Gadgets, car chases, kiss kiss, bang, bang. Was there ever a deeper examination of the modern condition than James Bond? Just kidding. A Bond film is about wallowing in style over substance, stuff over emotions, materialism over spirituality. Ian Fleming: debonair For this country, of course, [...]

The boy hero was educated by Chiron, the centaur. Here depicted by John Singer Sargent Silver-footed Thetis, the sea goddess, leaned over the the River Styx, and dipped her demigod baby into its dark current. The magical water made the boy invulnerable. But there was one spot that stayed dry – [...]

It turns out that the seven-times Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong cheated. Apparently, he was doped up to the eyeballs, bullied other team members into joining him and lied and lied and lied. The US Anti-Doping Agency says Armstrong was the leader of “the most sophisticated, [...]

You’re nothing but a pack of cards. One of the cleverest and most enchanting heroines in all literature was born on a sultry afternoon 160 years ago on the banks of the River Isis right here in Oxford. It was the 4th of July, 1862. Charles Dodgson rowed up the river with his friend the [...]

Everyone’s talking about Psy, the South Korean rapper. Watch the video and see why. And naturally take a look at the transits to his chart – no birth time available. Mercury’s on his North Node, Pluto’s rocketing him to worldwide attention, by putting the heat under his [...]

Smith I vowed a long time ago not to watch Doctor Who until he regenerated as a woman. So far, the Doctor has had 11 incarnations, each with his own take on the character but none with a different gender. However, my children, as usual, changed my mind, so here at Schloss Astrology we have [...]

My colleague Jackie Taylor has allowed me to publish her clever piece about Star Trek, which originally appeared in The Astrological Journal. This is the third tranche. To read the first part about Star Trek’s (rather inauspicious) beginnings, click here, and the second about Leonard [...]

La Loge, Renoir. It’s April 1874 and Paris is laughing. A group of painters has had the audacity to exhibit their work outside the Salon – and it’s absolute rubbish: smeary, blurry, amateurish, trash. But by 1890, everything has changed. The reviled “Impressionists” [...]

OK – I’m on holiday, but I was just popping by to update the horoscopes so I thought I’d briefly post on the Olympic Opening Ceremony – what a hoot! Have you ever wondered what the shiny, happy face of Pluto might be? If so, you might want to watch the Opening Ceremony [...]

What with all those shiny bodies flinging themselves around giant stadiums filled with cheering crowds – the marching, the uniforms, the survival of the fittest, the faux-historical ceremonies – there’s always been more than a touch of fascism about the Olympics. Jesse Owens going for [...]

Thomas Cromwell: fixer, strategist, statesman – Scorpio. Hans Holbein King Henry VIII – charmer, playboy, wife-killer and the first head of the Church of England – had an axe-man, Thomas Cromwell, whose job it was to facilitate the King’s desires – divorce, dissolution, beheadings, [...]

As you probably know, Oxford is a World Heritage Site. There’s Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, St Giles… all beautiful, historic, and full of life, much used, much loved. Radcliffe Camera: probably one of the world’s most famous library annexes. The [...]

My colleague Jackie Taylor has allowed me to publish her clever piece about Star Trek, which originally appeared in the Astrological Journal. This is the second tranche. To read the first part about Star Trek‘s (rather inauspicious) beginnings, click here. Central to Star Trek’s fame and [...]

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova, the great tennis player, gave a touching interview on the radio last week. She was wiping away tears within the first few minutes as she recalled being separated from her family when she defected to the West more than 30 years ago. She has the Moon [...]

Cancer is the first water sign – an immediate, unmediated emotional response to the world. Maybe that’s why so many artists have been born under the sign of the golden claws. To read last year’s piece and get an eyeful of gorgeous portraits by artists with the Sun in Cancer, click here.

Lord Shiva, the transformer Today, the god of transformation is joined by the Full Moon in the sign of institutions, establishment, organisation. And the head of Barclays Bank resigns… The Moon slides over Pluto at 8° Capricorn and then opposes then Sun, which is at 12° Cancer. If you [...]

The first episode of Star Trek, The Man Trap. I really enjoyed this piece by Jackie Taylor in The Astrological Journal. So I was pretty pleased that she gave me kind permission to publish it here. I’ve split it into three bite-sized chunks.  It was nearly 46 years ago that, for the first [...]

Just in case you’ve missed it, 50 Shades of Grey is a story about a young woman who meets an insanely wealthy, mysterious, tortured but alluring older man. They have a passionate affair during which she discovers herself as a sexual being – and his tough facade is penetrated by her sheer [...]

Woke up wondering about Jimi Hendrix’s Lilith…. As you do… Seventh house – no wonder he needed to know for sure. What a chart! And here is a link to the king of the wild things.  

Gandhi’s morning walk, photographed by Margaret Bourke White (b. June 14, 1904)   In the tangled intricacy of the natal chart, the Sun sign is so often dismissed as too vague or too broad an indicator. But when it comes to career, it should never be overlooked. Migrant Mother by [...]