I awoke this morning with a dream of Light Warriors moving like white blood corpuscles through the One Body of humanity clearing the collective shadow. My dream seemed confirmed by the year beginning with Pallas Athena Warrior Goddess rising with the star Spica. Spica is the wheat in the Virgin’s hand, and she represents purity, harmony and beauty. These are the robes along with humility, compassion and love that the Light Warrior wears.
Legions of Light Warriors will begin on a completely new level the transfiguration of the collective shadow in 2019. Our thinking will turn more and more towards ‘our’ aims rather than ‘my’ aims. Sacred Activism will take new and varied forms as the Warriors gather across national and religious lines. Pallas Athena rules the frontal cortex where our full comprehension of the laws of cause and effect lie and a penetrating, holistic view of our human struggles. She will stay in Libra close to Spica until September. Her strength in Libra is seeing the whole picture and being a mediator in conflict.
Ceres the Mother Goddess also symbolized by wheat is conjunct both Venus and the Moon her feminine counterparts as the new year dawns in Scorpio. This will be an excellent year for social reform benefiting women, children, ecology and the food chain. Our desire for quality food will continue to increase and artisan and local food producers will benefit.
We may expect an especially wonderful influx of babies to the planet and the awakening of the children already here to their spiritual calling. Take the voices of your children seriously. Ceres is still conjunct Venus at the first Partial Solar Eclipse on Sunday 6th January forming a beautiful water trine with Astraea and Chiron in Pisces and North Node in Cancer. The Universal Love of the Mother is at its most enhanced. The presence of Mother Mary in all her forms will rise and drench us in her unconditional love.
This first New Moon eclipse is very important as it takes place slap bang between Saturn and Pluto. Much of the chaotic, challenging energy on the world stage at present is caused by these two planets of major social change coming into exact conjunction in 2020, so this year is a warm up. Whatever comes up around this eclipse personally and collectively is what we need to focus on healing in the next few years. There may well be themes around communication as Mercury falls in the conjunction as well. What are people trying to communicate and how are they doing it? On this day Uranus is also stationary and therefore extra powerful. This is very beneficial for breaking free from those invisible chains, often at the level of beliefs, that keep us chained to defunct systems.
What comes to mind in Europe is those being most effected by austerity now reacting with violence. It is very good people are standing up for themselves but is violence the way? Haven’t we tried and failed in this before many times? Whilst understandable its unlikely to tackle the real problem which is a globally unjust and unequal distribution of wealth and power. Unfortunately, many of these people will be drawn into the far right racism that tends to blame the most vulnerable refugees or anyone foreign and therefore help the powers that be rule another day with impunity. If, however this energy for change can be harnessed in a positive direction it would be awesome.
We enter this New Year with Astraea and Hygeia conjunct for the third year running. I feel my main role as an astrologer has been to witness and embody the unlocking Holy Grail energies being released through these two beautiful Goddesses and their travelling companions.
Hygiea is a Goddess of healing through dreams and attuning to natural time rhythms, and her symbol is the two spiraling solar and lunar serpents that exist within the land and also our human form. She is a feminine version of Ophiuchus the 13th sign of the zodiac who represents the gaining of wisdom through mastery of the male and female forces. This is also the image of Moses and the Burning Bush. Amongst other things this is the ability to remain neutral without being overly polarized by what is going on in the outside world. It is a very stable state to be in at an atomic level and hard to mess with. It is you might say the super power of the Light Warriors.
Astraea is the Goddess of the new Golden Age and manifests through increased sensitivity to her environment and sacred arts of all kinds. In every age there are artists, poets, philosophers and musicians who ride the wave at the edge of social change. Many may never be famous, but they are powerful alchemists nonetheless. Creativity is our most powerful tool as human beings.
Chiron continues his long journey with these two Goddesses as the Wounded Healer, turning victim to victor and bringing deep meaning to our suffering as human beings. The planet of passion and motivation Mars also fires the Goddesses in the early months of the year.
There is a Total Lunar Eclipse on the 21st January as the Sun enters Aquarius. Again, it falls conjunct the Saturn, Pluto and Mercury and reveals ever greater depths of unconscious issues to be addressed if this Saturn Pluto conjunction is not to trigger a global war as it did last time around with the First World War. We are at such a key turning point in history and all the Light Warriors are in place around the world and have worked hard to be just that. Now its time to work together and have faith that the light of goodness will overcome fear, ignorance, violence, inequality and injustice.
This year Venus and Jupiter spend much time together which is one of the most beneficial combinations of planets. At this eclipse they conjunct in optimistic Sagittarius helping us to create a strong vision, a new mythical story for humanity to live by. Chiron forms a Grand Water Trine to Ceres in Scorpio and North Node in Cancer conjunct the Moon in Leo which suggests there is much emotional intelligence available to us in 2019.
In May there is a perfect sextile between Pallas Athena and Ceres which is highly beneficial for those developing ecological projects or anything benefiting Mother Earth. I think we will see an expansion of support for organisations like Greenpeace and WWF at the cutting edge of environmental change. New organisations will also seed to tackle in creative and innovative ways the huge task of cleaning up our human detritus on every level. It’s exciting to me that these changes seem much more led by the people than by politicians and it’s the one thing the government in the UK seems quite responsive too. Imagine the politicians working to the highest aspirations of the people? Let’s pray for that with all our hearts!
Saturn and Pluto are just a few degrees away from each other in Capricorn conjunct the South Node for much of this year. The South Node always bring opportunities to heal the past. I think this will happen in many ways, and one area I feel much healing will take place is in religions. This clearing and coming to terms will allow and new wave of spiritual energy to come into these ancient containers. I have been following the work of Richard Rohr from the Centre for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico with some fascination, as certainly in myself they have been able to heal some old and deep wounds around Christianity. Here in England where I live there seems to be a very positive movement in the church recruiting record numbers of women and younger people in the last year. What is wonderful is that it’s all been triggered by prayer. In order to avoid ‘death’ many institutions will need to reinvent themselves which is a tremendous opportunity for positive reform.
2019 is a very good time to address in yourself where institutions have wounded you. How can our institutions, which often had a positive root, be reinvigorated with love and passion? Cynicism and apathy in the end may turn out to be the biggest stumbling block for humanity which is why I feel it is necessary to address these issues.
At the New Moon in May in Taurus we see a stellium of planets and asteroids in earthy Taurus. Astraea and Hygiea bring the Holy Grail energies to be deeply rooted and embodied. This isn’t a time for pie in the sky spirituality; the well-being of Gaia and humanity lie in the ability of the Light Warriors to take their true place in the world, casting off self-doubt and fear. At this time the Goddesses are also conjunct Uranus so again there is lots of potential for breaking free from the past. At the end of May Venus moves into position between Astraea and Hygeia and this will be a time of greatly enhanced intuition and creativity. The Holy Spirit will descend so keep an eye out for her. After this the Grail asteroids gradually start to move apart Astraea heading towards Gemini where it will be in exact sextile to the New Moon on 2nd July.
There is a Total Solar Eclipse on the 2nd July visible from South America. Saturn is exactly conjunct the South Node at this eclipse. It may be that tensions between North and South America are greatly intensified this year and the issues with Mexico may bring issues from the past up for both. There is a huge fear of refugees sweeping the western mind at the moment in Europe and the USA and is shaping a lot of voting and decisions. Fear of lack is definitely one of the major issues in the collective shadow which needs the light shining on it. What is it in the Western psyche that makes us believe that we won’t survive if we have to share? That is what we need to address as a matter of urgency.
This eclipse will also likely trigger issues around relationships. Juno Goddess of the Sacred Marriage is conjunct Mercury and Mars so use of will and communication will be themes. It will be interesting to see if anything happens on the world stage around marriage at this time possibly in relation to the LBGT community. The conjunction forms a Grand Fire Trine with Chiron in Aries and Ceres newly entered Sagittarius. It feels a beneficial time for healing in relationships and social reforms that will benefit women and families. In the end this will also benefit men because stronger family bonds are immensely heart opening for all of us. Chiron is at 5 degrees 55 minutes which feels significance in its transformational power.
The Partial Lunar Eclipse Full Moon on the 16th July is in conjunction with Saturn/South Node/Pluto now in opposition to the Sun, North Node and Venus. If there were a day to pin point a battle between light and dark and illuminate where the deeper issues lie it could be this one.
Ceres is stationary at 0 degrees Sagittarius, the Gateway of emergence from the underworld. She has extra power when she is stationary, so this is a good day to put out a message of love and forgiveness or do something to honor Mother Earth and all Mothers.
As summer draws to an end there is a line-up of Sun, Venus, Juno and Mars in the heavens in the glowing sunlight of Leo. It’s a great month to deepen your love commitment with your partner so plan a romantic adventure together. This is also of course foremost about our inner alchemy of male and female. Many of us have been working on these issues for years now. In the past year I have been integrating many male aspects of myself and wow am I feeling good – loving all parts. I’m manifesting so many positive platonic male relationships which feels a really good place to be. The dark veil of oppression is lifting. This process of freeing ourselves and others from oppression will keep manifesting. I was born in South Africa and Nelson Mandela was a huge influence on my life. He came closer to his oppressors, learnt to love them even and this is how he found freedom and then led many others on that path. He is a living example of the incredible power of forgiveness and what can be achieved when we align with the immense love of the Creator. For me he is the person most like Jesus we know and have met in our living memory and shows to us the true nature of the Creator which is love.
In mid-November Ceres and Jupiter cross the Galactic Center together with Venus not far behind. During this period there will be a seeding from the source of Creation of our entire galaxy. This will be very powerful for Gaia who will receive these impulses into her light body. The Universal Christ Consciousness will arrive in another great wave to be integrated. Our willingness to go along with seeing most of the world living in abject poverty and war will diminish greatly because Christ’s teachings around how to treat others (homeless, poor, refugees) are really the core of it all. The fact Jesus was all these things is there to show us something important. On the 11 November Peace Day Mercury is in Inferior conjunction to the Sun.
22 November is always a great date because of its harmonious numerology. This year Jupiter and Venus cross the Galactic center together on this day and the Sun is conjunct our Warrior Goddess Pallas Athena at the beginning of Sagittarius. As mentioned earlier this is an important point as it’s the exit point from the mouth of the underworld Scorpio in the heavens. The Moon is conjunct Juno so in many ways it feels that this is an integration day of the year’s transformations.
Ceres moves into Capricorn and all those dreams that were seeded in the Galactic Center now start to put down roots and grow. How exciting this will be. I wonder what the Dream Tree is dreaming up for us right now in the starry heavens! The focus I am receiving is to get involved in ‘praying’ or creating intention for peace. The more people we can do this with, the more powerful it will be. The Dream Tree is shaped through our prayers in a very powerful way and Quantum Physics has shown us the sustained power of intention is a force to be reckoned with. (The Nine Dimensions of Consciousness by Barbara Hand Clow looks at many levels of the interface of Quantum Physics and Astrology)
The end of November into December sees Venus conjunct Ceres and then Jupiter joins the seeding party. Oh, what a feast it will be. Pallas Athena is conjunct the Sun and in a Fire Trine with the Moon in Aries and Astraea now in creative Leo. Pallas is glimmering in solar light her sword stripping old belief systems as if they were candy floss. It feels like a veritable comic explosion of light taking place of joyful intentions. Astraea is in her powerful creative flow.
As the decade draws to a close Venus brings her beauty and grace as she dances between Saturn and Pluto and Ceres is in a perfect conjunction with the South Node allowing levels of trauma to release from the planetary body. Though this may initially cause some destruction it is vital in the long term that Gaia continue to rebalance herself and that we do our best to contain the rampant environmental effects that have led us to this Sixth Age Extinction period.
The Winter Solstice is the final preparation for the last eclipse of the decade on Boxing Day. Jupiter is conjunct the Sun and so will align with the sacred sites across the globe. Pallas Athena is in a perfect conjunction to Mercury so the communication on both telepathic and verbal communication levels will be greatly enhanced for the Light Warriors. It’s as if God has given us the greatest gift any military strategy could ask for – an invisible, undetectable and indestructible light communication system. All we have to do is master it!
The final Solar Eclipse falls at 4 degrees Capricorn and is again a significant point because it marks the portal of the Third Rebirth of Christ Consciousness. It will align with all sacred sites globally that connect to the solstices – which is the majority of them. It is a powerful awakening for Gaia. Hygeia spends much of late December conjunct the Pleaides so there will be a special transmission concerning ‘time’ received into the planetary body at this time.
If you are looking for a creative way to be part of this collective process of transforming the shadow Psalmody is a wonderful way to explore this. Chanting the Psalms by Cynthia Bourgeault with a CD to chant along to is fun and powerful. The Psalms were written in the axial time in history just before Jesus incarnated. Many other prophets came at this time to infuse our consciousness with love. The psalms help us to access vertical time lines and karmic issues which are especially relevant to the Children of Abraham. These are the religions of Judaism, Christianity and also the Muslim religion. There is something in the rhythmical Benedictine practice of chanting that restores our cosmic time clocks (Hygeia). The practice can also be of great personal benefit. One of the stories in the book tells of how a monastery mysteriously went down with throat and ear complaints. A well know doctor came, tried all he knew, and nothing worked. Finally, they worked out these problems had started when the Daily Office of the monks had been changed to less chanting to be more time efficient. Everywhere in our world, doing more and more in less time just leads to burn out. Trying to be successful in linear time is our greatest addiction. Strangely, or maybe not so if you consider the Law of Thermodynamics, chanting the psalms a couple of times a day may make you more productive as well as being of great benefit to the planet.
This year I’m continuing to do mental health recovery work especially with those who have experienced trauma. In late March I am doing a training tour with Working to Recovery in the UK in Leeds, London, Bristol and Cardiff. We will be doing another retreat Return to Innocence for women in the Outer Hebrides in May. Its aimed at those who have experienced profound trauma and family members. If you feel ready to face these issues in a safe and nurturing space at the edge of the world this retreat is for you! The journey to this remote location in part of the journey.
I also offer one to one chart readings with the Goddess Asteroids and Chiron. Email me at astroalison@gmail.com for more details of any of these
