Jupiter Returns But This Time Flings the Bling! by Jenni Dean Harte

Although we no longer publish Transit magazine some of it's more popular features will continue on our website, including Jenni Harte's World News. Below are the introductory paragraphs to Jenni's latest article....

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During it's 12 year orbit around earth, Jupiter enlarges and expands what it touches, encouraging us reach further than our grasp and urging us to move beyond our known limits; it's where we find our faith and how we want to grow. So far, so good. A 12 year cycle of expansion sounds positive but which Jupiter return being experienced makes quite a difference. In particular, this is about transiting Jupiter's 12 yearly visit to the UK Venus in Aquarius in the 5th house and the subsequent demise of the UK as the once coolest place to be.

In 1997 the Labour Party had at last wrested victory from 18 years of Conservative rule. The country's economy was beginning to rocket, fuelled by the very bankers and speculators we've lately come to detest but then supported by enthusiastic newcomers eager to participate in the party. And it was, in many respects, a very long party, indeed. At that time, transiting Jupiter had just opposed the UK Jupiter at 2 Leo in the 10th and the nation’s profile was raised to a world-wide status it hadn't experienced since the heyday of the British Empire. Transiting Uranus had already opposed UK Jupiter in late 1996, setting the charge and igniting the touch paper for growth. Transiting Neptune, in the final minutes of Capricorn and soon to oppose UK Jupiter, suggested all might not be as at it seemed. In the event 1997 was the year the UK was labelled 'Cool Brittania.'

All things expanding eternally however can bring problems, hence Saturn defining boundaries and holding us back from over-doing…whatever it is we’re doing. Saturn is not always welcome but far from being the perpetual party pooper it literally gives us perspective. However, even Saturn in his Aries robes was ready to push the envelope with less restraint than usual. But back to Jupiter.

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The G20 Meeting: An Alternative Take - Glenda Cole

On April 2nd the G20 summit will begin, at this stage we have no idea what the meeting will bring, nor indeed do we know what time it will start. For a different take on the day I have taken the traditional technique of the Planetary hours to take an overview of the symbolism of the day and how it might progress.

The Planetary hours is a system in which one of the seven traditional naked eye planets is given rulership over each day. From sunrise to sunset the day is divided into 12 equal parts called 'hours', with each hour being ruled by a different planet following the Chaldean order of slowest to fastest from a geocentric point of view, ie Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Oreaching the Moon the cycle begins again. Each day begins at dawn with the planet that rules that particular day of the week also ruling the first hour.

Thursday is a Jupiter Day and, as explained above, the day begins at dawn with a Jupiter hour. As Jupiter rules a nation's wealth and banks and bankers it seems a fitting day to hold this summit, which looks to promote international financial stability and economic growth.

Jupiter is in the 11th house, the hopes of the nation, so the day of the summit starts with a mood of lots of optimism and hope and a focus on growth. Aries rises, and although Mars is in Jupiter ruled Pisces it has no essential dignity and is in the 12th. So there may be an aura of general bonhomie about the day, but it is in effect being undermined by what is already going on behind closed doors. Pluto, the ruler of hidden wealth is conjunct the Midheaven, so the day is marked by the symbolism of profound change. With Scorpio on the 8th cusp, tax havens may no longer be tax havens by the end of the day.

Our second planetary hour is ruled by Mars, which is now in the 11th house. Though the hour begins at 7:43 the members of this summit are quite likely beginning to put on their 'public face.' As Venus ruled Taurus is rises. But Venus is in detriment and intercepted in the 12th. Thus showing a day where the poor state of the world’s economy is being highlighted.

64 minutes later and it's the hour of the Sun as Gemini Rises, Mercury has some slight dignity by being in Aries in it's own terms, though it is combust and still in the 12th so the time is not yet good for wheeling and dealing, or for trade and commerce. Though with an exalted Sun our leaders are putting on a good front.

And yet another planetary hour passes taking us into the Venus hour. We still have Gemini rising but Jupiter and Neptune now straddle the MC. Amongst other things Neptune rules socialism, mobs and secret plots. We know that demonstrations are planned for this particular day, so this may well be when the first demo takes place.

And The fifth planetary hour at 10:55 is a Mercury hour. With Cancer rising and a dignified moon on the ascendant, this would be a good time for the summit to officially begin. The Mercury hour could well indicate the eyes of the media being focused on the events.

Our next planetary hour is that of the moon, which is now in the 12th house, thus highlighting the fact that the summit is not an open meeting but is being conducted behind closed doors. But note also Jupiter and Neptune are in the 8th and so the focus of the meeting could well be on the aforementioned tax havens. Uranus on the MC could indicate yet another disruption by protesters.

By 14:04 we are into the hour of Saturn, with Saturn in Virgo this is when the summit members get down to the nitty gritty of the meeting. And what an excellent time to do so and to try and reach agreement, Leo is rising and the exalted Sun is on the Midheaven. Quite possible one individual will take the lead at this point.

Negotiations should continue to go well as we again meet Jupiter as we enter the 8th planetary hour. Leo is still rising and the Sun is still in the 10th. Jupiter is in the 7th close to the descendant highlighting foreign affairs and charitable relationships with other countries, so this could be good news for the world’s poorer countries.

Mid afternoon sees another Mars hour, with the latter degrees of Leo rising. It is during this hour that the 11th house moon will perfect a square to the 8th house sun. Negotiations which have been doing OK for the previous couple of hours could now stall Any potential solution to the financial crises that will be agreeable to the public may be difficult to come by.

As Virgo rises, so we reach a Solar hour, with Mercury and the Sun sitting together in the 8th house. This is probably a time of critical negotiations with the financiers, possibly centred on tax or trade.


The Venus hour still sees Virgo rising and Mercury in the 8th. Throughout the day Venus and Mars have been in mutual reception, perhaps indicating that everyone has their own agendas here. Now, with Venus in Aries in the 7th things are getting heated as summit members vie to get their own agendas negotiated. The Moon perfects a trine to Mars during this hour indicating that some items would have been concluded successfully.

The planetary hour leading up to sunset is another Mercury hour. Libra rises and with Mercury and Venus in the 7th this is quite likely when the meeting will end. On the surface all will seem pleasant and negotiations would seem to have gone well.


To see another take on the day’s events see Roy Gillett’s News article here and on the Astrological Association’s web site.

Seeking Sustainable Growth - The Astrology of the G20 Meeting - Roy Gillett

With Moon in Cancer squared to the Sun, Venus and Mercury in Aries, but trined to Mars in Pisces and Venus squared to Pluto, the G20 meeting is likely to be characterised by many expressions of genuine concern, but will struggle to find any fundamental and effective agreement. With Saturn retrograding in Virgo opposed by Mars in Pisces, across the 10th / 4th house, consensus will be difficult to find. Mars building to conjunct Gordon Brown’s Jupiter early on 4th April shows just what is involved when seeking to save the world.

The Aries planets say it all. It is too early to be clear. It is rather like looking for a new relationship too soon after the painful ending of the one before. By yearning for and seeking what has been lost, world leaders are in danger of making the same mistakes again. We need a really different "lover"! A wise outcome will be to realise it is early days and we need to respect and draw on the collective wisdom of all. We have needed stimulus plans to help ordinary people through their immediate economic pain, but to see this bouncing the world economy back to “health” is a major delusion. A radical realignment of the world economy lies ahead. This Aries meeting can do no more than kick start a 15 year process of fundamental economic realignment.


On 31st January 2009, just six days before the second Saturn / Uranus opposition; Gordon Brown at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland told those, who had created or presided over the world economic crisis, that there was no previous historical experience of what was happening. Essentially, they had to learn what to do next from what happened next! The astrology both questions and confirms his words.


This time we must learn from past errors
He is wrong because in the past, as now, we have always had the astro-cycles to help us see through the nature of mass-delusion, but have chosen to ignore them. Elements in the South Sea Bubble, 1835-42 and 1929-1933 depressions and their aftermaths offer many lessons we can draw on. To start with, these experiences show the futility of the early talk of "weathering a downturn in the economic cycle" and attempts to manipulate early recovery. Certainly, it is not the first time that we face a stage in the cosmic cycle that exposes our hubris and over-reaching arrogance. Belief in endless growth and something-for-nothing characterised all three previous boom and bust periods. Until we use astro-cycles as early warnings in our culture, the same mistakes will be made by future generations.


Yet he is right in that this is the first time, due to our industrial mechanical science-driven economy, that the deception of endless growth has been extended so globally. Pluto has returned to Capricorn (symbolises death and regeneration of business structures) for the first time since 1762-77-the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. For a decade and a half ahead, we face a radical reassessment of our achievements over the past 250 years. Nor is it an unconnected coincidence that this happens in the midst of threatened global ecological disaster. Our inventive arrogance led us to assume we can change the earth – even explain and invent every aspect of life itself. We have boasted of defeating limitation. Did we really think we could force Saturn to serve our childish experiments? We have tried the patience of the natural order. We now face a period of at least 15 years, while Pluto transits Saturn’s sign, to learn the true nature of structure and responsibility.


The changes are even more radical than this. This Pluto return is the longer 500 year alternate return dating back to early 16th century. When this occurs, in the 80 years before all the outer-planets follow very similar paths in the zodiac as well. As in the 15th/16th centuries, the Pluto-in-Capricorn period casts aside inadequate assumptions and abuses of trust by those in power. Enlightened forces of public education know better. In 15th/16th century, it was the development of reading and translation into the vernacular. In the 20th/21st centuries, it is the internet. This earlier time was, of course, the very seed point of modern science. So, we face a radical reassessment of the nature of that science and its role in society’s decision making processes. Hopefully this time, we will not see centuries of conflict and repression, but the old and new will welcome each other in, cross fertilise and restore success and balance.


Abandoning the simplistic notions of growth
Pluto and Saturn dominating and correcting Jupiter-like excess will make it clear why we need to reject the notion of growth as the measure of success and failure, happiness and unhappiness. It will be difficult for economists and politicians to do so. After victory in World War II, expansion, consumption and especially "growth" replaced "victory" as the elixir of happiness offered by all who sought success in public life. On offer was "growth", where everyone could have what they wanted at the expense of no one – even the richest person in the world would not have to pay. In time, "growth" would make everyone happy – even the poorest African peasant. Brilliant economic minds and business theorists devised complex financial systems to manipulate the balance sheets and hide the real price each person was paying. Buying now and paying later offered early enjoyment. Exploitation and its consequences were too distant in place and time to be of concern. Enjoying the fruits of luxury, but not yet having to pay was seductive. It was only a matter of time and education, before everyone who accepted democracy and global free-market capitalism would be well fed and live in peace.


Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn comes after a period from 2001, when the sign's ruler Saturn opposed Pluto, Neptune and then Uranus. Now the price of ignoring these warnings cannot be avoided. Finally we face the nonsensical inadequacy of "endless growth" as a solution to anything. The longer our economist "experts" and the politicians that listen to them focus strategies upon this lost cause, the more pain and disappointment they and we will experience. In this sense, Gordon Brown is truly right. It is new. Technology is so powerful and the world is so interconnected that growth as he understands it can no longer be sustained

What is your astro-take on this momentous occasion?

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For this and more news articles visit the Astrlogoical Association website

The Oscars: Winners and Astrology - Glenda Cole

The Academy Awards ceremony began at 20:30¹ PST 22February 2009 in Hollywood just as Mercury, Jupiter, Moon and Mars were marching through Aquarius,all within 4 degrees of each other.

As was widely predicted and expected. Kate Winslet won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 'The Reader'. This was Kate's first Oscar despite being nominated 5v times previously. We don't know Kate's birth time for sure but the Internet widely reports 5th October 1975, 07:15am BST, Reading, UK. If this time is correct then that 5th house line-up of planets was trine Kate's Sun, Moon and ascendant, Jupiter was in fact exactly on her Sun and Ascendant, a sure sign of success.

Yet another success is that of Danny Boyle, his film Slumdog Millionaire won no less than 8 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Film. We have no birth time for Danny, though the IMDB website gives his date of birth as 25th October 1956, Manchester, England. Not only is the transiting 5th house conjunct Danny's Mars, it also trines his Mercury. Meanwhile, co-ruler of Aquarius was opposite Boyle's Jupiter, maybe he didn't expect to win quite so many awards.

Sean Penn (17 Aug 1960 15:17, PDT +7:00 Burbank CA, 34°N10', 118°W18'²) won the Award for Best Actor for his role in Milk, and once again we see that Aquarian stellium activating Mercury (opposition) and Mars (trine). No surprises for seeing Mars activated here as the Best Actor Award was probably the most contested, with Mickey Rourke having been widely tipped to receive this Award.

The Glitz and the glamour of the ceremony is over for another year, meanwhile congratulations to all the winners

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¹Time taken from BBC Website Live Feed
² Source: astrodatabank

Bernadette Brady Event Day - by Frances Clynes

If it’s February, it’s time for a Bernadette Brady event day. Have you been to one yet?

The AA in collaboration with local groups, runs three event days each year. Our first was in February 2007 in London, when Bernadette Brady presented a workshop entitled Predictive Astrology, which gave us a taste of medieval astrological techniques. Bernadette played to a full house, with several people flying in from abroad to hear her speak. Throughout the day she used delegates’ own charts to demonstrate the techniques in action. As you might expect this brought the techniques (and the audience) to life.

The day proved so popular that she agreed to come back in 2008 and this time spoke about the technique of Firdaria. Once again delegates from overseas, including me, attended. This time I was lucky enough to have my chart put up. After twenty-one years in astrology, it was refreshing and exciting to once more experience that sense of wonder as the different stages of my life and my experiences of them, were described by this incredibly skilled astrologer. The basic premise of Firdaria is that different stages of your life from birth onwards are ruled by a different planet. How you experience those years, is indicated by the planet’s placement in your horoscope. While naturally you find some easier to deal with than others, knowing how the planet operates for you, gives you pointers as to how best to derive benefit this period.

Once again the audience wanted more, and in what is becoming an annual event, Bernadette will give a workshop in London on February 28^th. The venue as before is the Theosophical Society at 50 Gloucester Place (Baker St. tube). This time the title is Houses – Big, Small, Hovels or Mansions? While I don’t know what Bernadette is going to say, the title to me suggests that we may walk away with ideas about how to turn our most difficult house into a mansion.

See you there.

For further details and how to book visit our website.

Houses – Big, Small, Hovels or Mansions?

Obama's Inauguration shows astrology working - by Roy Gillett

At one of their biggest gatherings in modern times^[1] many astrologers were both amazed and worried at how the chart for the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States was brilliantly auspicious, but also awkward and difficult. All seven astrologers in a public panel told 1,200 people that Barack Obama, who was yet to defeat Hilary Clinton at the July Democratic Convention, would be that 44th President.

On 20th January 2009, we have seen how right they all were, not only in naming the winner, but in their anxiety for what he faced and in the minutia of what happened on the day. Here are just a couple of pointers each way – you will find lots more.

At one of their biggest gatherings in modern times^[1] many astrologers were both amazed and worried at how the chart for the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States was brilliantly auspicious, but also awkward and difficult. All seven astrologers in a public panel told 1,200 people that Barack Obama, who was yet to defeat Hilary Clinton at the July Democratic Convention, would be that 44th President.

On 20th January 2009, we have seen how right they all were, not only in naming the winner, but in their anxiety for what he faced and in the minutia of what happened on the day. Here are just a couple of pointers each way – you will find lots more.

Positive: Sun/Mercury are auspiciously cazimi within a few minutes of Obama's^[2] natal Mercury, and Jupiter is trined his Moon.
What happened: the largest crowd ever gathered in the Washington Mall and on television screens throughout the world. They listened rapturously to this man of the hour. Astrologers had been expecting and suggesting this for a long time ahead, because they had learned about cazimi and Jupiter/Moon crowd harmony from astrological traditions dating back before the 17^th century.

Negative: Mercury was retrograding and Moon void of course in Scorpio, due to enter Sagittarius at 12:31 EST
Result: Barack Obama faces more unfinished business that almost any other President. And then the actual swearing in started six minutes later than was conventional and the Chief Justice gave the words in the wrong order.

AFAN member, American astrology Alison M. Lewis got it absolutely right, when she reminded us of Leonard Cohen's great lines:
"There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."

Then came the news from the Washington Times that, due to legal reasons, the original oath of office words were transposed therefore they needed to redo it. They reported that Justice Roberts redid the oath of office at 7:35p.m. EST Wednesday January 21^st. Have a look at the chart below. Could that packed stellium in the 5th and 6th houses show a greater amount of intense work to enable major creative structural change? Could the challenge and difficulty of carrying everyone sympathetically together be better shown than the 7th house Venus/Uranus T-Square to Moon and Saturn?

Yes we can use astrology, because it works!

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^[1] United Astrology Congress in Denver, Colorado - May 2008

^[2] 1924 AHST 4th August 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii – birth certificate on web

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