Hello again and welcome to my latest newsletter about the planets and us!

I hope you are keeping well and finding inner resources to handle this turning point in history. At this time my thoughts constantly travel to those sick or who have lost loved ones.

UNDER A COMMON SKY
The word unprecedented has been used constantly in the last few weeks. I wrote in previous blogs that uncertainty was an important keyword for 2020 and that human nature is not comfortable with that state of being. We are certainly not at ease with the present pandemic. It is new and quite sudden and adjusting is thus scary, bringing out unexpected sides of us.

I sense we will by this time next year have a bigger vision arising out of our previously more myopic world view.

As a navigator and translator of the planetary patterns above us, I would like to explore here the cycles at work and their timing.

NAVIGATING CYCLES
Pandemic and epidemic cycles are not new.  Cycles permeate the whole of life from the microcosm to the macrocosm. The beauty of astrology – the language of the stars –  lies in the interpretation of its themes and application to life here on Earth.

New Time Spirits are ushered in with major astronomical changes and the conjunctions of the slower moving planets. Their messages are timely, if not always welcome, and yet there have been intimations of them.

Collectively, we have been so myopic with our busy lives on the outer level, often neglecting our inner homes and neglecting mother Earth as we tread heavily on her, that we reached a tipping point in the build-up of toxicity and negative conflict.

The physicians of old, Paracelsus from the 1500’s being the major one that comes to my mind, wrote about how plagues and epidemics occur when there has been a steady accumulation of war, fanaticism, fear, anger and the like.  All these negative emotions held in common by a mass of people can generate artificial organisms through which phenomena occur which are hard to cure, but can exhaust themselves and disappear as quickly as they arrived. Sometimes seismic activity accompanies this.

Even though Paracelsus was speaking five centuries ago I found this interesting. Wisdom has no timescale. Paracelsus was the precursor of chemical pharmacology and the most original thinker of the 16th Century in many opinions of experts. He stood between the old procedures and the rise of the modern scientific method.

TURNING POINTS
On 12 January the game-changer planets, Saturn and Pluto aligned, met, at the same degree in Capricorn. The last time was in the early 1980’s, 1947 and 1914, important times in our recent history. If we look back to them there was in that order the rise of AIDS, Polio and Spanish flu (appeared towards the latter part of the first World War).   Note that the NHS started in 1947. It is high time now it is recognised for the job it does.

Saturn and Pluto are our hard taskmaster planets, Saturn representing our fears and boundaries and Pluto the power to transform our past and experience endings and rebirth.  Saturn and Capricorn believe in having firm, authentic foundations. When we rush things, we find ourselves being ‘grounded’ by life! We are certainly feeling a bit grounded at present aren’t we? Pluto was the god of the underworld; we discover riches in the darkness and dark times and forge deeper connections.

RESETTING AND PAUSING
We find ourselves standing in front of a reset button. The PAUSE we are experiencing is essential. We forget to pause in so many smaller ways and now we have it seemingly forced on us.

Nature is having its time now. Nature knows how to have pauses and how to breathe as does music and dance. Our hearts and bodies understand this and it is only our brains that ignore that necessity. When our minds keep us going on a treadmill, we find we are obliged to find time for illness.  Recreation and re-creating is vital.

Are you finding you are sleeping much more? Well, anything new takes more energy than habitual things so this is no surprise. We are entering the inner world more to digest, heal and learn.

HOW HEALTHY IS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM?
With a strong immune system, we are less prone to infection and illness. Tiredness, stress and fear compromise it. Collectively our immune system is compromised at this time and it is important to find calm and space within to heal. Nature is a boon now. Young children, if they are fortunate to be in a harmonious family and have access to nature, are going to look back at the richness they have absorbed from simple pleasures and involvement with mother Earth.

On 22 March Saturn moved into Aquarius. It retrogrades on 3 July back into Capricorn until 17 December, and then stays in Aquarius for the next two and a half years. Jupiter, the planet of expansion and optimism, at present in Capricorn and amplifying Pluto’s power, will also move into Aquarius on 20 December. The new vision and spirit of cooperation will steadily develop. Competition may be less important. It is not a fast journey to this end.  It is said the journey is more important than the goal and indeed this may well prove to be the case.

NEW ROLES AND GROWTH
In previous blogs, I talked about the UNLIVED parts of us. Talents and roles and vocations not expressed due to upbringing, self-doubt, lack of opportunity and laziness. Those parts of us are like actors who stay out in the wings due to stage fright and who watch other actors playing their roles!

When we have a personal crisis, we sometimes find an unlived part of us has to be utilised- rusty though it is.  It may actually be a talent! Now we are encountering a worldwide crisis and realise we are not alone in feeling vulnerable in having to find new resources within. It may also be that a part of us has been longing to be expressed but we have found excuses, often valid, to delay its fulfilment. Sadly, many jobs may disappear as the economy suffers. However, it might be timely for some of us to find new vocations, to work for ourselves, retrain etc.  A new role in your ‘Play of Life’ emerges and we grow, becoming more than we thought we were!

We are developing ‘softer’ skills now – empathy, caring, writing, learning, crafts, baking – the list goes on. The feminine part of us is having a bigger say.

HOMECOMING
Mother Earth is our home. Home is paramount now because we are advised or told to stay in! Our inner home is thus also paramount. People are trying to return to their home country on the last flights out. Being at home within means we can be comfortable on our own – a rare gift -and we can appreciate the small things and value ‘the hearth’.  Furnishing the inner home well is a beautiful task and overdue for many of us.

The moon links us all in its monthly cycle – the word moon links with month, mother and matter.  Tonight as I write on 8 April we have a full moon in Libra, a so-called super moon because it is the largest this year as seen from Earth. In Libra it highlights the need for cooperation and balance between self and others. Timely as ever.

The kindness of strangers is very obvious now. No man is an island, as the poet John Donne wrote. So many feel alone in life and we now have the opportunity to smile kindly at others more, take time to notice what is around us, and help.  Normally we rush too much. Community is strengthening.

What we value now will come to our attention more and more. Distinguishing between the essential and non-essential and realising how much we can live without, can be a wakeup call.

THE POWER OF LOVE
The planet Venus – the planet of love, values and creativity – has recently entered the discerning sign of Gemini. It will stay there until August.  As Gemini rules communication, connections and writing, we can use this time to engage online and in other ways with creative ideas and words.

Venus has timed this beautifully; whilst we are less socially active, using a lighter and warmer touch with our words and smiles will be timely for us.

Our values and self-value are heightened, as a result of making new authentic choices. In relationships, we will get more real about love, which is the balance between giving and receiving, and what we really want at the heart level. Relationships will get healed and yet many might split up because of a lack of authenticity and genuine closeness in them. No doubt there will also be a baby boom!

This year is exceptional. We will be changed by it, and allowing that change is essential. Fear, though very human, will impede matters and compromise our immune system.

The Romans and Greeks had two words for time.  Chronological time – Chronos, and Kairos – the quality of time. We all know the former and are often slaves to it. Kairos is different and allows us to stand outside time and experience synchronous events. It is about ‘letting god’ have a guiding rein; in other words, we can surrender to a window of time when shifts and new awareness emerge. We have time now to do this. People are saying time seems to be going faster. Maybe this is part of our story in 2020.

With all the difficulties and sadness and loss, there is something beautiful at this turning point in our evolution. We don’t need to know the reason yet.  The simple kindnesses, the happiness of nature and development of new values are enough for now.

In some ways, the human race has never felt so close, under what is turning out to be a COMMON SKY.

If you would like to explore your birth chart map with me and discover where these changes are happening in it and what new directions might be timely for you, I would be happy to help! I have 41 years professional experience in this field, and I love working with individuals, family charts, businesses and relocation decisions. I am the author of ‘The Time Catcher: How to time your actions to turn challenges into opportunities.’

Please contact me.

With love and my very best wishes,

Ysanne