Author: Christina

Muhammad Ali: Leo Rising

Self-named, self-invented, self-motivated, champion boxer Muhammad Ali was a modern embodiment of the archetype of hero. He was charismatic, strong, graceful, poetic in speech, courageous in deed. He spoke up for the millions and laughed at the powerful. He took his punishment squarely and came back to defeat his enemies. He was brave and inventive. Here is Leo Rising: the sign of the king on the Ascendant. “It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.” He was also playful, cheeky, brash and boastful and sometimes cruel as a child. Again Leo Rising. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” So the […]

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June Horoscopes

The season shifts from spring to summer — or from autumn to winter in the South. So the Sun has come to a mutable sign, Gemini, a sign where change happens. The mutuable signs — Gemini, Virgo, Pisces and Sagittarius — are alight this month. And because they are, we all are changing and shifting. At times of change, opportunities open, old friends disappear, but you may feel a sense of anticipation. There is magic in the air. The path ahead jumps and shimmies, like a magic carpet ready to take off, but you just need to get a toehold […]

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The Wonderland Book

Kirsty Mitchell has a magical opposition between Venus in Gemini and Neptune in Sagittarius. Her imagination, rooted in fairyland, branches out into stranger worlds. She is an artist whose brush is a camera. She is a photographer — a province of Neptune — and she photographs beauty (Venus) in extraordinary, vivid detail. The Wonderland Book, which has taken her five years to make, was created in memory of her mother, a schoolteacher, a reader, a storyteller. Mitchell is a mother-loving Cancer Sun. Her work could be sentimental as a result but not with that steely conjunction from Saturn and detailed Mercury. Cancer […]

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In the Key of Gemini: Charles Aznavour

In his long, long musical career, the great French balladeer Charles Aznavour has written hundreds of songs and recorded thousands. His Sun is at 0° Gemini, the sign of the songsmith. “I can write on any subject. Just give me the first line, which is the most important.” Aznavour will turn 92 on May 22. His last tour was in 2014, and his first American musical is being staged this spring; he started work at the age of nine. That is quite the career! Yes, he has hard-working Capricorn Rising, and its ruler Saturn is the most elevated planet. He also has his […]

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Blue Hair

Neptune rules fashion and glamour and it’s been interesting to watch what’s happened since he roared into Pisces in 2011. Men rediscovered their inner dandies; women went kind of dishevelled and started dying their hair crazy colours. Neptune in Pisces 2011 -2025 Hair has gone all the shades of the ocean from cerulean to lilac to icey teal to rainbow to grey. Indeed, women have been sporting the kind of hair a mermaid might comb. This is street fashion but it’s also been taken up by the popperati.   Beyoncé, of course, has outdone everyone by actually naming her child (born in 2012) Blue Ivy. […]

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9 Things to Do During Mars & Mercury Retrograde & some extras

We are in the middle of a season of retrogradacity. Mars until June 30 Mercury until May 22 (in the shadow until June 7) Saturn until August 13 Pluto until September 26 Meanwhile, Jupiter and Venus have both turned direct. This should give you a hint — do good, beautiful, generous things — and put down your weapons. And remember that traditionally things during a Mars Retrograde don’t work out quite as one would expect. Here are some things to try during the Mars Retrograde period There is no disinfectant as strong as sunshine… This is the time to do a little […]

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Thoughts on Transitory Mercury

Mercury, messenger of the gods, will be crossing the face of the Sun in a few hours.  You’ll be able to see this from Earth — with the right equipment. This particular event is not rare — but it is unusual. It happens about 14 times per century — and it’s always in Taurus or Scorpio — two of the fixed signs, the bull and the eagle. This transit across the face of the Sun also happens within a narrow timeframe (5-14 Nov and 5-12 May). It’s a Mercury-Sun conjunction, of course, and traditionally, there’s a point at which Mercury is super-powered (cazimi) before […]

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The European Union Chart: A Tough Summer

I wrote to my friend Anton D’Abreu recently pointing out that the chart for the European Union was under a great deal of pressure during this Mars transit. Later this summer, Mars will station direct at 23° Scorpio nearly conjunct the EU Mars-Pluto conjunction. The Mars-Pluto conjunction exactly opposes the natal Moon in Taurus, which surely represents the stalwart citizens of Europe. That configuration has always seemed uncomfortably like a sign of power concentrated in the hands of the few against the many. Anton pointed out that the thing happening in the midst of this Mars Rx is the British referendum (June 23) […]

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Venus in Taurus: Brooding Passion

When we talk about Venus, we talk about allure. When Venus, the planet of beauty and attraction, is in Taurus, she is in her own sign. Fixed Earth: the sign of full-busting spring in the north, when thoughts turn to what the birds and the bees do. Venus is, of course, the planet of love and of making love, of how we attract lovers and what we love to attract. As you might expect, Venus in Taurus people can be very, very attractive; very, very sexy. The late-lamented Prince sang about sex a lot. He was, of course, an embodiment of Gemini, […]

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Monthly Horoscopes: May 2016

After the winter that never happened: the coldest spring here in Europe. I’m in France today. The irises are out, fulsome purple against blue-green spikes. The garrigue is in blossom, dark splashes of wild lavender, washes  of pale violet thyme, bright pink rock roses, asphodel, limey euphorbia, blood-red poppies, pale yellow daisies as big as a child’s hand and tiny narcissi. The closer you get to the ground, the more detail becomes apparent — tiny purple orchids, sky-coloured forget-me-nots, wild pink peas. There’s been one good day; the rest of weekend has been cold and overcast. But with darkened, slatey skies, the blossoms’ colours sing. And after […]

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