Solar Eclipse 3rd Nov 2013 – An eclipse of radical changes.

Eclipses, especially Solar eclipses have always caused wonderment and also a certain amount of fear in people who observed them as the light was blacked out by the Moon passing between the the Earth and the Sun. The Sun is the life force that we absolutely need for all of us to survive and when it was extinguished, it was seen as a very bad omen to be followed by unfortunate events. Those of us who have looked at and studied eclipses astrologically understand that that the eclipse seem to be a trigger point for the 6 months to a year to come and maybe further into the future too. The solar eclipse on 3rd November seems to be a very intriguing one indeed.

Australian bushfires continue to rage out of control in New South Wales.

In New South Wales up in the Blue mountains west of Sydney huge bushfires are sweeping through the countryside consuming and destroying all in their path, indeed these fires have been the considered the worst in 40 years to hit the Australian nation. Sydney has been blanketed in a smoky haze and as yet many of these fires are yet to be under any sort of control and there is a fear that if a few of these fires combine then suburbs in the city itself could be in peril.

Venus conjunct Ras Algethi – Bowing to a greater power.

This connection is active from 22nd October for a couple of days. It occurs at 16:21 degrees Sagittarius

Venus is now is approaching a two day link up with Ras Algethi, the brightest and most prominent star in the constellation of Hercules, the “Kneeling One” of the “Phantom”. If you know your mythology, Hercules had to endure 12 years of service to King Eurystheus, taking on whatever trials the king set for him to atone for slaying his own sons, after he had been driven crazy by Hera, one of the three sisters of Zeus. Hercules was loathed to serve the king, but he knew he could not let down his honour or father Zeus and thus he agreed to the terms that the king laid out. In reward for his service and the completion of his tasks, Hercules was promised and eventually given immortality. His constellation sits proudly in the Northern night sky close to the pole, portraying a figure kneeling in service.

This star is concerned with the natural world, a love of nature and caring about the planet, and a need for all to be in order and in balance. This star makes you feel as if you are a small cog in a much larger machine, it suggests submitting yourself to something greater than yourself, or even adoring someone who is more powerful and influential than you are. Ptolemy says of Ras Algethi, the bright star in the head of Hercules that “it gives strength of character, tenacity and fixity of purpose”. Ebertin says “in good aspect, this star brings good relations with women, but if badly aspected it will bring much irritation in dealing with them.”

I have a feeling of affinity and a relationship with the natural world here and looking after the state of the planet and I would not be surprised if environmental issues will be prominent while this aspect is effective, with the idea of finding a natural order or balance. You yourself might find that you have to bow to a greater power than yourself but you will do this without fighting against it as Venus is not really an aggressive influence on this star, the natural inclination is to submit to keep the peace. As Hercules kneels in service in the skies above us, so will you. This may well play out in the world as well as the powerful nations and leaders wield their influence over the weaker ones.

Jupiter conjunct Castor – Expressing a positive opinion.

This connection is active now and lasts until 2nd December 2013. It occurs at 20:26 degrees Cancer.

Jupiter is going to be spending a long time sitting conjunct to the star Castor in the constellation of Gemini as Jupiter is now slowing down to a halt before turning retrograde on 7th November. Castor is one of the stars in the constellation of the twins, Gemini. As you will know the two twins of Gemini were called Castor and Pollux and they were very much seen as opposite types of characters. Castor was a horseman in Greek mythology and representative of the bright morning star and Pollux was a boxer connected to the evening star and those thieves and people of the night who lived in the shadows. As you can see with these two stars we have a polarity of good versus evil, light versus dark, of moving forward and of holding back.

Castor as you can tell is the lighter of these two, the more optimistic influence in the constellation of Gemini. This constellation is very tied to communication and to the use of words and language and very often writers have a link between the star Castor (or Pollux) and one of their natal planets. I myself have Castor conjunct to my natal Mercury, and quite appropriately I love telling stories and sharing my ideas and thoughts through the written word. Indeed expressing ideas and exploring the meanings of things through research without resorting to looking into the darker side of life is a very appropriate way to explain the effect that this star has.

Now with Jupiter sitting here for an extended period, it's influence of optimism, expansion, speculation, of learning and teaching, of faith and its need for justice are combined with Castor. So how will this connection play out? I think that this is a great time for any kind of research that you wish to do, especially if it means that you learn something new and valuable not only about a specific subject but also about yourself too. This is a time for expressing what you believe in and telling others about it, this is a wonderful connection for writers and bloggers of all kinds. Certainly I think in my own case that I am going to be very busy in Astrological terms on my own blog here as well as on my my Facebook page.

Maybe this connection is good for taking a risk in expression an opinion and for spreading information, although there is a danger of legal ramifications if you say something too controversial. I wonder if any notable libel cases will start now? Maybe you can work out how to bring two separate entities together under the same roof under Jupiter conjunct Castor and in the world look out for countries, nations or leaders who have very differing philosophical views uniting under a common banner, idea or cause.

In the same regard, this is a time of negotiation and working out the middle ground between people, situations and things and maybe you will find the inspiration to sort out an intractable problem under this influence, especially once Jupiter stations and turns retrograde allowing you to go back over and review what has been done or said? If you are bold and believe in the risks that you are taking now then you can come out ultimately successful and richer in the way that you know yourself and relate to other people once this connection is completed.