Celebrating some achievements

by with No Comment Astrology and meProfessional Astrologer

The last month and a half have been so incredibly busy for me: taking up my two final modules for the masters (that in itself is so much work already!), doing three talks in the month of June, also started teaching astrology webinars and have over 10 students waiting for me to come up with the second series, not to mention the other more humble life tasks which are equally important (even if it doesn’t seem like).

After all, where would I be without my routine? Without my ‘healthy-ish’ meals? Without my long walks after lunch and long baths listening to Billie Holiday? I honestly think that I could only manage the amount of things I had to do because I kept track of my basic routine as well. Without that I wouldn’t have made it!

Interestingly, Uranus is transiting my 6th house, and work is somehow embedded in my daily rituals and routine. There isn’t one without the other.

Two out of the three talks are done already, and I think they went very well. I have a real passion for teaching. This week I will be finally giving my talk at the Astrological Association’s conference on the astrology of the Handmaid’s Tale. Such an interesting novel, with an amazing tv production and not to mention, Margaret Atwood herself, a figure that I deeply admire and researching about her was a real joy.

Atwood’s natal Sun is very close to my ASC, so I guess the commonality speaks for itself. I somehow feel a sense of closeness when I watch her speak and I wish I could meet her in person one day and have a cup of coffee.

How did I manage to get through the most difficult challenges of this month, in special my fear of coming out professionally in the astrological community and my inner critic’s strength and power over me sometimes? I guess that I have used a few different tools in the process, but specially reminding me of the joy I feel when I talk about astrology and when I share ideas in general (which helped me with the masters as well) was a huge part.

Passion and joy seems to be a great guidance force in life… at least sometimes… or maybe most of the time…

What is your passion and what brings joy into your life?!        😀

 

 

Brief catch up

by with 2 Comments Astrology and meInner life

I have been feeling a bit nostalgic and melancholic lately. The current global crisis, even with its promises of a positive much needed change, it’s taking its toll on me, most probably on all of us.

Social distancing is proving to be more challenging than I thought it would be. I miss the people I love, I miss hugs and physical contact, I miss the quiet presence of someone else in the room.

When we isolate I believe that we meet whatever is placed in our natal 12th house, and here I am, having my daily meetings with Saturn and Pluto in Scorpio lately.

Don’t get me wrong though, I appreciate the power that both, specially Saturn, seems to have in my chart and in my psyche, and I see it playing out in every deadline that I manage to meet for my masters for example. But there is also something heavy here, something deeply heavy and serious and melancholic.

I feel the deepest feelings when Im on my own and people bring lightness into my life. Somehow that’s how it works and the configuration of Pluto-Saturn in the twelfth versus Moon-Venus in the eleventh is a reflection of what it seems to be my experience.

I can sense that we are onto something big right now, perhaps something to do with the potential for positive realisations which will then enable us to actualise it once we are free to move and get together again. I don’t know.

All I know is that I feel for everyone out there in isolation as well and how this might be challenging your mental, physical and spiritual health, not to mention the ones that are, and have always been, suffering from the many unfairnesses of a system in decadence. I feel for you, for us all.

And I hope that during this most extraordinary time of disruption and change we can all make the most of it and come out empowered, so we can co-create a better reality for us all, including for the animals and nature in general.

 

Astrological Debates and the coming Full Moon

by with 2 Comments Astrological InsightsAstrology and meProfessional Astrologer

Catching a bit of a ride with the current energies building up to the full moon happening this coming Friday. It will be forming a t square between the Moon in Sagittarius, the Sun in Gemini and Mars in Pisces (close to Neptune), all at 15 degrees (so watch out all of you with personal planets in the mid degrees of the mutable signs).

As the lunar nodes have also shifted recently to the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, I expect a lot of intense discussions to be taking place, and considering the apex of a t square as a potential clue to a way out from the dichotomy symbolised by the opposition (between the Sun and Moon in this case), I feel that there is something of the energy of Pisces and Neptune that can help us get out of the impasse. Perhaps transcending truths that are plainly egocentric and not really constructive for others as well as ourselves is one way of interpreting this.

Both Pisces and Neptune at best talks about compassion and the capacity for dissolving boundaries which are necessary for us to understand that ultimately we are all connected. So perhaps something connected with that could help us resolve some of the difficult debates that we are bound to be witnessing, as well as taking part in, this week.

Another thing that comes to mind is any form of artwork could also be of great help now to contain the splits of opinion within and without!  Paint, drawing, dancing, writing…

This whole thing reminds me of a small discussion I got myself involved in these days, and made me think as well (again) about the spread of misinformation that we currently can have access to using social media. Freedom of expression can be great and very empowering, but at the same time, there seems to be a lot of people claiming to hold the truth about something which isn’t quite correct.

To be precise, there was an individual claiming to be a professional astrologer who said that: ‘If you have Saturn in a hard aspect in your chart it can and it will definitely make you poor’. I mean, what the fuck? After this post there were lots of comments from scared people, trying to find out if they had that or not in their natal charts.

I usually don’t get myself involved in these online debates, but I couldn’t help and just searched for examples of people with hard aspects from Saturn who happened to be quite rich actually, to respond to that person.

Anyway, my message here is to say that astrology can be a wonderful tool for empowerment and insight but it has to be used wisely. And, at the same time, I strongly feel that it cannot be used divorced from serious commitment to personal work and growth. It’s just too easy to project our life’s traumas and shortcomings into an astrological aspect, star sign or whatever, and then spread misinformation to people around us perpetrating fear and disempowerment.

So remember, if it sounds like fear mongering and simply negative, go and try to find another source or another astrologer to have a consultation from. I am pro different views and techniques and approaches to astrology, but definitely not supportive of astrology done badly and without personal responsibility.

Productive quarantine and Pluto retrograde

by with 14 Comments Astrology and meInner lifeProfessional Astrologer

I think that I am finally managing to create a productive routine during the lockdown. I guess moving countries again was also inevitably disruptive on my daily practices, etc.

That Mars/Uranus in Sagittarius in my chart reflecting the part of me that keeps travelling and moving around no matter what…

Anyway, Im enjoying the time and space to focus on the things that truly matter to me, in this case, my astrology work. I’ve been working on talks that I will be giving this June, and also taking the opportunity to watch free online courses as well. It really is mind blowing the quantity of online webinars and lectures available even for free at the moment.

That really made me think about the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius that will be taking place in December 21 this year. It seems like we are heading towards the direction of a massive boom of online education, where information is made accessible to a larger number of people.

These days I watched an interesting webinar on how to create online courses and it was quite insightful. Im glad I did it. Now Im being flooded with ideas for creating a short course on astrology myself. I love teaching and public speaking, especially about a subject that Im so passionate about like astrology, so I see potential for developing something really nice.

I even had someone getting in touch with me for a short astrological session in order to learn a bit, rather than just receive the interpretations. That is a sign, isn’t?!

As I work on my talks and think about these ideas of mine, I have to witness a very strong fear of coming out, perhaps a fear of failure, Im not entirely sure. But I do remember astrologer Frank Clifford talking about the journey of Virgo being connected with developing self-confidence because they never believe they know enough or that they are good enough.

That resonates with me so much!

My first big talk for the Astrological Association is happening in June 28 or 27 and Im dreading that moment and, at the same time, really looking forward to it because I will have to break an old pattern of fear, otherwise I won’t be able to do it.

I feel that I was born to be a communicator (amongst other things of course), but it does not come very easily in terms of taking action and being confidently encouraged. But once Im on stage it is almost like something else takes me over and it is really joyful, I feel incredibly high during and afterwards as well.

Anyway, Pluto is going retrograde today until around October the fifth, and this is a great time for revisiting our shadow work. Looking into those paralysing fears that are limiting our capacity to live our lives to the fullest, preventing us from being what we are meant to be.  That’s what Im going to do as I prepare myself for the series of talks that I will be giving in the near future…

Wish me luck!

And if you have been following me and my work for a while and feel that you could be interested in knowing more about the teaching side of it, get in touch. I would love to hear from you.

A note on Mercury

by with 3 Comments Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

These days I watched the MISPA event celebrating the 10 years that the astrology school has been open and they had many astrology talks with great astrologers on. But the main one that I wanted to talk about here is the one that Darby Costello did on Mercury and Hermes.

I absolutely loved how she talked about this archetype and I feel that we (at least myself) tend to take for granted planets like Mercury, only paying attention to it when is retrograde and saying that it relates to your intellect, full stop. There are many dimensions to each archetypal pattern represented by the symbols in astrology.

And Mercury isn’t an exception!

Darby said that Mercury relates to travelling and movement, as is already largely spoken in the astrological community, but she connected that with the idea of information as well. Thats why Mercury in the Jupiter ruled signs are in fall or detriment, because Jupiter relates to belief and truth. And when we are communicating something that we believe is the truth we automatically shut down the process of exchanging information, which is the function of Mercury.

She also said that Mercury is about the collection and exchange of information that can be useful to people, that is the relationship to Gemini and Virgo, the two signs ruled by Mercury.

It was so insightful to me as I have such a powerful mercurial nature, with Sun, Mercury, Venus, Chiron and the North node all ruled by Mercury in my chart.

Darby also talked about Mercury being a guide, for Hermes is the one that can take people into the underworld, and in order for us to tap into that guidance we have to keep in motion. When you are stagnated Mercury does not help you, but once you go on a journey, it is there to help or trick you.

Astrology is such a magical subject with many facets for us to realise and empower ourselves with!!

Astrology as an imaginative practice

by with 2 Comments Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

As I listen to a birds song’s playlist I ponder about the importance that imagination plays in interpreting astrological symbols.

The more I explore and think about the subject of astrology the clearer it becomes to me that imagination is a fundamental faculty that needs to be used in order to get insights. And because imagination can hardly be quantified and tested in a scientific way it creates confusion amongst us astrologers and people interested in astrology in general.

We are coming from a world view that overemphasises science and rationality as the only true way to access valid information, and as we are conditioned by this mindset in a very fundamental level, it becomes very challenging to let go and recognise that imagination is an important and necessary function, as much as rationality is.

Everything has its place!

I saw a post the other day on social media with someone saying that after this quarantine we will finally understand and value artists, because if it wasn’t for music, films, etc, we would not be able to get through this tough time. I agree on that one.

And this brings me back to the idea of imagination being a fundamental part of ourselves and a valid way of engaging with reality.

Once I started thinking about the role of imagination in the interpretation of astrological charts I began to relax with the horoscope image for longer before making any judgement.

I feel that perhaps a successful astrological interpretation has a strong connection to the capacity that the astrologer has to stand uncertainty and let go of rationality a little bit, for a little while anyway.

I see the astrological chart as a painting, something to be felt as well as interpreted. So next time when you look at a horoscope, what if you didn’t rush into making assumptions and searched for reasoning? What if you also used this moment to get in touch with and to train your imagination?

Unless you’re a writer or something like that, in our educational system we are generally encouraged to dismiss imagination, and I feel that astrology can be such a powerful tool to befriend our imagination again, and perhaps, a tool to help us being aware and staying with the mystery that being alive entitles without rushing into explaining everything.

Astrology can help us engaging differently with the world so maybe there is no need to try and fit into a cookie cutter rational mode to be justified or respected as a subject.

Stellium in the 3rd

by with No Comment Astrology and meProfessional Astrologer

Interesting to think about the amount of spare time that we all suddenly have at our disposal, and the job that we are all probably having to redesign our routines at the same time.

Everything seems to be a little disorientating at the moment.

The multiple conjunction between Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn seems to be reflecting very well our current situation. The polemics created by some of our leaders trying to prioritise the economy over ‘a small number of deaths’, the collective response to the situation, if any. The general panic shopping around the world, and someone observed, I think maybe Lynn Bell, the interesting connection between the conjunction of Pluto with the planets mentioned and people stockpiling toilet roll…

Pluto is connected with purging and detoxing, release, defecation… Richard Swatton used to call Pluto the ‘cosmic toilet’.  There you go. Astrology in manifestation once more.

All of these big transits happening in the 3rd house of my horoscope and the MA Im currently doing seems to be connected because it sure is bringing me a lot of food for thought.

These days I’ve been, for the first time in a long time (maybe ever to be honest), questioning my desire to continue defining my career path as an astrologer. Quite shocking at first, as I always had that certainty. But to be honest, my certainty remains in the fact that astrology is my passion. What I am not so sure anymore is perhaps astrology as a profession.

Im working on an essay about the decline of astrology in the seventeenth century and it is bringing me a lot of questions regarding my profession.

According to Patrick Curry there are 3 types of astrology, high astrology, middling astrology and low astrology. Sounds quite simplistic putting in this way, but I feel that this being my blog, differently from my essays, I don’t necessarily need to go much deeper into it.

High astrology is the astrology of the scholars and theologians, the big philosophical questions about the universe and how the planets affect terrestrial affairs; the middling astrology is judicial astrology, reading charts to clients for example. The last one, low astrology, is connected with the popular horoscopes written in the newspapers, etc.

According to Curry what happened in the seventeenth century was a decline of both the high and middling, and the rise of its popular version, low astrology, which was highly criticised by some astrologers, scientists and the church as well.

With that in mind, we start to have an idea about the complexity of astrology’s history and process of development.

In addition to this picture, we also have a myriad of techniques, and types of astrology practiced around the world. Perhaps even because of that astrology has failed in producing a professional organ with cohesion, at least in the seventeenth century.

During this quarantine I’ve been questioning myself and my choices regarding profession. At least I’ve been realising the frustration in having to decide on so many intricacies within my profession because I need to explain to people what is that I do.

And what is that I really do?!

(Do I believe in fate? Do I believe the stars are causing something or are reflecting something? Can I foretell the future? Is there any positivity in telling someone about the future? Do I psychologise astrology too much so it fits within the capitalist/secular paradigm? …)

 

Neptunian longings …

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsAstrology and meSearch for home

Im feeling tremendously nostalgic as I prepare myself emotionally to move on from the past six months spent in Brazil. Its like I already miss everything around here so much…

Then I looked into the astrological chart of this moment and realised that the Sun is exactly conjoined Neptune in the sky. I tend to feel the Sun as a big spotlight that illuminates whatever else it touches, so in that sense, Neptune is really under the spotlight right now.

My melancolia has this Piscean Neptune’s signature.

I have always found hard to write about Neptune but Liz Greene’s book on Neptune really helped me understanding this archetypal dimension of life a bit more. She talked about it in relationship to a few different possibilities/themes like for example martyrdom, victimisation, art, transcendence, nostalgia, the scapegoat, and many other dimensions, including the longing to go back to the source.

This is such a complex and yet simple idea to think about, the longing to be in union with everything once again, a sense that resonates with the experience of being in the womb. It touches one of the main points regarding Neptune I believe, for Neptune really talks about our boundaries being easily dissolved. Compassion is a potential manifestation of this phenomena, but victimisation, a less pleasant one, is also a possibility when Neptune features strongly. They are two sides of the same coin.

With transiting Sun in an exact conjunction to Neptune I think that our longings are bound to come to the surface now. In my case is connected with the sense of belonging and searching for home, but I think that this might be a coverup to this deeper longing to stay in union, to go back and swim in the waters of the goddess’s womb. To be one again.

Today and tomorrow, and perhaps for this whole lunation cycle so rich in Neptunian energy since the New Moon was also conjoined with Neptune, we would do well in being aware of this longing underneath what we think we need. We would do well also in honouring this energy consciously by writing poetry, or painting, or appreciating beautiful music… anything that can help us dissolve the boundaries in a constructive way…

How are you feeling?   …

Pluto-Moon transit update and roots

by with No Comment Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

In less than a month I will be heading back to the UK after almost 6 months living in Brazil. I have mixed feelings and think about how much the decision of living outside your home country changes things for good.

Where then is home?

For many years I rejected Brazil as my place of origin and adopted the foreigner identity, but now this seems to be changing again. I don’t feel completely Brazilian in a cliche sort of way, but I also don’t feel ‘not Brazilian’ anymore either.

These feelings made me think about writing a sort of update on my long lasting/ongoing Pluto-Moon transit.

For the last 5 years much has happened in connection to transiting Pluto forming a square to my natal Moon.

(if you’re curious about this whole process just click on the tag ‘Pluto Square Moon’)

I now find myself a lot more balanced and emotionally honest, giving more space for healthier emotional bonds in my life, and the list really goes on. Feeling more secure within myself, more solid, living what seems to be a more authentic life, more courageous in lots of different levels, with a transformed relationship with my mother but also the inner mother has changed a lot… (the list really goes on…) but…

I still find myself without a home.

Since I moved out from London in early 2015 I’ve travelled a lot and experimented a lot. I’ve developed myself through moving around, also through gathering the courage and guts to move on my own. I lived in Bristol, in Thailand for 3 months, I hitchhiked for 3 months, I’ve worked on summer festivals by myself, I moved to a community in the Forest of Dean for a year and a half, I came back to sense myself in Brazil for 6 months… I’ve put down roots just to shortly pull them up again.

I think I did a lot. (A lot of moving around, definitely)

Now, as I stare into my temporary keyring which is once more with multiple sets of keys (one for my mom’s, one for my friend’s where I currently live, and one from the guy I’ve been dating)  I wonder how long it will take until I’m able to have a home that’s not so much temporary…

How long until I can put down roots which will grow a little further than usual?

I am looking into buying a flat in Sao Paulo with my father and my intuition says that perhaps my 12 year chapter in England is coming to an end…

At the moment transiting Pluto is forming a trine/sextile to my ASC-DSC axis and trine to my natal Venus, but it will eventually conjunct my IC in Aquarius. And I wonder what will be the condition of my roots by then…

I also find interesting the fact that my Progressed Moon is in Aquarius, the sign of my IC, and in 6 months it will be crossing over it and into my 4th house, exactly when Im thinking about coming back to Brazil to spend another 6 months, but by then, possibly with a flat of my own.

Use your imagination and go beyond!

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

Synastry is one of the astrological techniques that has deeply interested me from the very beginning of my journey with astrology.

Since a young age, maybe when I was 9 or 10 years old, as we didn’t have internet yet, I used to read those cheap astrological magazines available in Brazil on the basic sun sign romantic combination and felt like I was uncovering some secret truth that was kept away from the majority of people.

With that said, the mystery of chart combination and astrological compatibility still hasn’t ceased to amaze me!

The other day as I was dancing around the living room and having corporeal insights into the subject (sometimes that happens with me), when suddenly it became clear to me something that I had heard during one of John Green’s lectures about synastry and the importance of always considering each astrology chart individually before making any further assumption on compatibility.

I was thinking about two different people currently in my life and how each affect me in very distinct ways, which also brought me the thought that attraction can have many facets and be very individually experienced as well.

In all of the astrological cookbooks one of the most well-known interaspects indicating magnetic sexual attraction between two people is Venus from one person activating Mars of the other.

(Im sure that I have already written about this when a co-worker in the past had his Mars in a tight conjunction to my Venus and all that that reflected was that we could work really well together, but definitely not in a romantic way as I didn’t feel any sort of sexual attraction towards him)

Anyway, here is another opportunity for me to uncover what it seems to be one of the ‘absolute truths’ of the astrological cookbook literary world!

I have been seeing someone for a few weeks and things are developing quite nice and slowly (I currently have transiting Saturn forming a trine to my natal Venus and DSC).

One day we went out together and I met one of his friends which I felt a magnetic attraction towards almost immediately. The physical vibrations I was feeling when he sat at our table serving himself a glass of beer sort of reflected to me that that was reciprocal, I think.

It was weird and uncomfortable even to talk with each other at first and I was at times feeling paranoid that my behaviour was too obvious and revealing. I did not feel very good about the whole thing.

Days later, when I was dancing and having astrological insights, I had the thought that that guy’s Mars closely trining my natal Venus was actually activating my natal Venus square Neptune combo and it was pretty uncomfortable rather than a ‘wonderful magnetic physical smooth sexual chemistry’. I felt awkward (my Venus is also in Virgo!) and very inadequate a lot of the time when this person was around, whereas with the current guy I am going out with there is a very strong friendly energy and I feel that I can be myself much more freely.

There are many other details that I have analysed about both synastries and both people in question, for instance the guy Im going out with have done many years of therapy already, a fact I feel that is of paramount importance in how a person can express more consciously the energies reflected in the birth chart, but I am not going to go into it right now.

My point is that we have to always analyse the whole chart and the level of awareness of each person before making assumptions on how the relationship will evolve. And in my opinion, we can’t know that without listening to the person in question.

So, cookbooks yes, they are an important step in order to start understanding what the symbolism can mean. They are part of a fundamental stage in our development and gathering of basic knowledge. But don’t get stuck with them, use your imagination and go beyond!