Stories of Sagittarius Season

Celestial Archer of the Sinking Sun

man holding composite bow — Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

This year we entered the sun sign territory of Sagittarius, The Archer of The Sinking Sun, November 22.

See him pictured here in this photograph, standing on the liminal shoreline, aiming his arrow of fire into the darkness of Scorpio. The arrow’s target is the winter solstice, and then we know we are heading back into the light.

Let’s take a closer look at the ancient story of The Celestial Archer.

Traditional Associations

Symbol: The arrow, “Sagitta” speed with accuracy, impulse, instinct, far sightedness, the active masculine principle,

Ruling planet: Jupiter

Element: Fire

Quality: Mutable

Zodiac House: Ninth

Key phrase: I seek

Hebrew letter: Samech, meaning “trust,” “support,” and “nearby”

Body: Hips/Thighs

Tissue cell salt: silicea/silica. Strengthens and cleanses connective tissues, helps to eliminate foreign material from the body. A rejuvenator, easing signs of premature ageing, important for managing stress.

Birth Stones: Topaz, Citrine, Turquoise

Colour: Light Blue

Trees: Elder, Sal/Saal, Eucalyptus (rejuvenation)

Tarot Cards: Temperance, Knight of Wands, 8, 9, 10 Wands

Astronomy

The constellation of Sagittarius is near the centre of our spiral galaxy, the Milky Way, and is mainly visible in the Southern hemisphere between June-November.

In the Northern hemisphere we can see it low on the horizon between August- October.

Sagittarius gets its nickname, ‘The Teapot’ on account of its vaguely teapot-shaped star pattern, or asterism. The best time to see The Teapot is in August or September, but we need somewhere really dark, locating the hazy band of The Milky Way stretching right across the sky, looking up in the northern hemisphere where the Milky Way seems to bulge as it descends to the southern horizon. This ‘bulge’ is roughly the middle of the Milky Way.

The tip of the spout of the teapot, and the stars that make up the handle are the bow and arrow of the Archer, pointing straight at Scorpio next door, aiming at the red star Antares, the Heart of The Scorpion.

There are actually two constellations sharing the idea of the flying arrow, which is also understood mythologically to represent masculine instinct and the sexual act.

There is also the constellation Sagitta from the Latin, meaning literally, “Arrow”…with the constellation of The Eagle, Aquila, in-between Sagitta and the constellation of Sagitta-rius, the fiery Archer himself.

Mythology

Sagittarius is famously associated with the ancient Greek story of Chiron the centaur. But the story is far more ancient, and goes back to Mesopotamia and the story of Pabilsag, a deity or divine king of a city called Larak, in a story that was handed down to the Greeks through the Sumerians.

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

This makes sense in anthropological terms. The Archer is a hunter, just as our forefathers were hunters at the dawn of human civilization. And Sagittarius is a solitary hunter, just as many a hunter or trapper still hunts alone in winter.

But also, like Hermes/Mercury, the messenger of the Gods of Ancient Greece, Sagittarius, aka Pabilsag, is a ‘psychopomp’ – the guardian and guide, not only of the dying year, but of the mortal dead, offering safe escort to the souls of the dying as they…we… re-ascend to the heavens through the stars of Capricorn, called by the Neo-Platonists “The Gate of The Gods.”

We go home again across the arc of the Milky Way. So Sagittarius as The Archer, is understood as a bridge between worlds. Sagittarius, represented in the Tarot as Temperance, denotes the Healing Arts, moderation, patience, the art of compromise, and the art of good timing (crucial to all good decision-making and a successful hunt.)

The Sagittarius Archetype

All the zodiac signs represent archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing.

Sagittarius, aka “the forefather” is the Archer, a Hunter, the Voyager, the Philosopher, the Scholar, the Author, the Seer, the Prophet. An eternal student, exploring high and far.

The month of Sagittarius was the most critical time for hunting. The crops were long since gathered. Most foraging was also done by now, of berries, roots and fungi.

Meat must now be caught and hung, cured, salted away for the hungry months ahead, when people were also more likely to get sick.

The court card of Sagittarius is the adventurous Knight of Wands, wearing his hot yellow coat, his helmet with a plume the colour of flame, and his coat decorated with mythical salamanders or fire dragons. Here is a dashing fellow, zooming in and out, here today, gone tomorrow, and very often when he has turned up in real life in readings, he has been riding on a motorbike, or driving a rather fast car. Sometimes too, he has been a fire fighter, literally.

In terms of real events this card denotes and foreshadows sudden or surprising events, arrivals and departures. It may foreshadow a far-reaching political decision, just as the U.S is now proposing another highly questionable controversial peace plan for Ukraine…but whose idea was this plan actually? With whom did this 28 point supposed peace plan originate? This time last year the U.S had authorized the use of long-range Storm missiles to be used by Ukraine. Now Russia has committed an act of railway sabotage on Polish soil, claiming that two-pro Russian Ukrainians committed the sabotage (“can’t point a finger at us, na na na”) and apparently is deploying North Korean personnel for clearing land mines inside Ukraine in clear breach of international law. I do feel that Ukraine will likely lose a big chunk of its eastern territories, at least Donetsk and Luhansk, while retaining its sovereignty. Unjust if so, in view of the guarantees made by Russia and the US in the Budapest Memorandum 1994, and a shabby indictment in that eventuality, of the dithering cowardice of the Eurocrats who already let Putin get away with it in 2014. If this supposed peace plan goes ahead in its new current form, highly unlikely because so manifestly unreasonable to require Ukraine to disarm whatsoever, then it can only be agreed by a decision of the Ukraine parliament and why should they trust any more guarantees from Russia, the U.S, NATO or EU countries.

What price for peace, with or without justice.

It may also in physical terms denote a heat wave or volcanic activity. Even as we entered Sagittarius season last year in 2024, this volcano in Iceland was erupting for the seventh time in a year, and the tenth time in three years.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Xj7To4YbW1k?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

This year, Scorpio season began a spike in volcanic activity in Japan as we were counting down to the much heralded…and somewhat foreboding New Moon in Scorpio 19/20 November. The volcano, Sakurajima, is Japan’s most active volcano, on the southern tip of Kyushu near the seaside city of Kagoshima. The ash clouds were so high just a few days ago, there were dozens of flight cancellations.

Scorpio stirs up a cauldron. Mars, the ruler of fixed water sign Scorpio, is deep water, deep heat. Sagittarius shoots out flames or fireworks.

Sagittarius is the sign of our farthest travels. This includes mind travels. Reading a book is a form of travel. Reading rolls up telepathy, mind reading, space travel and time travel all in one page. Each page a magic carpet. Sagittarius represents the Ninth House of long haul travel, and this also applies to study, philosophy -and publishing.

There are so many terribly sad events when we might ask, what use is philosophy? What use is poetry? But that is exactly the use of them. Words have the power to lift us up. We conjure special words for births and weddings and funerals. Words are magical invocations. Words are comforters. They help us readjust and regain our equilibrium when everything is dark. Words contain the magical power of Wyrd. We get the word weird from Wyrd, meaning mystery and destiny.

Word.

Weird.

Wyrd.

“I will lift mine eyes up to the hills from whence cometh my help.”-Psalm 121

The higher we go, the more bearable, or at least, the more manageable the situation when the going is really tough.

The real life Sagittarius natives are astute, capable people. They need a lot of freedom of manoeuvre, and they may fail to apply themselves if bored. Like Gemini, they are prone to restlessness, and may at times struggle financially in consequence. Sagittarius is energetic, with an enlarged curiosity, and needs plenty of physical activity outdoors, and to be in contact with nature. They tend to have lots of friends, so much so, family and friends can sometimes feel neglected. Sagittarius can do domestic and devoted. of course. But you wouldn’t say it’s really how they roll.

This rolling stone of a centaur sooner or later almost always comes cantering home again, expecting to find loved ones exactly where they left them. And usually, they will. But others must not be taken for granted either, and this needs care. Sagittarius does best with a quietly confident, self-reliant partner. Hence, their challenge, but their guiding light is Temperance, as personified in the Tarot, symbolizing patience, prudence, the wisdom of moderation, self control and the art of good timing. This may be their life lesson.

Sagittarius may well be psychic; religious or spiritually inquiring, with a prophetic or visionary gift which they may express through music, writing, animal connections, or group endeavours for some common cause.

But as we are reminded every time we discuss the archetypes of the natal sun signs, there is no such thing in reality as THE Sagittarius personality. You are a unique individual. Your zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major keynote, but there are many other factors in play, your rising sign, your Moon sign, and the planets in your houses, elements, the lunar nodes, asteroids, aspects, transits, and so on. If you don’t feel like you are a ‘typical’ Sagittarius, perhaps you are a second or third decan Sagittarius, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Sagittarius.

The Decans of Sagittarius

“If you’ve ever wondered why people born in the same sign seem different, the decans can help answer this puzzle,” – astrologer Rachel Lang.

The decans or decanates, known to be in use by astrologers in Egypt at least as far back as 2100 BCE, as evidenced carved on coffin lids, may be far older in astrological usage, and have been described as ‘the thirty-six faces of astrology.’ Each of the 12 signs of the zodiac (Wheel of Life) represents 30 degrees of the 360 degree wheel of the zodiac, tracking the course of the Sun over a year. Each sign is subdivided into three parts of ten degrees each. These are the decan from the Greek word “deka” meaning ten, supplying extra clues and nuance in respect of character and potential destiny.

First Decan

Sagittarius-Sagittarius

Dates: 22 November-30 November

Planetary ruler: Jupiter

Tarot card: Eight of Wands (Smith Waite Centennial Tarot)

Card Meanings: speed, changes, news, sudden developments, arrivals, departures, or situations that may prove to be short-lived- a ‘flash in the pan.’

Jupiter, the planet of expansion, progress, ambition, and optimism is both the ruler and sub-ruler of this decan. There is idealism and a love of knowledge. This Sagittarius decan is an enthusiast for life, upbeat, spontaneous, and fun. They are highly competitive. They really, really do not like to lose, but they have a keen sense of fair play and justice.

There is a fascination with medicines, shamanism, and with ancient cultures and their healing traditions. Sagittarius loves wide-open spaces, fresh air, and being close to nature. This native is outgoing, and seemingly approachable, yet actually rather private and reserved, and not easy to get to know well. They can be the life and soul of the party, but when it comes down to the serious business, they confide in very few.

Famous first decan Sagittarius subjects: Winston Churchill, Pablo Escobar, Tina Turner, CS Lewis, Britney Spears, Gianni Versace

Second Decan

Sagittarius-Aries

Dates: 1 December-11 December

Planetary rulers: Mars and Moon

Tarot card: Nine of Wands

Card Meanings: battered and bruised but I am still standing. Courage, stamina, fortitude, stubbornness, a pause for recovery, a need to reflect

Mars brings to this decan even more of an adventurous spirit, energy, and ambition. This decan could be an explorer or adventurer, but does well in business and commerce, and generally shows marked executive abilities.

These natives are natural sportsmen and women or soldiers. They are charismatic, and though they push people away when guarding their space, when they do fall in love, they will want to show you the world, though they may have a bit of a short fuse, and need plenty of time outdoors with lots of physical activity to be at their best. Second Decan Sagittarius is courageous, clever, good with their hands, quick with their minds, technically proficient, independent and stoical. No matter how rough a time they are having, just as with the first decan, they usually keep this to themselves, showing their best face to the world.

Famous Second Decan Sagittarius subjects: John Kerry, Kirk Douglas, Jim Morrison, Tyra Banks, John Malkovich

Third Decan Sagittarius

Sagittarius-Leo

Dates: 12 December-21 December

Planetary rulers: Sun and Saturn

Tarot card- Ten of Wands (Smith Waite Centennial Tarot)

Card Meanings: I am taking this to town, effort, determination, shouldering a burden, nearing the end of a process, journey or situation

Ruled by the Sun, the centre of our solar system, this person is rather like the sun in their own environment, very much at the centre of their universe, but with a great love of change, and a hardwired desire for reform in whatever cause. This decan is full of enterprise and novel ideas. They are realists, even cynics, but they are in tune with their instincts, and can make great researchers, investigators, or teachers.

They can be very direct in saying what they think, and this can give them a reputation for being opinionated. They may have a dark sense of humour. But their sub-ruler, the Sun, which stands for warmth, pride, and vitality, joining up with beneficent Jupiter means they have initiative combined with magnetism, and when they feel like it, a talent for making other people laugh. (Not that there was anything remotely funny about Stalin, but of course every zodiac sign has its fair share of seriously nasty bad apples)

Famous Decan 3 Sagittarius: Jane Austen, Beethoven, Nostradamus, Joseph Stalin, Steven Spielberg

The Cusps of Sagittarius

In reality, there is no such thing as being born on the cusp. We are born under one zodiac sign or another, and if we know our time of birth, we can confirm this. But the cusps at the start and end of each sign, again, offer further nuance to the zodiac archetype.

Birthday 22 November- 25 November

This is Sagittarius with Scorpio qualities, ruled by Jupiter and Mars. They are courageous with great physical endurance. They tend to take on a lot of responsibility, maybe too much, which can overload them and hold them back. They take great care over their work, but they will voice strong opinions, and though they are keenly sensitive to the things others say to them, they can be pretty direct themselves when conflicts arise.

Birthday 19 December -21 December

This is Sagittarius with Capricorn qualities, ruled by Jupiter and Saturn. They can be great company; hospitable, entertaining, and well-informed, although they are forthright in disagreement and can rub others up the wrong way. On the other hand, they have a strong sense of duty, they seldom betray confidences, they’re not petty, and they don’t interfere in matters which don’t involve them directly.

The world is their study. And in Sagittarius season, we let loose the arrows of our curiosity.

a man walking into a library filled with lots of books — Photo by Julian Terenzio on Unsplash

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

―T.H. White, The Once and Future King

The world is our study, and our study is a salve. But this is not to say we hide ourselves away in our reading. When we study, when we do a bit of research, we may clarify something that has been eluding us. We may identify a new line of strategy, and start planning a new course of Action.

Sagittarius loves study, but Sagittarius transmutes it into ACTION.

Back soon. Thank you for reading.

Till next time.

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.

The Story of the Star Twins Gemini

Gemini, the Decans and Tarot: Gemini Season 2024

The word ‘zodiac’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘circle of animals.’ The only zodiac sign that is non-representative of a living creature is Libra, the sign of the Scales. But in astronomy, even the Scales of Libra are borrowed from the stars of Scorpio and the claws of the giant scorpion in the heavens next door.

Gemini is the third sign of the Western Tropical Zodiac, and represents the end of spring and beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere.

Gemini associations

Symbol:

The Roman numeral for 2 is joined top and bottom in representation of the unity of duality

Hebrew letter: Zain, meaning, sword, weapon.

Ruling planet: Mercury

Affirmation: ‘I think, I inquire.’

Body: shoulders, arms and hands, lungs, autonomous central nervous system. The cell salt for Gemini is Kali Mur- potassium chloride, which builds fibrin in the blood, organs, and tissues of the body. Gemini is vulnerable to upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, and asthma (pollen season).

Birth Stone: If born in May, Emerald. If born in June, Pearl (although it is not a stone, it is thought to be ruled by Mercury)

Lucky stone: Tiger’s Eye. Why? The Tiger’s Eye is made of silicon dioxide with bands of iron. Grounds ‘flighty’ Gemini energy. Brings focus.

Colour: Yellow

Tree: all kinds of nut trees

Flower: Lily of the Valley, Lavender

Tarot cards: Major Arcana: The Lovers (love, choices, decision-making) For some readers The Magician, associated with the Norse god Odin/Woden/ruler of Wednesday and the rune OS/ANSUZ (mouth, speech, oratory, answers.) Court card: The Knight of Swords. Minor Arcana cards: 8, 9 and 10 Swords.

Astronomy of Gemini

Gemini is the northernmost constellation in the zodiac, and the thirtieth largest in size, appearing high in the winter sky in the northern hemisphere looking north east of the constellation of Orion between the Taurus and Cancer constellations. The best time to view Gemini is in February, and then by April and May, we’ll get the best views looking west soon after sunset.

Gemini was recorded by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century as “The Star of Apollo” (Castor) and “The Star of Heracles” (Pollux).

The two brightest stars in the constellation are the “twins” themselves – Castor and Pollux, representing the heads of the twins from Greek mythology, while fainter stars outline their bodies. Pollux, the westerly twin, is a red giant star 33 light-years from Earth and Castor is about 51 light-years away. A light-year is the distance that light travels in a year – about 6 trillion miles/9.6 trillion kilometres.

Pollux is the brighter of the two stars with a massive planet orbiting it; Genorium Beta, 1.6 times bigger than Jupiter (and Jupiter is so massive Earth could fit inside it x 1,300 times.)

Castor is actually not a single star, but a star system made of up six stars not visible to the naked eye.

History and Mythology

The concept of twins in mythology goes back at least as far as the so-called Age of Gemini, during the Palaeolithic, 6, 500 BCE, arising from our understanding of the duality fundamental to the nature of reality. There are male and female twins in world myth, but there are many twin brothers in particular standing for night and day, light and dark, heat and cold, male and female, war and peace, good and bad, life and death. The creation myths of ancient cultures reflect this eternal battle of seeming opposites. Many surviving objects feature twin gods and goddesses; a major theme across all cultures.

The ‘twin stars’ have been recognised as representing twins across all cultures, each with their own names and stories. In Arabic astronomy the twins were seen as peacocks. In Egyptian astrology they were twin goats, or else the two gods, Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger, while classical Greek mythology identified them as the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, aka The Gemini, from the Latin word for twins. The name Castor comes from the Greek Καστωρ (Kastor) and means “to excel, to shine.” The name Pollux comes from the Roman form of the Greek Πολυδευκης (Polydeukes) meaning “very sweet.”

The circumstances of their birth were unusual to say the least. Queen Leda of Sparta was seduced by Zeus though seduced is putting it too politely. She was bathing in the river when he glided up, disguised as a swan, preening his feathers, and then pounced.

Later that evening, notwithstanding the undoubted trauma of this shocking event, Leda slept with her husband, King Tyndareus, and went on to produce four children all in one go; Castor, Pollux and their sisters Helen (later Helen of Troy) and Clytemnestra (later married to Agamemnon as queen of Mycenae.) Pollux and Helen were immortal, fathered by Zeus but Castor and Clytemnestra were mortal, fathered by Tyndareus.

*Public Domain, the young Castor and Pollux (Meissen)*

The mortal Castor was renowned as a horseman and a master at fencing, while the immortal Pollux was known for his great strength and skill at boxing. They went everywhere together. But then Castor was killed in a quarrel, in a disagreement over dividing the spoils after a cattle raid, and the sorrow of Pollux was so great he told Zeus he didn’t want his immortality, not if it meant eternal separation from his twin brother. Zeus scratched his head, wondering how to fix this, and then decided to place them both in the stars, to be together forever as the constellation Gemini.

The Greeks worshipped the twins as gods who helped shipwrecked sailors while the Romans later developed a cult around Castor and Pollux dating back to 484 B.C. building a temple to the twins in the Roman Forum in 414 BC in thanks for their help in defeating their old enemy, the Latins, in the battle of Regillus. Castor and Pollux were the patron gods of horses and the Roman cavalry, the equites, appearing as such on early Roman coins.

Gemini Zodiac Archetype

Mercury by Hendrick Goltzius, 1611, Public Domain

All the zodiac signs represent archetypes; meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing. The natal zodiac sun sign in western astrology paints a poetic portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season as experienced in the northern hemisphere, in a tradition originating at the thirty sixth latitude (Sumeria, modern day Iraq).

The planetary ruler of Gemini is Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, representing the winged god Mercury or Hermes; patron deity of all forms of communication, media, trade, global commerce and travel, medicine, research and analytics. Hermes was the son of the goddess Maia, one of the seven sisters of The Pleiades who gave her name to the month of May.

Mercury has a lesser known role as a psychopomp; one who can go between the realms of the living and the dead, a go-between and safe escort to the dead. It was Mercury/Hermes who escorted the souls of the newly dead to the banks of the Acheron or The Styx, where they waited for Charon to come in this boat and ferry them across to the Underworld. It was Hermes who escorted Persephone out of the dominion of Hades to be reunited with her mother Demeter.

Gemini is a mutable sign, ruling the borderline between late spring and early summer. The other mutable signs are Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. The mutable signs are considered the most changeable and agile of the signs; inquiring, agile, adaptable, talented, cerebral, analytical, logical and restless.

The Gemini temperament is friendly yet watchful, generous but changeable -mercurial as personified by Hermes with his winged sandals and the caduceus- emblem of messages and trade. The well-known delivery company of the same name clearly chose its name for this same reason. At the same time, Gemini can also be surprisingly dogmatic, attaching themselves to causes, whether it is to do with religion or an entirely secular social or political manifesto, or to do with lifestyle; for example, exercise or diet choices. Gemini may become a born-again convert- or crusading missionary. Intellectually, Gemini is quick, but emotionally, can become fixated. Taurus is stubborn too, but Taurus doesn’t seek to convince or convert others to its own way of thinking.

Gemini can be, not insincere, at least, not in that moment, but quick to lose interest, fluttering like butterflies, looking for the next new thing, looking for some better, brighter flower. This can apply to the way they interact with other people, here today and gone tomorrow, even though once mature, and once committed, they make dutiful, devoted partners and parents.

Card Meanings: unity, duality, love, friendships, partnerships, agreements, correspondence, contracts, difficult choices, decisions

Every suit in the Tarot deck has its own court with a king, a queen, a knight and a page. The principle court card associated with Gemini is the super- fast moving Knight of Swords.

Card Meanings: news, sudden developments, strongly worded email, legal action, surgical procedure, dental procedure, shock, blow, attack, air strike, plane,missile, bird of prey, assertiveness, intelligence, calculation, a confident, forceful young person (aged about 25-40), injury, snow, hailstorm, windy weather, cold wind, east wind,

The Decans of Gemini

If you don’t feel like you are a ‘typical’ Gemini, well, we’re all unique, and our natal sun is the keynote in our natal chart but not the whole story. But it may be because you’re a second or third decan Gemini native, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Gemini. It’s all still equally Gemini, whatever the decan and this holds true for all the zodiac signs. But an early-born Gemini and a later-born Gemini are born under slightly different planetary influences.

First Decan Gemini (0-10 degrees)

21-31 May

Eight of Swords

Smith Waite Tarot

Card Meanings: Entrapment, uncertainty, helplessness, waiting for rescue. There is a way out if only you will open your eyes, look around and take a step forward. I have also come to associate this card with practical plumbing/drainage issues.

This decan gets a double dose of the planetary influence of inquisitive, rational, Mercury. This is an alert, perceptive, intellectual and forceful personality. The acumen is sharp. The negative side of this coin is a Gemini native who is just as inquisitive but careless, flighty, forgetful, restless and unreliable. First decan Gemini is a multi-talented juggler, light on their feet, graceful and agile. But at the same time they tend to develop a strong point of view on a wide range of subjects, and they have a clearly defined belief system. For all their apparent flightiness they are also tough and resilient-even stubborn, a quality more usually associated with Taurus, its next door neighbour and predecessor in the zodiac. Gemini make devoted partners, contrary to whatever people might assume. They will hang on in there when the going gets tough, though they are prone to boredom and quickly tire of routine. They have considerable charisma and sex appeal. But they also know when they’ve got a good thing, so long as there’s plenty of social interaction and sufficiently frequent short distance travel to keep their restlessness under control.

Second Decan Gemini (10-20 degrees)

June 1-10

Nine of Swords

Card Meanings: The so-called Nightmare card, also nicknamed “cruelty.” Worry, ‘the black dog,’ anxiety, stress, grief, insomnia, depression, the things that keep us awake at night.

The sub-ruler of this decan is Libra, ruled by Venus, planet of love, beauty- and money, while Libra is the natural ruler of the seventh house of marriage, partnerships, close associates, associations, and legal matters. This Gemini is more of a “me-too” person, rather than an “I-am” person compared with, say, a first decan Gemini. This Gemini native needs to be especially discriminating in their selection of companions/associates and to avoid making early decisions about a choice of partner. Gemini 2nd decan is often drawn to quiet, reserved people. Their reserve fascinates Gemini-Libra which matches up well with reliable, practical types who can get a job done with little fuss or excitement. This person will ground, refine and complement the Gemini-Libra.

People respond well to the Second Decan Gemini warm and effusive nature. They also have a sense of adventure, same as the other Gemini decans, and they enjoy travel for the sake of new experiences. Sharing is part of the Gemini-Libra life; they are generous with their time and friendship and also with possessions. Gemini-Libra is great company. Just don’t be surprised or upset if they disappear as suddenly as they appear, or if they go quiet on you without warning. It’s not personal. It’s just the way they are.

Third Decan Gemini (20-30 degrees)

11-20 June

Ten of Swords

Smith Waite Tarot

Card meanings: Destruction, despair, betrayal, stabbed in the back, ruin, dark night of the soul, and the darkness before dawn, the only way is up, illness, comatose, a fall, spinal injury, head injury.

The personal planets of the third decan Gemini are Saturn and Uranus, painting a portrait full of contradictions. Sometimes this person is ultra-careful, dutiful, responsible, serious, at other times carefree or even careless. Uranus combined with the planet Mercury suggests an unusually active or even brilliant mind possibly even verging on genius. This person may be a thinker who is ahead of their times. Or maybe they are just zany.

Aquarius – natural ruler of the eleventh house of friends, hopes, and wishes-makes this Gemini a social type, a friend-oriented individual interested in social causes. This Gemini is an optimist, always interested in trying out what is new, and never happier than when they are on the move.

Life is rarely dull with a cheerful Decan 3 Gemini around, but they are the most independent- natured Gemini decan. They need plenty of space and freedom, with a partner who makes few demands on their time and attention. They are very hard working when they put their mind to it. But keeping promises, fulfilling obligations and routines are not their strongest suit. It is a mistake for this Gemini native to marry early or settle too soon. Adventure, exploration and experimentation with ideas, people and places- this is what they are about. This is what makes them tick.

The Cusps of Gemini

Birthday May 21 through May 23

This is Gemini with Taurus tendencies. The ruling planets are Mercury and Venus. This is a strong and magnetic personality, often with talents in music, art and literature. They are lively and sociable, good conversationalists hospitable and fond of travel. They desire to excel but may suffer from a fear of rejection, and at times may worry overmuch about the opinion of others at the expense of their intellectual independence and the exercise of their personal agency.

Birthday June 18 through June 21

This is Gemini with Cancer tendencies, ruled by Mercury and the Moon. This native possesses foresight and analytical ability combined with idealism. They will do well so long as they stay practical and do not go in for speculation and risk taking. This birthday does not bring that particular kind of luck. They may at times be too sensitive for their own good, liable to take offence or be sorry for themselves. But, graceful in movement, tidy in appearance, affectionate in nature, this native is a good friend. If they say they will do something, they keep their word.

Famous Gemini natives

John F Kennedy, Donald Trump, Frank Lloyd Wright, Boris Johnson. Johnny Depp, Queen Victoria, Charles 11, George 111,George V, Muammar Gaddafi, Angelina Jolie, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Carl Linnaeus, Peter the Great, Adam Smith, Richard Wagner, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Maynard Keynes.

Keynote Astrology Dates in Gemini 2024

May 20: Sun enters Gemini ruler of the third house of intellect, communications, siblings and neighbours

May 23: Full Flower Moon in Sagittarius. Futurism, a breakthrough, foreign affairs, possible summit, visionaries, possible progress on a ceasefire

May 23-June 16: Venus enters Gemini coming together with Jupiter. Feeling good, looking good. Dating and socializing. Making Art. Writing. Just watch the spending.

May 25: THE astrological event of Gemini season 2024. Jupiter enters the sign of Gemini until June 9 2025. Here is an intense focus on fact-finding, fact-checking and the power and meaning of words. Here are big things in public discourse, deep fakes, AI and space tech and all things, welcome or otherwise, carried on the wind and in the air. We are witnessing the Fourth Industrial revolution. Last time we had Jupiter in Gemini, June 12, 2012-June 26, 2013, Voyager 1, launched September 5 1977 was the first man-made object to enter interstellar space. Just be aware, Jupiter in Gemini can mean disinformation and cults. It can mean the mob and witch hunts, especially when Pluto is in Aquarius (think too of the French Revolution and the guillotine). It’s best not to rely on any one single information or news source before arriving at our conclusions about anything.

May 31: Mercury conjunction with Uranus in Taurus. Sudden changes, surprises or breakthroughs to what we may have thought were insoluble problems.

June 6: New Moon in Gemini. This one falls at in the second decan of Gemini correlating with the Nine of Swords. On the plus side, it’s conjunct Venus. Fun times. We’re in demand. There is a real buzz of adrenaline and mental energy. But it’s also square Saturn. We may gallop about the place non-stop, spreading ourselves too thin, or struggling with issues or memories to do with a difficult parental relationship.

June 9: Mars in Taurus: our energy might hit a bit of a slump but it’s all good. We can adapt, go a walk, feed the birds, tend the flowers, take it easy, refuse to brood, and work on long term planning

July 20: Mars in Gemini. And the energy is back again. You’re taking charge and it shows, but prioritize your health, rest and relaxation, especially if you are a natal sun sign Gemini.

And finally….

To the witty, brilliant, charming and cheerful Gemini sun sign native, we say Happy Birthday! Pluto calls you to new learning, crafts and foreign travel, or even a permanent relocation over the next twenty years, while 2024 is the year to reassess your professional trajectory and your place in your chosen community. This is not the year for flightiness. This is a time to stand firm and concentrate. Tis is a time to dig and build. Or rebuild. Deep and emotional Pisces in Saturn, planet of duty, responsibility, or possibly even care for older relatives, in your tenth house of your public life and your career calls for a plan, for discipline and focus. Stand firm. August in particular may be a real roller-coaster ride or a turning point. This is your on-going challenge- and your great opportunity in 2024

Happy Birthday Gemini 2024!

Gemini Season 2024

Birds and bees and all that flies. Gemini, the Decans and Tarot

This year the sun is in the sign of Gemini from May 20- June 19, 2024. The dates for the sun signs can vary by a day or two from year to year for astronomical reasons. This year the sun leaves Gemini and enters Cancer on the day of the summer solstice, June 20. Gemini is the third sign of the Western Tropical Zodiac, and represents the end of spring and beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere.

Associations

The Roman numeral for 2 is joined top and bottom in representation of the unity of duality

Hebrew letter: Zain, meaning, sword, weapon.

Ruling planet: Mercury

Affirmation: ‘I think, I inquire.’

Birth Stone: If born in May, Emerald. If born in June, Pearl (although it is not a stone, it is thought to be ruled by Mercury)

Lucky stone: Tiger’s Eye. Made of silicon dioxide with bands of iron. Grounds ‘flighty’ Gemini energy. Brings focus.

Colour: Yellow

Tree: all kinds of nut trees

Flower: Lily of the Valley, Lavender

Tarot cards: The Lovers. The Magician, Knight of Swords, 8, 9 and 10 Swords.

Astronomy

Gemini is visible to the naked eye, the northernmost constellation in the zodiac and the thirtieth largest in size appearing high in the winter sky in the northern hemisphere. looking north east of Orion between Taurus and Cancer. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century recorded Gemini as “The Star of Apollo” (Castor) and “The Star of Heracles” (Pollux). February is the best time to view Gemini. By April and May, we get the best views looking west soon after sunset.

The two brightest stars in the constellation are the “twins” themselves – Castor and Pollux, representing the heads of the twins while fainter stars outline their bodies. Pollux, the westerly twin, is a red giant star 33 light-years from Earth, and Castor is about 51 light-years away- the distance that light travels in a year = about 6 trillion miles/9.6 trillion km. Pollux is the brighter of the two with a massive planet orbiting it; Genorium Beta, while Castor is actually not a single star, but a star system made of up six stars not visible to the naked eye.

History and Mythology

The concept of twins in mythology goes back at least as far as the so-called Age of Gemini, during the Palaeolithic, 6, 500 BCE, arising from our understanding of the duality fundamental to the nature of reality. There are male and female twins in world myth, standing for night and day, light and dark, heat and cold, male and female, war and peace, good and bad, life and death. The creation myths of ancient cultures and many surviving objects reflect this eternal battle of seeming opposites.

In Arabic astronomy the twins were seen as peacocks. In Egyptian astrology they were twin goats, or else the two gods, Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger, while classical Greek mythology identified them as the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, aka The Gemini, from the Latin word for twins.

The name Castor comes from the Greek Καστωρ (Kastor) and means “to excel, to shine.” The name Pollux comes from the Roman form of the Greek Πολυδευκης (Polydeukes) meaning “very sweet.” The circumstances of their birth were unusual to say the least. Queen Leda of Sparta was seduced by Zeus, though seduced is putting it too politely. She was bathing in the river when he glided up, disguised as a swan, preening his feathers, and then pounced.

white swan on water during daytime — Photo by Sascha Bosshard on Unsplash

That night, notwithstanding the undoubted trauma of this shocking event, Leda slept with her husband, King Tyndareus, and in due course delivered four children all in one go; Castor, Pollux and their sisters Helen (later Helen of Troy) and Clytemnestra (later married to Agamemnon as queen of Mycenae.) Pollux and Helen were immortal, fathered by Zeus. Castor and Clytemnestra were mortal, fathered by Tyndareus.

Castor was renowned as a horseman and a master at fencing, while Pollux was known for his great strength and skill at boxing. They went everywhere together. But then Castor was killed in a quarrel and Pollux told Zeus he didn’t want his immortality, not if it meant eternal separation from his brother. Zeus scratched his head, wondering how to fix this, and decided to place them in the stars, to be together forever as the constellation Gemini.

The Zodiac Archetype

The planetary ruler of Gemini is Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, representing the winged god Mercury or Hermes; patron deity of all forms of communication, media, trade, global commerce and travel, medicine, research and analytics. Mercury has a lesser known role as a psychopomp; one who can go between the realms of the living and the dead, a go-between and safe escort to the dead.

Gemini is a mutable sign, ruling the borderline between late spring and early summer. The other mutable signs are Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, considered the most changeable and agile of the signs; inquiring, agile, adaptable, talented, cerebral, analytical, logical and restless. At the same time, Gemini can also be surprisingly dogmatic, attaching themselves to causes, whether religious or secular, social or political manifestos, or to do with lifestyle, for example, exercise or diet choices. They can be born-again converts- or crusading missionaries.

Card Meanings: unity, duality, love, friendships, partnerships, agreements, correspondence, contracts, difficult choices, decisions

Every suit in the Tarot deck has its own court with a king, a queen, a knight and a page. The principle court card associated with Gemini is the super- fast moving Knight of Swords.

Card Meanings: news, sudden developments, strongly worded email, legal action, surgical procedure, dental procedure, shock, blow, attack, air strike, assertiveness, intelligence, calculation, a confident, forceful young person, injury, snow, hailstorm, windy weather, cold wind, east wind, motorbike

The Decans of Gemini

The word ‘Decan’ comes from the Latin meaning ‘ten.’ Each zodiac sign lasts about 30 days and is further divided into three blocks of roughly 10 days each. These are the decans or as they’re sometimes called, the ‘thirty-six faces of astrology,’ bringing added depth and nuance to the psychological profile associated with your natal sun sign. The minor arcana cards associated with Gemini; the Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords, correlate with the decans. All the decans are equally Gemini, whatever the decan and this holds true for all the zodiac signs. But an early-born Gemini and a later-born Gemini are born under slightly different planetary influences.

First Decan (0-10 degrees)

21-31 May

Eight of Swords

This decan gets a double dose of inquisitive, rational, Mercury. This is an alert, perceptive, intellectual and forceful personality. The acumen is sharp. The negative side of this coin is a Gemini native who is just as inquisitive but careless, flighty, forgetful, restless and unreliable. First decan Gemini is a multi-talented juggler, light on their feet, graceful and agile. But at the same time they tend to develop a strong point of view on a wide range of subjects, and they have a clearly defined belief system. For all their apparent flightiness they are tough and resilient-even stubborn, a quality more usually associated with Taurus, its next door neighbour and predecessor in the zodiac. Gemini make devoted partners, contrary to whatever people might assume. They may have considerable charisma but they also know when they’ve got a good thing, so long as there’s plenty of social interaction and sufficiently frequent short distance travel to keep them occupied.

Second Decan (10-20 degrees)

June 1-10

Nine of Swords

Card Meanings: The so-called Nightmare card, also nicknamed “cruelty.” Worry, ‘the black dog,’ anxiety, stress, grief, insomnia, depression, the things that keep us awake at night.

Here is Putin and Zelenskyy experiencing another peak of aggression and strain this Gemini season 2024. Or instigating it, in the case of Putin, while Zelenskyy tears his hair out, the west bickers and vacillates, and others rub their hands. The sub-ruler of this decan is Libra, ruled by Venus, planet of love, beauty- and money, while Libra is the natural ruler of the seventh house of marriage, partnerships, close associates, associations, and legal matters. This Gemini is more of a “me-too” person, rather than an “I-am” person compared with, say, a first decan Gemini. This Gemini native needs to be especially discriminating in their selection of companions/associates and to avoid making early decisions about a choice of partner. People respond well to the Second Decan Gemini warm and effusive nature. Gemini-Libra is generous with their time and friendship and also with possessions. Just don’t be too surprised or upset if they disappear as suddenly as they appear, or if they go quiet on you without warning. It’s not personal. It’s just the way they are.

Third Decan (20-30 degrees)

11-20 June

Ten of Swords

The personal planets of the third decan Gemini are Saturn and Uranus, painting a portrait of contradictions. Sometimes this person is ultra-careful, dutiful, responsible, serious, at other times carefree or even careless. Uranus combined with the planet Mercury suggests a thinker who is ahead of their times. Or maybe they are just zany. Aquarius – natural ruler of the eleventh house of friends, hopes, and wishes-makes this Gemini a social type, a friend-oriented individual interested in social causes. This Gemini is an optimist, always interested in trying out what is new, and never happier than when they are on the move. This is the most independent- natured Gemini decan.

The Cusps of Gemini

Birthday May 21 through May 23

This is Gemini with Taurus tendencies. The ruling planets are Mercury and Venus. This is a strong and magnetic personality, often with talents in music, art and literature. They are lively and sociable, good conversationalists hospitable and fond of travel. They desire to excel but may worry overmuch about the opinion of others at the expense of their intellectual independence and the exercise of their personal agency.

Birthday June 18 through June 21

This is Gemini with Cancer tendencies, ruled by Mercury and the Moon. This native possesses foresight and analytical ability combined with idealism. They will do well so long as they stay practical and do not go in for speculation and risk taking. This birthday does not bring that particular kind of luck. Graceful in movement, tidy in appearance, affectionate in nature, this native is a good friend and if they say they will do something, they keep their word, but they may at times be too sensitive for their own good.

Famous Gemini natives

I’m not seeing a Presidential inauguration for Gemini native Donald Trump January 2025. He draws The World card and the Death card, signifying the end of a cycle or a chapter. But he did draw the Ace of Wands. New venture. New government. There may still be surprises

Thank you for reading. Back soon.

Hey Toro! The Season of the Star Bull Taurus

This year the sun is in the sign of Taurus 19 April 2024 -20 May 2024. The dates for the sun signs can vary by a day or two from year to year for astronomical reasons.

Taurus, from the Latin for Bull, is the second sign of the Western Tropical Zodiac and represents the height of spring in the northern hemisphere, ruled by the planet Venus and the goddess herself in all her verdant mythological glory. Venus rules Taurus by day, and the Moon, which is exalted in the sign of the Bull, rules Taurus by night.

Symbolic Associations

· Ruling planet: Venus

· Element: Earth

· Quality: Fixed (mid-season)

· Birthstone: Diamond (April) Emerald(May)

· Metal: copper

· Body: neck, throat, tonsils

· Homeopathic salt: Nat Sulph (Sodium sulphate) used for indigestion or at the onset of cold and flu symptoms

· Flower: the Daisy; innocence, sanctity

· Tree: the Apple Tree; happiness, immortality. Avalon, the resting place of King Arthur was the ‘isle of apples’

· Colours: pastel blue, green, pink

· Spheres of Influence: The Establishment, Church, universities, publishing, agriculture. Professions: Politics, Banking, Agriculture, Church, Government, Construction, Arts, Music/Dance, Entertainment, Beauty, Retail, Fashion, Restaurants

Astronomy

Taurus is a large and prominent constellation bordered by Aries to the west and Gemini to the east. It ranks 17^th in size of the 48 Greek constellations as recorded by Ptolemy in The Mathematics of the Heavens, the Almagest, written AD/CE 150.

The stars of Taurus depict the face, horns and forepart of the bull’s body. His face is made up of a triangular cluster of stars called The Hyades. There are no legs. The bull is imagined half-submerged like the mythical Bull from the Sea. A cluster of stars, The Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters, swarms like bees above him.

Aldebaran is Taurus the Bull's fiery eye — Via Earthsky

The best time to observe Taurus is December and January. By March and April, you might see it in the west in the twilight. To find Taurus first you need to find the three stars of Orion’s belt. This is very easy on a clear winter’s night. Now look up to the right, looking north- east, See that bright orange-red star? That’s Aldebaran, ‘The Follower,’ a red giant. Aldebaran is the biggest, brightest star in the constellation, the famous red eye of the Bull, glaring down towards the Hunter. Orion isn’t after the Bull. Orion is chasing the hare, Lepus. But the Bull doesn’t like him anyway.

Should the Bull ever escape his heavenly pen, said ancient Arabic legend, he would stampede the universe to pieces, and it would be the end of things for all time. Let’s hope nothing upsets him up there, and there are plenty of daisies and buttercups, and no flies or mosquitoes to bother him.

History and Mythology

Taurus has been recognized as a sky bull since at least the Early Bronze Age, when the figure of a bull was discerned in the stars by the Sumerians around 3000 BC, and was later recorded in cuneiform by the Babylonians.

In modern astrology Aries is the first sign of the western zodiac, ushering in the spring (vernal) equinox along with the culmination of the first lambing season. Aries was encoded as the first sign of the zodiac by Ptolemy. This remains the case symbolically, although the vernal point of the spring equinox is now technically occurring in the constellation of Pisces owing the wobble of the earth, and the effect known as the precession of the equinoxes. The invisible celestial point that represents the spring equinox changes roughly every two thousand years

4000 years ago, it was still happening in Taurus. For Babylonian astronomers Taurus was the first sign of the Zodiac, and the Bull was also the first sign for the early Hebrews, who called it Aleph, as in A, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Why is Taurus celebrated in spring? Taurus coincides with the calving season. The bull, like its ancestors, the wild aurochs, is a potent symbol of strength and fertility. But where Leo the lion, represents wild strength, Taurus the bull is domesticated, controlled strength, just as the power of the oxen was harnessed for ploughing the fields. One of the archetypes associated with Taurus is ‘The Farmer.’

But the sheer animal power and potency of the bull has exerted a magical influence on the human imagination long before the dawn of agriculture. Paintings of aurochs, the wild ancestors of the modern bull, were discovered in the Lascaux caves in France in paintings, thought to date from 15000 BC/BCE. The most famous section of the Lascaux caves in the Dordogne in France is the Hall of the Bulls, featuring four black bulls, or aurochs. One of these bulls is 5.2 metres (17 feet) long, the largest animal so far seen in cave art.

It is thought that the aurochs migrated at this time of year; a dangerous but potentially highly rewarding hunting opportunity for sabre toothed tigers- and for human hunters. Not only did the aurochs provide the luxury of meat, but the horns,hide and sinews had many uses. Elsewhere, the physical remains of auroch have been discovered on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge in the UK. Salisbury Plain was once a “lek” -a mass gathering site of the auroch on their annual migration route. These mighty stones were not raised simply on account of ancient ancestors or solar solstice alignments, but to honour the rich and ancient hunting grounds along this resting place on the migration route of the auroch.

a grassy field with rocks in it with Stonehenge in the background — Photo by Karen McKeogh on Unsplash

Hunting gave way to farming, guaranteeing vital survival supplies with less risk attached. The first evidence of the domestication of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs was found in the ‘Fertile Crescent;’ a region covering eastern Turkey, Iraq and south-western Iran from about 12000 years ago.

These farming practices spread westwards, and in time had a genetic effect on the human population, with the sudden appearance of a gene mutation that enabled humans to digest raw cow’s milk into adulthood. It’s not known when this first occurred, but it happened in Northern Europe, probably driven by the food challenges of longer colder winters. Today, an estimated 35 % of the adult human population can digest the milk sugar, lactose, mostly in Europe, while this is much lower in other countries and as many as 99% of Chinese people are lactose intolerant.

Bull Worship

The bull was considered a divine animal throughout antiquity; a symbol of the moon, fertility, rebirth, and royal power, while today, the Lithuanian word ‘taurus’ means ‘noble.’

There is evidence of bull cults throughout the Mediterranean starting in Anatolia, dating from at least 70000 BC. From the worship of the Apis bull in Egypt, to bull-leaping in Knossos and the sacrificial portrayal in Roman Mithraism, the bull has been an integral part of many diverse and important religious traditions. The High Priestess in the Tarot deck wears a two- horned or crescent moon crown with the full Moon in-between in token of Hathor, the cow goddess of Thebes (Egypt).

Smith Waite Tarot

Greek legend associated Taurus with the legend of Zeus and Europa, in which the god Zeus, up to his tricks yet again, disguised himself as a beautiful white bull, coaxed the princess Europa into climbing on his back, then swam away with her to Crete, and made her one of his mistresses, giving her the gift of a pet dog that later became the constellation Canis Major. Their children included Minos, King of Crete, the builder of the Labyrinth and the famous palace at Knossos where the bull games were held.

Bull worship; the concept of the bull as a divine concept, gradually migrated westwards and northwards. The Celtic druids held Tauric festivals at least 2000 years ago, and there is archaeological evidence of bull worship near Newcastle and York in northern England in the UK.

The Buddha was born when the Full Moon was in Taurus (Vesak.) The Buddha’s birthday is celebrated at the Vesak Festival which in 2024 will be celebrated on the day of the Full Moon May 23 based on the Vedic lunar calendar. Vesak day honours the day of the birth, the enlightenment, and the death of the Buddha and is considered a public holiday in South East Asia in countries including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

shallow focus photo of Gautama Buddha figurine — Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

The Taurus Archetype

All the zodiac signs represent archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing. A zodiac sign paint a poetic portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season. A baby born in summer in either hemisphere arrives into a different physical environment from a winter baby; differences of temperature, hours of daylight, maternal diet during pregnancy and so on, with potentially different effects on the baby’s physical makeup and constitution.

As a fixed sign, Taurus rules anything associated with the mid- zone of spring, the height of the season. The other fixed signs are Leo, mid-summer, Scorpio, mid-autumn and Aquarius, mid-winter. The fixed signs are traditionally considered the most stable and steadfast signs, rooted in their ruling element, protectors of the status quo, the signs in tune with ancient things, the guardians of conservation and protecting continuity.

Taurus rules the ears, neck and throat. Taurus is known for its particularly pleasant or distinctive voice. Taurus may seem slower to learn compared with say, a mercurial, quicksilver Gemini native. But their grasp is both intuitive and thorough, and they possess an excellent memory. Once learned, never forgotten.

Taurus has an equable, pleasant, even magnetic personality, always excepting the grumpy, taciturn, self-opinionated natives. Taurus is known for a quiet style of physical attractiveness. Ruled by the Moon and Venus, these are sensual people. This sign especially needs to watch they don’t overdo the whole comfort thing, over-eating and so on. Taurus is a singer and a dancer. They have natural rhythm, but while they are strong and they have good stamina, they are not known as sporty types. This beautiful model is wearing the colours of Taurus.

woman in green and purple floral dress — Photo by Chalo Garcia on Unsplash

Taurus won’t be pushed about. Many a bull has worn a ring through his nose for the safety of the farmer. Masters of passive resistance, notoriously resistant and stubborn, their strength and stability is the bright side of this same coin. Taurus has a gift of soothing and reassuring others, though, like a bull shaking off gadflies while chewing the cud, they can be irritable if you try to rush them, crowding them while their thoughts are elsewhere.

herd of brown and black bulls on brown sand — Photo by Kendall Ruth on Unsplash

Bulls cannot actually see the colour red. It’s the movement of the matador’s cape that provokes them in the bull ring, and not the colour. Taurus is slow to anger but rarely loses in a fair fight. The bull ring is not a fair fight. The bull is weakened by the picadors on horseback, injured before he meets the matador, who would have a far smaller chance of survival otherwise. Still, the matador requires superb courage to meet the mighty bull in an open space, and this is the chance for the bull to have his revenge for his death, a chance denied to other bulls who will go to the slaughter house.s

When the human bull ‘sees’ red they either dig in hard or else charge head on. Taurus in a full-on rage is a ‘bull in a china shop’ – the Earth sign that will withstand or demolish the opposition of the other more famous ‘fighting’ signs, Aries, Leo, and even the famously lethal Scorpio, its opposite number in the zodiac. Other people get a shock when Taurus suddenly turns and starts lowering their head and hoofing the turf. The mistake of the other person was in pushing the boundaries once too often, taking their good nature for granted.

If a Taurus is being unreasonable, or being a ‘bully,’ stay calm and quietly stand your ground. Do as you would be done by, and more often than not, the typical Taurus will respond in kind.

Thank you for reading. Back soon with the story of the Decans, Taurus in the Tarot and the weather in Taurus season 2024…

Enter the Season of Pisces The Heavenly Fishes, 2024

Most of us know our Western Tropical zodiac sun sign, but what’s the story behind it? And what are the decans? It’s time to find out more about Pisces the Heavenly Fishes

13th century window in Chartres Cathedral

Traditional associations

Symbol:

Date of Birth: 19 Feb to 20 March

Ruling planets: Traditional: Jupiter Modern: Neptune

Element: Water

Quality: Mutable

Lucky Days: Monday and Thursday

Energy: Yin (receptive)

Key phrase: I believe

Body: Feet, eyes, bladder

Tissue Salt: Ferrum Phos (Iron Phosphate) An oxygen booster.

Birth Stone: Aquamarine but also amethyst, ruby, blood-stone and jasper. Aquamarine is the blue variety of beryl. Emerald is a green beryl. The aquamarine is believed to enhance foresight, clairvoyance and a sense of well-being.

Colours: Purple, violet, sea-green

Herbs/Flowers: the water lily (associated with Neptune)

Tarot cards: The Moon: ebb and flow, cyclical shifts, intuition, dreams, visionary capabilities, ghosts, fertility, instinct v societal norms, wild creatures, difficulties with travel, infection, poison, uncertainties, shadow boxing, wild creatures.

Other cards: the Knight of Cups and the 8, 9 and 10 Cups.

Smith Waite Centennial deck © U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Pisces Astronomy

Pisces, named for the Latin plural of fish, is the 14th largest constellation overall, located in the first quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere and covering a large V-shaped region. But although it’s a fairly large constellation its stars are faint, none brighter than fourth magnitude. Not easy to see with the naked eye.

Even so, its brightest star, Eta Piscium, also known as Alphergor Kullat Nunuis a bright giant star 294 light-years from Earth, 316 times more luminous than the sun. Its Babylonian name is Kullat Nunu, ‘Nunu’ meaning ‘fish’ and ‘kullat’ meaning a bucket.

The fish of Pisces are often depicted in art as two koi carp swimming at right angles to each other; one to the north, one to the west, and attached by a cord. This imaginary cord, Alrescha or Alpha Piscium, is made up of a pair of white dwarf stars. Astronomer Ian Ridpath explains: “A cord joins the tails of Pisces. The horizontal dashed line passing through the southerly fish is the celestial equator, and the diagonal dashed line is the Sun’s annual path, the ecliptic. The point where they cross is known as the vernal (spring) equinox.”

Pisces rules the feet. Symbolically Pisces has one foot in the death of the old year, and one foot in the new life of springtime.Pisces is the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac year, ruling the twelfth house in a personal horoscope, representing hopes, dreams and fears- what lies beneath. “Can thou draw forth leviathan from the deep?”

In Christianity, Pisces represents Christ, and its opposite sign of Virgo represents Mary, the mother of Christ.

Pisces stands for what is unknowable.

The nature origins of the Pisces story

green pine trees beside river during daytime — Springtime snow melt Montana Photo by Gary Yost on Unsplash

February and March is the time of the winter melt, the fullest mountain rivers and the first spawning of fresh water fishes in the Northern hemisphere. This was the flooding season in Mesopotamia where the zodiac signs and stories of the Western Tropical zodiac first originated. There is evidence of recorded astrology dating back to the third millennium BC/BCE.

Pisces is a mutable sign, marking the subtle transition of one season into another. Pisces marks the end of winter leading up to the vernal equinox. Of all the zodiac signs, the mutable signs; Pisces, Gemini and Sagittarius, are traditionally the most adaptable, the ones most at ease with endings, transitions and change.

The fishes of Pisces are attached by a cord of stars, just as life and death, and winter and spring are conjoined, and cannot be separated. Pisces is not only the last sign of winter, moving into spring; it is the last sign of the zodiac year; a symbolic culmination of all the signs that came before it.

The end of winter often brings mourning. More than any other season, it is the end of winter that carries away the old and frail. A mild or green winter was especially feared as it “made fat the graveyard,” as the old saying went.

Pisces straddles winter’s grief and the bright green shoots of spring.

The Pisces Archetype/Astrological Personality

The court card of Pisces is the Knight of Cups, signifying an offer, an invitation, a proposal, a welcome message, a bringer of good news, an admirer, lover, chivalry, a Sir Galahad, good health, a healing cup, a loving cup, fertility, pregnancy.

Pisces is famous for its emotional depths and visionary capabilities; sensitive, intuitive, psychic, often musically or artistically gifted, but also capable of not only scientific or technical competence, but brilliance.

These are talented individuals and famously loyal once committed; compassionate and sensitive. They adapt with ease, are spontaneous and full of surprises, but while their steel may be largely hidden, all the same, it is there. Not much is said about this Piscean steel but Pisces can be, not just resilient, but downright tough in its own quiet way.

Many police officers, arbitrators and judges are born under Pisces, as well as artists and musicians. Administrative work, although Pisces can do it perfectly competently, is not their forte by and large.

Strengths

Pisces can make excellent and approachable leaders of small teams, loyal to the staff in their charge. They will take on injustice, and challenge those of superior status. But Pisces, unlike Aquarius, confines their remit to action on an individual basis. Pisces is not temperamentally disposed to the mounting of group actions, campaigns or crusades. Unless perhaps, they are early Pisces, born on the Aquarius cusp. The later subjects of this sign, born close to the Aries cusp are potentially very much the warrior ‘doers’ of Pisces, and they will keep their own counsel and act alone if their blood is up.

Pisces is brave, kindly and instinctive, but their constitutional physical energy, once depleted, is not buoyant or easily restored. If Pisces is prone to headaches at the back of the head, there may possibly be related bladder infections or other issues.

Pisces, while sociable, needs a fair bit of time to itself. Pisces thrives on rest, music, hobbies and relaxation time near to rivers, ponds and sea. The writer personally knows two freshwater anglers who are Pisces sun sign natives. One keeps his own pond of koi carp at home.

Challenges

Depending on other planetary placements, Pisces may fall prey to wishful thinking, melancholy or unhealthy lifestyle habits. They may struggle to recover and regroup from setbacks. Without enough to do, or without a clear sense of purpose or direction, Pisces can drift loose from their cord, becoming detached and living too much in their own imaginary world.

But of course there is no such thing in reality as the Pisces personality. You are a unique individual. Your zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major keynote, but it is nothing like the full picture in real life – or in astrology. There are many other factors in play in your natal chart; your rising sign, your Moon sign; the planets in your houses, the aspects, your decan, and the degree of the actual day you were born.

If you don’t feel like a ‘typical’ Pisces, perhaps you are a second or third decan Pisces, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Pisces.

The Decans of Pisces

two Siamese fighting fishes — Photo by Worachat Sodsri on Unsplash

The decans (or decanates) are a further way of marking time, breaking down each of the zodiac signs into three shorter blocks of roughly ten days each.

While the Mesopotamians (Babylon and Sumeria in what is modern day Iraq) were developing the signs of the zodiac and the concept of natal astrology, astrologers in Egypt were developing the system of the decans. These two astrological traditions came together sometime around the 1st Century BCE and the 36 decans were merged with the astrological signs.

The Zodiac is a belt of sky we see from earth, tracking the path of the sun across the sky over the course of the year. We call this pathway of the sun ‘the ecliptic.’ The Greeks named the zodiac signs after twelve of the constellations appearing on, or crossing this zodiac belt: Aries, Taurus, Gemini Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and lastly, Pisces.

Each of these designated zodiac signs represents a 30 degree section of the zodiac belt. Each sign is then further sub-divided into three blocks of ten degrees ten days in length, with slight variations. This gives us the decans or decanates from the Latin meaning ‘ten.’

The decans are popularly known as the ‘thirty-six faces of astrology,’ adding subtle depth and nuance to the stories of the signs of the zodiac, distinguishing between someone born at the start of their zodiac month from someone who is born during the middle or at the end of the zodiac month.

Readers may also use decans to help with the determining of timing issues.

First Decan Pisces

Pisces- Pisces

Dates: 19 Feb-29 Feb

Planetary rulers: Traditional: Jupiter/ Modern: Neptune

Tarot card: Eight of Cups

Card meanings: Moving on, cutting ones losses, leaving something behind, but not in anger. Reversed: disillusionment, regret

The first decan of any sign is considered the most typical. Pisces makes for versatility and adaptability, while Neptune presents a soft or gentle manner or appearance. This Pisces decan is rarely aggressive or confrontational.

But there is a sense of a push and pull going on here. Jupiter means Pisces thinks big and steps forward. Neptune means Pisces swims in circles or hides in the weeds. This Pisces native connects with other people on an unconscious level, almost hearing what they are thinking. Maybe they haven’t noticed this about themselves yet, or they take their telepathy for granted, but if this is you, watch out for the signs.

While quiet, this Pisces has deep passions and their love life can be tempestuous. Their ideal partner will be lively and communicative with a can-do approach but the first decan Pisces tends to go on a lot of detours before arriving or settling in their happy place or rightful destination.

They often look younger than their age, but they need to be especially aware of their dietary and other habits in order to protect their health; mood, and the chest, lungs and feet in particular. Pisces is extra-sensitive to the effects of overindulgence of alcohol or mind altering drugs.

Second Decan Pisces

Pisces-Cancer

Dates: 1-10 March (approx.)

Planetary ruler: Moon

Tarot card: Nine of Cups

Card Meanings: the wish card, dreams come true, food and drink, the hospitality industry. Reversed: overindulgence, complacency, self-satisfaction

The sub-influence for this decan is Cancer, ruled by The Moon. Cancer is the natural ruler of the fourth house of home, family and security. These Pisces subjects typically stay close to birth family members. This Pisces may struggle to loosen parental ties, becoming fully independent, but must do so if they want to progress and develop and become the adult in the room (Saturn in Pisces

The zone of the sky from March 1 –10 houses the stars of the water of Aquarius, Eridanus the river and the western fish of Pisces. These are the faintest, most elusive stars. Now you see them, now you don’t.

These Pisceans blend in anywhere. Sensitive and psychic, this decan absorbs like moss. For the same reason these highly empathic people need to choose their company with care, and form healthy habits early on in life. These subjects are supremely susceptible to the influence of others in their environment, and this can work positively or negatively.

Third Decan Pisces

Pisces-Scorpio

Dates: 11 March-20 March

Planetary rulers: Ancient Mars Modern Pluto

Tarot card– Ten of Cups

Card Meanings: contentment, completion, arrival, family life, stability, safety and security, team effort, a happy home Reversed: losses,family conflicts, break-ups, unhappiness

The sub-influences for this decan are Scorpio and its rulers, traditional Mars or modern Pluto. Energetic Mars and Scorpio – natural ruler of the eighth house of desire, willpower, drive and determination – brings to this Pisces extra charisma, and the drive and determination to push forward where Pisces in general can tend to err on the side of caution, holding back. This Pisces native has the artistic creativity of Pisces/Neptune with extra sticking power to turn dreams into realities.

Pluto brings depth and Mars brings speed and energy of attack. This Pisces native needs to keep busy, with plenty of energy outlets. Pisces marks the completion of the zodiac wheel. This final decan marks the point at which we move into Aries, the cycle starts over again and Aries too, is ruled by energetic Mars. What these Pisces natives start, they finish.

These Pisces natives, like the other decans, are enormously attuned to their environment, but they tend to stay more aloof and watchful, less likely to blend in. They are highly observant, natural detectives, well suited to police work or other kinds of investigative work. Pisces-Scorpio listens between the lines and notices what is not being said.

The Cusps of Pisces

Aquarius-Pisces: February 15-21

Aquarius-Pisces: This is a Pisces native with Aquarius tendencies; a person of high principles, quiet, refined, and with strong likes and dislikes. This Pisces native is likely to do a lot of travelling. They have executive capabilities and can earn or make a lot of money, but tend to become bored quite easily. This native needs to be careful not to get trapped, committing too soon in a relationship that doesn’t suit them, simply out of a fear of being left on their own.

Pisces-Aries: March 17-23

Born on the Pisces-Aries cusp, this native is especially instinctive and brave. This mix of energy combines physical and moral courage with compassion for others which can make this Pisces individual a successful leader. This person is loyal to friends and colleagues and they are also generous, and eager to see others do well.

Famous Pisces subjects

Michelangelo, Copernicus, George 111, Albert Einstein, Neville Chamberlain, Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor, Yuri Gagarin, Michael Gorbachev, Osama Bin Laden, Steve Irwin, Steve Jobs, President Erdogan of Turkey

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