Astrology is ‘trending’. Podcasts and blogs are a blur of mysterious astrological terms promising a shape and order to life. We tune in to hear the latest predictions, for comfort, reassurance or at the very least a sense that ‘SOMEBODY’ has a handle on the breathtaking changes in our lives at the moment.
After we close the web page, or finish the podcast… then what? How does astrology apply to me? What difference do the incomprehensible signs make in my world? Do I need to wait for the next installment for further insight? What if you could read the map yourself, YOUR map and understand how your experience is reflected in the stars?
Join me for a six-part on line series and begin to ‘demystify’ astrology for yourself. We Are Stardust is an introduction to the language of astrology and a key to understanding your chart in the context of the greater world. Acquaint yourself with the meanings and movement of the planets through the signs and houses, and gain greater insight into yourself and your place in the world at this time.The course includes your personal horoscope and takes place in real time in a seminar format.
Start date: January 26, 2023 and for five weeks thereafter at 7pm (UK)
Contact info@marlowpurves.net for further information and booking.
How to adjust and cope with change? It’s always been an intrinsic part of life but in recent years, the circumstances of life have become a BOLD challenge to the most resilient of us. Astrology is an ancient system of tracking cycles of evolution for us as individuals, as well as society and the systems that we rely upon to give us a sense of order and grounding. Learning the language of the stars enables us to understand and align ourselves more fully with the universal nudges, enabling us to ride the tides and make the most of the possibilities.
We Are Stardust, an Introduction to Astrology, is an online course. This six week series focuses on the building blocks of astrology leading to a basic understanding of how this ancient system accurately reflects how we express ourselves as individuals in our relationships, work and life. The planets move in a measured rhythm, lending coherence to our unfolding story, the study of astrology enables us to find our place in the story.
Each week we will cover the elements of astrology including the planets, signs, houses and aspects.
Each class is 2.5 hours and follows on from the previous one, building your knowledge step by step. The course includes a copy of your birth chart as well as notes and recordings of the sessions. £175
There is an early bird offer of £150 until October 4, 2021.
I have been studying and practicing Homoeopathy and Astrology for over 30 years, during which time I’ve incorporated many different tools into my practice; counselling, vibrational essences, guided meditation and healing journeys. I gained a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and English Literature (1985), a Licentiate of College of Homoeopathy (1990), and am a Member of the Alliance of Registered Homoeopaths and the Guild of Homoeopaths (2001). In addition to private practice, I offer workshops in Homoeopathy and in Astrology. My personal experience as a patient of Martin Miles in the 1980’s not only changed my life but inspired me to undertake study and consequently practice myself. During that time, I also had the good fortune to meet Margaret Koolman, a wise and insightful Astrologer, who likewise inspired me to venture further… In the last 30 years I have traveled and lived between Canada and the UK where I have raised my family (now grown), practiced and taught both Homoeopathy and Astrology. Presenting seminars in homoeopathy for Midwives, Hospice Workers and lay people, I have endeavoured to encourage and equip people to manage their acute health concerns safely and effectively. In 2017, I began to explore Family Constellations and have been enjoying collaborating with Family Constellations Practitioner, Elaine Harris, to offer workshops combining the healing power of homoeopathy within the system of Family constellations. Passionate about my work with people, I am endlessly inspired by their journeys and courage in the face of life’s challenges. It is my privilege to share this work.
I am currently practicing in Cambridge, UK and available for consultation in person or by Skype/Zoom Telephone: 07528-188901
Those of us who were born ‘on the cusp’, in astrological jargon, were born on or about the 20/21/22 of the calendar month. Most tabloid astrologers will suggest particular dates as the definition of an astrological sign, and this can be confusing as they are not fixed.
These dates mark a transition from one sign to another. I’m one of those kids… and for the first 16 years of my life I ‘identified’ as a Gemini. I recognized my nature as being perennially curious, changeable, alternately sociable and reclusive, nothing seemed more compelling than the promise of good conversation or a new idea.
At 16, I met an astrologer who offered to ‘read my chart’…ushering in a whole new perspective.
As it transpired, after using my precise time of birth, it was determined that I was, NOT, in fact, a Gemini but a Taurus on the cusp… A verrrrry end of, squeaking-over-the-edge but irrefutably, Taurus. After I broke the news to my mother, who had always assured me that I was *such a Gemini*, I began to ‘try on’ my new persona, to test the waters.
So I found myself stepping into a whole different territory, exploring what it might mean if I am a Taurus after all. Fast forward thirty-some years and my fascination with astrology only grows and invites me to look twice.
I now can recognise and revel in my slowness, my love of all things green and earthy, my practical, sensuous self.
So… how DO you know whether you are one sign or the next? The zodiac is not precisely synchronised with our Gregorian calendar. Once every four years (Leap year) we have inserted an extra day in order to rectify the measure of the earth’s journey around the sun. The Equinoxes, days of equal daylight and night, mark the beginning of Spring and of Autumn (and occur at 0 degrees Aries and 0 degrees Libra)and the Solstices, (days of longest or least light, 0 degrees Cancer and 0 degrees Capricorn) occur at the 20/21/22nd of the month. This has a subtle but distinct knock-on effect for each of the zodiacal signs. The zodiac is a two dimensional representation of the planets movements around the sun, from our perspective on earth.
Each of the signs is allocated 30 degrees, 1/12 of the 360 degree circle. So, when we are determining the cusps or beginnng and ends of signs, we are superimposing a hypothetical (30degree) model on a movable (time) feast!
Now, what does it mean to be born at the very end of one sign or the very beginning of another? From an astrological perspective, these are sometimes referred to as the critical degrees of a sign. Critical in that they hold a certain weight or gravitas. Those of us born with the Sun in the final degree of a sign are said to be at a point of fullness, ripeness and potential mastery of that particular sign’s expression.
In my mind’s eye, I imagine the sun as a traveller and as it makes it’s way through the constellation of a certain sign, it gathers up the experience, both shadow and light of that particular sign’s ‘style’ of expression. The Sun, represents the quality of integration and when it’s placed in a certain sign, it becomes the lens through which the Spirit is expressed.
As the movement of the planets is inexorable, it makes sense that the ‘steps’ it takes as it moves from the 29th degree of one sign to the first degree of the next is a bit like stepping across a threshold. This threshold between signs marks the boundary between very different energies, inviting us into a totally different room.
At the very end of a sign, we have said that there is a certain sense of mastery of the quality and the element of the sign. At the beginning of the next sign, there is a sense of innocence and naivete – a freshness to the new territory. Awkwardness and a sense of the un-skilled infuses this placement, this is balanced with enthusiasm and willingness to engage with the new elemental energies.
A common experience for those born on the cusp of a sign is a bit like having a foot in each world. The terminal degrees lend themselves to a sense of closing down or perhaps a hankering for something unknown, utterly different. For those at the beginning of the sign, a bit of discomfort, sense of not knowing or understanding how the ‘system’ works from this new vantage point.
Astrology is a complex art and as such never really relies on only one key element to tell the whole story. As with all life, we are multi-coloured and multi-faceted with shadings to temper the absolutes of symbolic systems.
One of the most marked tempering elements of the chart is represented by the Ascendent or Rising Sign. If, for example, the Rising sign of a person who was born on the cusp of Taurus/Gemini is Taurus, they would be far more likely to strongly identify with their recognizably Taurean, earthy characteristics. If the Rising sign falls in Gemini, the individual may identify, on first glance with more of the changeablity of the airy Twins…
The time we are born is one of the important details that an astrologer will ask you. It is with this information combined with the place and date of your birth that the correct calculation will reveal the Ascendent or Rising sign.
For those of us who are born on the ‘cusp’ of a sign this is a critical factor in understanding the nature of your astrological profile.
Curious? Get in touch for a reading and expand your understanding and maybe change your mind!
Many astrologers have been waiting for this moment for decades. It is the crowning of a most challenging and transitional time over these past months. Old structures, institutions and ways of being have had to change, fall away, decay and transform. They have outlived their usefulness and the advent of a virus has proved to be a necessary catalyst in our collective transformation. There is an important conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn at 0 degrees Aquarius on Dec 21st. It also coincides with the sun entering Capricorn, which marks the Winter Solstice, the tipping point into a new cycle as the sun pauses at its lowest point (in the Northern hemisphere) before ascending in the sky towards its fulfillment at the Summer Solstice.
Jupiter and Saturn are planets that are known as the Cosmic Regulators, they are social planets that indicate, by virtue of their duration of their orbits around the Sun, forces which symbolically represent the movement between an in-breath and an out-breath. Saturn is known for contraction, boundaries, rules, karma, consequences and the laws of the material world. It is earthy in nature. Jupiter is almost opposite in principle as it represents expansion, development, exaggeration, growth and benevolence. It is watery in nature.
As these two Titans come together at the beginning of Aquarius, they represent a significant changing of the guard, a foray into a different form of regulation, the long lauded New Order.
Typically, Capricorn, the sign that they have been inhabiting for the past number of years is well represented by the Patriarchy. It is the ‘Old Guard’, top-down authority with more than a touch of paternalism. For example, the exchange that might be understood in terms of Capricorn authority is: I will tell you what to do, how to think, how to behave… IF you follow my instructions and obey, I will extend my protection.
Aquarius is a game changer and, as with each of the successive signs of the zodiac, represents an entirely new type of expression. Aquarius is an Air sign, it is all about the new, innovation, revolution, quirkiness, the individual, the one-off. If Capricorn is top-down authority, Aquarius is personified by internalized, individual authority. This is NOT to be confused with Chaos and getting for self, but rather an internalized sense of responsibility and authority. This authority is based on the individual, as one of many individuals, NOT a hierarchical ‘power over’ structure such as Capricorn, but a ‘power with’ expression.
Long heralded as the dawn of the New Age, Aquarius is a sign associated with universal brotherhood, peace and veneration of the individual as part of a whole multi-faceted One. Aquarius is one of the signs on The Cross of Love, and in this sense it is the love for humanity and all creation rather than the love of a particular person or thing. This Winter Solstice (dawn of the new cycle of increasing Light, in the Northern hemisphere) is a potent turning point and marks the sowing of the seeds of this burgeoning Consciousness.
We will collectively be entering a new phase of our evolution, one that may require us to take a stand for our principles, while acknowledging and respecting the rights of others to stand for their principles. We are going to be experimenting with ‘Live and Let Live’. There is a saying that resonates with many and has been used as a guide for conduct in magickal circles. And It Harm None, Do As You Will. The responsibility of our actions lies with each of us, and has implications for the way we might evolve. Quantum Physics is able to verify the interconnectedness of all life, and so too… each of our decisions and actions have consequences for the whole. No longer will we be able to blindly follow the rules and point the finger of blame at others. It is time for us to awaken to our own authority and to stand in that as we assume responsibility for our creations. We are united in our humanity and unique in the expression of All that Is.
These are truly exciting and important times to be alive.
The benefits of Covid… FINALLY learning how to offer classes online!
To that end, I will be offering We Are Stardust – Introduction to Astrology as a six-week introduction to the planets, signs, houses, aspects and Nodes.
In addition to learning about the building blocks of astrological language, you will be encouraged to use your own chart as an anchor for your learning. Explore the ancient archetypes through your own felt experience, bring the wisdom of the stars to life.
Ever wondered what it MEANS when someone asks you what your ‘Sign’ is?!
Join me for an Introduction to Astrology and learn the basics of an ancient art. Learn about the planets and signs and discover what they mean to you. This is a beginners class and will focus on the building blocks of astrology leading to an understanding of how this ancient system accurately reflects how we express ourselves as individuals in our relationships, work and life.
In addition to learning about the building blocks of astrological language, you will be encouraged to use your own chart as an anchor for your learning. Explore the ancient archetypes through your own felt experience, bring the wisdom of the stars to life!
Marlow has studied Astrology for over 30 years and uses it as a touchstone and reference point in her work as a therapist and healer.
Sessions will be approximately 2hrs – 2.5hrs and follows on from the previous one, building your knowledge step by step.
Each participant will be provided with a copy of their own chart for reference (and practice!) No previous experience is required. The class will include opportunities for discussion, reflection and practice.
Start date: Thursday, October, 1. 7-9pm (UK) and five weeks following.
marlowpurves.net 
