sign or zodiac sign of Libra as we understand it today.

It is a complicated history. Libra began as part of Scorpio, and was known in Babylonian astronomy as MUL Zibanu (the “scales” or “balance”) but with an alternative name, the Claws of the Scorpion, while in ancient Greece Libra was also seen as the Scorpion’s Claws.

The Scales were sacred to the Babylonian sun god Shamash, the patron of truth and justice, and ever since these very early times, Libra has been associated with law, fairness and civility.

Because 3000 years ago, the Sun entering Libra marked the equinox, when days and nights were of equal length, i.e. balanced, Roman astrologers likewise considered that the constellation of Libra represented the principle of natural balance, equality, equilibrium and hence, justice.

In ancient Rome Libra was associated with the scales of justice held by the pre-Greek goddess Astraea, or her Roman counterpart Dike, although in Greek mythology she had always been associated with Virgo.

Claws, scales.

Virgo, Scorpio.

Eh? Que?

Confusing?

Typically complicated Libra!

According to the Roman writer and poet Marcus Manilius, the best Roman judges were noted to have been born under the sign of Libra, while The Moon, which in astrology governs mood and temperament, was said to be in Libra when Rome was founded, in a historical passage, which states “qua condita Roma.”

The early born Libra native may therefore be expected to have much in common with Virgo and Astraea, but the later born Libra may have quite a lot of Scorpio going on.

This same principle applies to all the zodiac signs, of course, depending whether you were born early or late in your own sun sign. But it’s particularly acute in the case of Libra, on account of its shared/borrowed stars.

The Libra Archetype

Libra is one of the three zodiac air signs, the others being Gemini and Aquarius. Libra is Cardinal Air- it instigates, where Aquarius is Fixed Air and stabilizes, and Gemini is the evolution and agility of Mutable Air.

Libra is the only zodiac sign that is not represented by a human or animal, but the scales signify the collective and enduring human hunger for justice, as well as Libra’s own especially keen personal need for balance, order, and equality.

Many astrologers view Libra as an especially lucky sign because it signifies the peak of the year, just after harvest time, when hard work yields is rewards…and we take stock and more clearly see, literally in the agricultural sense, the fruits of our labour.

Because Venus, the goddess of love, rules Libra, as it also rules Taurus, the Libra subject is especially, even acutely sensitive to beauty in anything, whether it is a person, nature, art, or music. Libra is suave, clever and extremely easy to like. The classic Libra subject has charm and can be a great listener with sharp observation skills and acute perception.

Libra intensely dislikes loud or sharp noises, cruelty, nastiness, and vulgarity, as they are naturally kindly and civilized people. They are also, may we observe, a teensy bit delicate at times.

Born diplomats, but also anything for a quiet life, Libras try to co-operate and compromise with everyone around them. This can sometimes be tiring, as they change their minds at short notice, constantly re-assessing and adjusting their thinking, swings and roundabouts, one foot to another, while remaining emotionally distant, or playing Devil’s advocate. This may on occasion even seem to call their personal loyalties into question.

They are not averse to keeping secrets, and can be more changeable even than Gemini. Those swinging scales are, after all, seeking balance, which is not the same as attaining it, or maintaining it.

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, ruler of Libra

Libra is smiling, urbane, approachable, but does not receive or handle criticism as dispassionately as they dispense it. They may show resentment when challenged, jealousy when they are not the centre of attention, and at times be markedly moody. Libra is the sign of the diplomat but it is also the sign of the ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ – smoothly vengeful, or even in the later born Libran subjects, capable of ruthlessness. They have warrior energy, oh yes, and are way more emotionally volatile and passionate than may at first be apparent.

Swings and roundabouts, searching for the centre of balance. Every zodiac sign has its darker potential. But lovely Libra, charming, smiling, civilized. Sunny side up, what not to like?

Famous Libra celebs

Famous Libra natives in history

Back soon with stories of the Decans of Libra.

Thank you for visiting True Tarot Tales.

Till next time 🙂

Tarot, Farewell To a Queen and a Time of Mourning

On the first anniversary of the death of Elizabeth 11

Original post 10 September 2022

“Our Queen Elizabeth has died at a good old age. She has been gathered in at harvest time, taken away in Virgo season under the watch of the stars of The Virgin and the planets Neptune and Jupiter. She, a queen of fixed Earth, a Taurus sun sign subject born 21 April, has been given back into the keeping of the mutable Earth of Demeter.

Now Elizabeth becomes a different kind of star in the firmament, a chapter between chapters, linking her father George and her son Charles, in a story and in a chain 1000 years long, broken only by the years of the Protectorate 1653-1959, forging the dramatic, complex and sometimes violent history of kingship in these islands.

George never expected or wanted to be king. Elizabeth did not ask or expect to be Queen, or to become Queen so soon and so young. Charles? Now he must change his life, and do it late in life, to assume that added weight of kingship.

Lady Colin Campbell tells us that the Queen died at 14:37 PM on Thursday 8 September.

The State Funeral will be in Westminster Abbey 14 September at 11 AM but then she will be taken to Windsor to lie in the Chapel there.

More Information here

Elizabeth as Queen of Scotland

Elizabeth was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland and was the Head of The Commonwealth, her unique world legacy after the end of Empire. No other former Empire has created its equivalent.

Much has been made over the years of the Queen’s German blood. But she died in Balmoral, in her beloved Scotland, and she was descended on her mother’s side from the beautiful and tragic Lady Glamis, Janet Douglas Lyon.

Lady Glamis was judicially murdered, burned at the stake in Edinburgh Castle in 1537 on charges of treason and witchcraft, cooked up by James v for reasons of personal malice, out of hatred of her family, and especially her brother, the king’s former regent, Archibald Douglas.

Balmoral 1800-1900 Unknown Author Public Domain

I was watching the live television as the Queen’s body was being driven from Balmoral down to Edinburgh, where it will lie in state tomorrow in Holyrood House.

It brought back personal memories too, of happy times up in Scotland when my own children were small and I was still physically mobile, and eager to show them some of the beautiful places I had been taken by my own parents.

There was something immensely poignant at the sight of the coffin, draped in its red and golden yellow flag, the Royal Standard, leaving the place of Queen Elizabeth’s last happiness. The ghosts there were powerful for her.

Now perhaps she will be leaving her own ghost.

We know Balmoral was a place of many happy memories for the Queen. Being there reminded her, she said, of her childhood, playing in the garden at her mother’s home in Glamis, where the sun always seemed to shine. This is the human experience encapsulated in the The Six of Cups, old family times, old friends. Seasons in the sun. Simpler times, and the timeless moments when we were small, and the world seemed full of marvellous mysteries.

Well, it was.

And it is.

Life is inevitably sadder the older we get, our losses etched deeper and deeper.

But that doesn’t make the world any less wonderful and mysterious, and the greatest mystery and miracle is, that we are even here at all.

The Six of Cups: The Gilded Tarot: By Kind Permission of Ciro Marchetti

As for happiness:-

–Axel Munthe, The Story of San Michele

Harvest Moon in Pisces

The Harvest moon 9 September 2022 was brilliant in the zodiac sign of Pisces, the sign of visions, ghosts and dreams, in the Twelfth House of Unknown Destinies.

Pisces is associated in the Tarot with- well, The Moon card.

This card talks about the cycles of Nature, the power of the wild and the wild creatures, fertility, contagion, danger, high tides, a hunter’s moon. Hear the barking of the dogs and the howling of the wolves.

We are experiencing a Twelfth House event. This is something more than the death of an old lady, however grand, at a good age. It is also the death of something in her people, a link to the past and Britain as it has become after World War 11.

Eminent astrologers see the reign of Charles as an event of ill- omen for the future of the Monarchy as an institution. I can see that potential and the Moon card is anything but comfortable whenever it appears. But this is a benign, deep, visionary Full Moon. His vision may outstrip his means or freedom to execute. At least he has vision. But though he will do his dutiful best, he no longer wants to hold this Cup, if he ever really wanted it.

In The Season of Virgo

The Queen Elizabeth has died in the second decan of Virgo, associated in the Tarot with the Nine of Pentacles, ‘The Lord and Lady of Material Gain’.

This card describes a life that has every appearance of luxury but it has come at great hidden cost. There has been untold personal sacrifice behind the scenes. Personal wishes denied. What has been lost or sacrificed has been normal personal freedoms, symbolized in the Tarot by the falcon sitting on the lady’s wrist.

The ‘Gilded cage?’ Balmoral was this bird’s escape.

Many of us had been inwardly preparing for this news, while hoping that the Queen would get to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. Hoping that her last months, now that she was living this strange new life without Philip, her husband, ally, friend and companion of 73 years, would not be too greatly darkened by two particular family troubles involving scandals and rifts.

Tarot Predictions December 2021

It is not OK to issue predictions of death. Once upon a time, for reasons of state security, it was an act of treason in England, punishable by death, to issue a prediction concerning the death of a monarch.

However I had been expecting we would lose the Queen this year, 2022, based partly on feeling and observation. Many of us will have felt the same. The feeling was also based on what I had seen in the Tarot, and I dropped a broad hint, based on a Tarot reading written up in mid December 2021, which was later published at AskAstrology.com

The cards had indicated it would happen anytime between July 2022 and the end of the year. This was based on the appearance of the Three of Swords drawn against the position I had allocated to the month of July/zodiac sign/House of Leo. The Three of Swords is severance. Leo is the sign of Royalty and also corresponds with high summer-late summer. So my cards were not completely spot in in terms of the timing. But they came pretty close.

I was working with The Gilded Tarot, and as you’ll notice, this deck is pretty well used but I felt drawn to use it on this occasion.

Extract from an article at Ask Astrology December 2021:

Leo: 5^th House (July-August 2022)

Heartland, creativity, passion, romance, royalty, children

Tarot card ~ 3 Swords Reversed

This is always a challenging card, but is one of those cards that are actually better news, being drawn reversed or upside down. The Three of Swords is about grief, loss, bereavement, arguments, Drawn in the Fifth House, it suggests that tensions between certain countries may ease. On a personal level, we are coming to terms with a family loss, or quarrels may be settling down.

Loss, sadness or disappointment. No-one escapes these experiences. How we deal with them determines whether we learn something new, and grow bigger and stronger, or whether take things personally, and see ourselves as victims and dwell on our grievances, thereby adding to the damage.

Leo is the zodiac House of royalty. There could be national mourning in 2022 for a much loved figurehead.