Surely, this is one of the most exciting changes in the firmament that we have seen in years. Today, May 15, Uranus, the planet of change, moves into Taurus, the sign of stasis, where he has not been since 1942. Think of this planet and this sign as two constellations of ideas that are about [...]

A man, who feels himself to be half wolf, wanders through the rainy night streets of a European city. He comes across a strange door in a wall and sees this sign, or thinks he sees it, but then does it disappear? Magic Theatre  Admission not for everybody — Not for everybody — MAD PEOPLE  ONLY [...]

There has been so much fiery energy this spring with planets spending unconscionably long in the sign of impulse and initiative, Aries. The Ram’s fiery inspiration is usually what we need to kick off the astrological year. But in the last seven years, we’ve had an awful lot of it — because [...]

Fiery energy is gathering around the coming eclipse on February 26. We are in an unusually unstable period. The times are angry enough and polarised enough already. Know that the planets are stirring the pot this week and next, adding a huge dollop of chilli to the cosmic soup. Be cautious, [...]

“I want these crimes to be made public”, leaker “John Doe” to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. It turns out that very rich people have been hiding their money in secret bank accounts abroad. Why do they feel the need to do this? Either a) because the money is stolen or b) because they are avoiding [...]

This is a good news story, so bear with me and see where it leads. Victims of the condition variously labelled Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic Encephalitis (ME) are used to being disbelieved, disrespected, and ignored. They know about being labelled liars, shirkers, fantasists. [...]

My grandparents had stacks of yellow-edged National Geographics in the basement of their house, some dating from the days before photographs were on the front cover. On rainy days in summer or awkward Christmas holidays, I escaped down there, opened those shiny covers and travelled the world. [...]

“I had expected that technology would be core to the identity of the cohort I call Generation K—young people aged 13 to 20 years old, born between 1995 and 2002, ” writes Professor Noreena Hertz in The New York Times.  You’d be right, Prof, because you’ve chosen the [...]

Twelve people at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were gunned down on January 7. In the same week, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi received the first 50 lashes of his 1000-lash sentence for blasphemy, ironically, an echo of the Charlie Hebdo cover that caused such offense in [...]

Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season was a pleasant one for you. As of today we are into the swing of the new year: already the bulbs at the end of the dining table — paper whites and hyacinths — have bloomed and their sharp green leaves are an augury of spring; my [...]

A massive, long-buried scandal is erupting in Britain. For decades, a network of paedophiles that included members of parliament, ministers and top civil servants operated in London, and across the UK — allegedly. Children, mainly boys, were taken from children’s homes and passed [...]

Before time began, gods emerged from chaos. Uranus, the god of the sky, made love to the earth, Gaia, every night, and from their union were born giants and Titans, both hated by their father, who, consequently, imprisoned his children in the deepest depths of the earth. One, Saturn, escaped. [...]

Eurasian shaman, early 20th century from a Russian ethnographic collection. “Sometimes a wild god comes to the table. He is awkward and does not know the ways Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver. His voice makes vinegar from wine. “When the wild god arrives at the door, [...]

Peter Higgs, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Edinburgh, was – finally – awarded the Nobel Prize yesterday. It was entirely expected, since his hypothesis – that there’s a subatomic particle called a boson – was finally proved correct in a (rather large) [...]

Prometheus by Andre Durand. Srelton: Uranian Is there a gay planet? Not really, but perhaps for obvious reasons, the planet of revolution, eccentricity and difference, Uranus, often makes itself powerfully felt in the natal charts of gay people. Some famous singing examples are Elton John with [...]

Prometheus, Nicolas-Sebastien Adam. Prometheus, the rebel god, stole fire from heaven and brought it to the human race. This made Zeus, king of the gods, cross, because fire was one of the gods’ secrets, along with lightning and thunder and stuff. According to some versions of the story, [...]

Beatles fans in the 1960s. Uranus conjunct Pluto. Neptune in Scorpio. “Madness,” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche, “is the exception in individuals, but the rule in groups.” That would explain why psychopaths rise to the top then. The rest of us mill around being all [...]

This terrific self-portrait dates from 1927. Just as a supplement to the Satie piece: here is Suzanne Valadon’s chart. She was a wonderful woman, a free spirit, single mother, great painter and an inspiration for many other artists (Neptune in the 7th), in particular Renoir. For a while [...]

Danny Kaye had a Sun-Uranus conjunction in Capricorn. I read a post over at Libra Seeking Balance this week which reminded me that Uranus + Mercury = funny. Now I can vouch for this personally since I live with the funniest man I could find, and he has Merc + Uranus on the Ascendant. [...]

Ribbons on a maypole Whenever I sit down and talk to someone about a chart, it strikes me afresh just how interesting and unexpected people’s stories are. Everyone’s life is not just one story but a whole necklace of tales threaded together by one soul. Those tales, of course, [...]