• Tip for the coming period
• The Solution is in the Problem
• Interesting websites of the month
• Quotes of the Month

Tip for the coming period

Autumn. It feels like we've been in that colourful and windy season for some time now here in Amsterdam. However officially it starts, as does Spring Downunder, on the 23rd of September this year. As I have often mentioned, we are in the pre-stages of a heavy astrological alignment which continues through until 2015. I will be speaking about what this means and what you should do about it, at an event on October 6th, Lead us into the Future. Blanca Vergara, who is passionate about changing the way the economy works, is joining me. She is advocating a more heart-centred approach and will offer us a new model for success. Our chairman, Jeroen Brons is Strategy Manager for Shell Chemicals and I am looking forward to sharing ideas with him as well as delegates, over the dinner that follows the talks and cocktails. Please come if you are in the Netherlands and bring your favourite client of colleague (there is discount!)

Date tip

A date to watch this Autumn/Spring, which concerns one of the planets in the line-up mentioned above, Pluto, is October 28th, 2011. Jupiter, the planet that exaggerates, enlarges and expands, has an assignation with our friend of transformations, Pluto, who is starting to change the world. And in no small measure. Jupiter is in the middle of emphasising Pluto's workings. If you want to see how this has worked so far for the world, your company, and for you, have a look back to around the 7th July this year. These two planets had their first meeting in this sequence then. And it will not be the last. That won't be until 13th March 2012. What this means is that there is a theme that was highlighted in July, which will come back in October and again next year.

Putting these two together we get much (Jupiter) death (Pluto), which is clearly upon us. Another example: exposing (Pluto) expansion (Jupiter), in the case of the football stadium that collapsed here in the Netherlands in July 7th - killing workers who were building a huge addition to the building to accommodate up to 32,000 fans.
Photo left vk.nl site ANP.
Perhaps there will be more information on this in October but was the size too optimistic? And a last example: uncovering secrets (Pluto) in publishing (Jupiter) which is obvious in the News of the World - Murdoch case. However on the 7th July, news came out that phones of the families of dead (Pluto) soldiers, may have been hacked (Pluto) by News of the World (Jupiter). This is just a symbol of what has been uncovered in the publishing world and shows the massive transformation taking place not only in newspapers but in publishing generally. The death of the old ways. What is the pattern for you? Remember it's not finished yet and huge transformation cannot be avoided now.

The piece below is about finding a solution to a problem by looking at it in a different way. If you have a problem that could use a new perspective for finding a solution, contact me for a free half hour consultation before Sagittarius time on November 22nd.

After the holiday period it's back to my main theme for this year - What if it's true? What if astrology is a good model for how the world works? This time I want to expand on something I say often...

The Solution is in the Problem

The horoscope is the tool I use when clients come to me with questions and problems, both in business and in private. This can be a temporary issue: the "Why are things going so slowly at the moment?" type of question, or it can relate to an issue that is something inherent to the company or individual. In either case I am looking for a planetary pattern that describes the problem. What would be relevant for a temporary slowing down? Saturn making a temporary aspect perhaps, and I would investigate that further. For a longer term issue I would look to the basic horoscope and use the same technique to find a descriptive planetary pattern that would relate to a particular problem.

The healthy side of the coin

The reason I do this is so I can see how a pattern works. Experiencing something as a problem, is a negative working of a particular pattern. Although I do not do medical diagnoses and am not qualified to do so, I do use astrology to give insight into medical problems, which for me are clearly related to the psyche. You cannot tell from a horoscope whether someone will get a particular disease, but you can see the possible illness you might get if you are in situations that can trigger illness. So looking at what a disease does and finding a planetary pattern for it, can give some clarity as to the possible cause and, as I suggest in the title, ways to help recovery.

Taking an example to make it clearer, Saturn problems affecting Mars might be expressed through muscle diseases, where there is a block on movement. Using symbolism, this pattern can be associated with a fear of initiating things, or having had a background of not being allowed to have anything you wanted. There may have been blame about the way you approached things. Saturn-Mars people have discipline though. The lesson is often to go for something but in your own way with your own goals. This takes courage but Saturn-Mars people often have that. Health can improve if you understand patterns and turn them into a positive use of the potential you have.

It's NOT in the genes

Scientists these days are doing fascinating gene research but many of them are still looking for excuses there. You have this gene so you have this disease. There are murderers who have got off 1st degree charges by proving they have a certain gene. "I can't help it, I have the Warrior gene". This is the equivalent of using astrology to say "I can't help it, it's in my horoscope". I totally disagree with the view that the horoscope is fixed. It is a blueprint, yes, but of potential in my view. It is a tool to see which direction suits, and as we become more conscious of our patterns we can use the vast possibilities to create more positive lives. The field of epigenetics is showing that genes can and actually are switched on and off as our life unfolds. So why are scientists still looking for proof of things in the physical genes?

Photo from news.com.au in an article refuting claims that Maoris carry the Warrior Gene.

Turning yourself on

I just attended a lecture about this by Bruce Lipton. I must admit to liking his initial work better than what he is up to now,(he's on a bit of a spiritual philosophy journey and I think his biology work is more interesting), but what he says about genes and how the environment works is still seen as cutting edge although it's work he started many years ago. In this lecture he said we don't need drugs to heal, just different environments. I agree. So long as you add in a little consciousness so you can find out what is a good environment for you and discover why you are stuck in old patterns. For me, turning genes on and off aligns with finding a solution to a problem in the problem itself. It is like switching a planetary pattern from bad to good. I think we do this by developing awareness and I believe an astrological model helps here.

Enough already

I want to take two examples I saw recently to illustrate how a problem and its solution are often expressions of the same planetary picture. The first is in a blog of Seth Godin "Confusing obedience with self-control" where he is talking about the good employee being an obedient one. He is making the point that being obedient never leads to self-control. I agree, they are different archetypes astrologically. However interestingly he says, "That at some point, people start obeying themselves and become leaders." This is a good example of what I mean. Saturn is about rules and learning discipline. When we are young we have to follow others' rules and goals and are often punished if we don't. If this is done too harshly, fear of having our own goals is the result. So rather than making our own rules and going for what we want, we follow others initiatives, but blame others for where we end up. Saturn is alive and well and very much living in the aftermath of the London riots, to give but one example. More blame, more harsh rules, longer punishments. Parents are blamed and around we go again. The solution is, yes, Saturn, taking responsibility for your own actions but whose goals are they? How many young people are allowed to develop their own goals and are taught responsibility? How could that be taught and demonstrated? Where are the role models? You don't see a lot of grown-up Saturn in society as a whole. Everyone needs to obey themselves but they first need to be allowed to set the rules, of course in a way that doesn't hurt the larger society but there is enough scope for that. The problem Saturn - blaming everyone but yourself. The solution Saturn - defining your own goals, taking responsibility for them, and acting upon them.

Are you good or evil?

The second example is taken from yet another wonderful BBC Horizon documentary. This one was about "Are you good or evil? Is there a moral molecule?" Well we're in 'let's see if there is a gene that makes us good or evil' territory again and indeed that was the starting position. There is a known Warrior gene which is often present in violent people. But this research, done by Professor Jim Fallon, who has studied many psychopaths in his life as a neuroscientist and is an expert on brains, came to the conclusion that you need three things to become a psychopathic murderer. One is the gene. The second one he found when he was given several brain scans to decipher, not knowing what he was looking at. He found a pattern in some of the brains and highlighted several individuals who had this particular characteristic. Unbeknown to him they turned out to be the murderers. He thought he had cracked one of life's mysteries, (what makes a murderer?), at which point I thought what kind of science is that? It is the same as when an astrologer lectures on known murderers. You must point out that even if you have the same planetary aspects as they do, you might not be a murderer! Fortunately he checked to see if non-murderers also had this brain scan pattern and the gene. He ended up researching his own genes and brain due to a remark made by his mother saying that there were murderers in his family (not her side of course) but in his genes! To cut a long story short (if you want to see it see the links below), he studied all his family and the only person that had both the gene and a similar brain scan to the murderers in the trial, was him. He was astonished.

As an astrologer, I was both delighted and fascinated by his research but at the same time not at all surprised. He went on to ask the question "Why am I not a murderer then?" And decided that, like Lipton, environment is of huge importance, although a few of his family said he could be scary!

Photo Jim Fallon from Ted.com

It's like with like - that strong attraction

But why was I delighted and not surprised? Because it's a bit like the problem - solution thing. Unfortunately I could not find Jim Fallon's date of birth as I would loved to have seen his chart. When astrologers think of some of the traits of a psychopath, Pluto comes to mind. Cruel, manipulative, sexual arousal through violence to name a few things that could be present. All the well-known serial killers I looked at while researching this piece, have strongly Plutonic charts. But this is probably a pattern carried down through the generations, as in Fallon's case. Through the generations, Fallon is the one who is turning this pattern around for the family. He is using the gene (read horoscope or archetype) positively. Pluto is also the researcher, the one who works with taboo subjects, the psychologist. To an astrologer, it would be unusual if the researcher into these topics didn't have Pluto strongly placed. Fallon is an example of Lipton's principle. It's the environment that determines what our genes do. But like Fallon you still need to work with the areas highlighted in your chart. He does this. He has found his calling and is very successful.

The secret is out

The most scary thing in the BBC documentary was the discovery that many business leaders of world ranking companies are psychopaths. Now why doesn't that surprise an astrologer? Or possibly anyone else! Pluto - the ruler of all things to do with power. And indeed, power at the current level of world consciousness corrupts and is probably evil! We need to turn that one around by using our power at all levels positively. Passion, research, loyalty - are you getting the idea?

Photo from a Guardian article on Psychopaths in business.

Faye Cossar
Founder of Juxtaposition

Interesting Websites of the Month

A description of the BBC documentary (no longer available to watch but links interesting.)

An article on the Fallon psychopaths study.

A video Ted Talk from Jim Fallon about his work.

Take National Geographic's 'Born to Rage' Quiz

This Month's Quotes

"It isn't that they can't see the solution. It's that they can't see the problem,"
G.K. Chesterton, English writer, 1874-1936.

"I don't have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem."
Ashleigh Brilliant, Uk born cartoonist, living in the US.

"There are few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives."
Scott Adams, US comic strip author of Dilbert.

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