And all of a sudden… it’s Autumn! or well, almost… It’s definitely Virgo season though and there is generally a feeling of rolling up the sleeves! It’s time for a change of pace, something new… people, ideas, skills?
You are SO MUCH MORE than your Sun Sign!
I am looking forward to starting afresh with a new class and sharing my passion for astrology with We are Stardust. In the six week series, we explore a bit of the background of the ancient art and then really look ‘under the hood’ to get to grips with the mechanics of the zodiac.
The aim is for you to be able to look at an astrology chart and learn to interpret its unique story. We ALL have a story to tell, one that has a clear beginning and an unfolding narrative that lasts a lifetime.
Over successive weeks we will explore the various elements of the chart, the planets, signs, houses and aspects (each with a story of their own) and thus build a complete picture of your chart when you will begin analysing or ‘reading’ it.
Come and see for yourself!
Commencing September 23
Book before September 15 and receive a FREE 20 min. taster reading of your chart.
We’ve seen the Summer Solstice, the longest day, come to its zenith over the past weekend. Solstice means ‘sun standing still’. In June, here in the northern hemisphere, we enjoy the longest days before tipping into the inevitability of declining light. Though we often conflate Solstice with Midsummer they are, in fact, different days and serve to ‘bookend’ the stillness between the tangible effects of the lengthening and the shortening of sunlight hours.
There are four days between the Solstice (0 degrees of Cancer) and Midsummer. Solstice is associated with the Alchemical Marriage or Hieros Gamos. At this time we are offered an invitation to be still, a kind of cosmic ‘Pause’ button. Shakespeare took full advantage of the languorous liminal time to enchant us with the story of lovers, magic and deception invariably resulting in union and re-union.
Today, Midsummer, is doubly interesting, as it not only marks the ‘end of the enchantment’ but (this year) also coincides with the ignition provided by the New Moon. A new moon marks the very beginning of a new cycle, occurs when the Sun and Moon occupy the same degree of the zodiac. We are awakened from our sleep into the emergence of a new dream, new possibilities…
With an astrological eye we examine the placement of all the planets at the new moon to glimpse the flavour of the upcoming weeks, a kind of snapshot of the energies at play in the world. As this new moon falls in the sign of Cancer, a focus on home, family, nurture, fun, security and protection is likely to occupy our thoughts.
Cancer, being the first of the water signs, means that our intuitive nature will never be far from our awareness, so finding a way to acknowledge our emotions without being swept away by them is going to be particularly important, as there is a great deal of tumult and change occurring in the world right now. This particular moon is an encouragement for us to turn within and to honour our feeling nature while taking care not to get caught up in external events. It is not a passive phase, on the contrary, Cancer heralds a time of active introspection and recharging.
If you are interested in learning more about astrology and how it can inform your world every month, please join me for Stardust – An Introduction to Astrology – an Online course.
Commencing Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025
Six sessions of two hours+ each, during which we will cover the History of Astrology, Planets, Signs, Houses and Aspects, the building blocks of an astrology chart.
Sessions are live and will be recorded to ensure an interactive experience.
Each participant will receive a copy of their birth chart to use as a platform for the course.
There is also an opportunity to join an ongoing group (online) as part of developing community that will extend beyond the course.
Cost is £250 (Early Bird Price £225 before August 23 – New Moon in Virgo!)
Ultimate, NOT best, but because it is the fourth and final element in the creative ‘wave’ of expression of Life. It is the element of connection, where Air is that which passes between, water permeates, dissolves and merges what is with what is not. Commonly associated with emotion, it is ephemeral and changing while its currents can guide the ship. Our emotions in-form us, sometimes subtly as intuition and sometimes… more akin to a tsunami. The key here, is IN-form, water is the major constituent of our bodies, our intuition (inner teaching) comes from the connection through the water element.
In its the capacity to nurture life, dissolve mountains, and connect people, water is unbounded and can flow around or dissolve obstacles. Water is also arguably, the most sensitive element of the zodiac, feeling the slightest of changes and registering them in the emotional scape.
Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces – Connectedness, Feeling and Dissolving
CANCER – Relation
Cancer, with the symbol of the crab is a creature that lives on the margins, between earth and water. Defined by its shell, boundaried and given shape, the soft tissue within is forever defined by its relation to the other, its shell. In this case, with the Moon as its ruler, Cancer is in constant orbit around the M-other. Subject to the tides and the swells, Cancer is eternally in motion filling and emptying. Pinchers for defense offer protection but also allude to the tenacious ‘holding’ quality of Cancer, holding on to emotions, moods or relationships. In contrast to the flighty energy of Gemini, a seismic shift happens as Cancer pulls us down and into the experience of emotional foundations. These connections are made intuitively not intellectually. Family, belonging, nurture, care, s-mothering, this is the ‘child’ of the zodiac, vulnerable, demanding, playful, charming – and a veritable genius of invention with an eye to the wonder of novelty.
The glyph for Cancer is made of two curving lines, leaning into one another, cradling and contained in a circle of enclosure and intimacy. Cancer is often concerned with security, in a different way than Taurus, where the concern is material security, but more in an emotional sense. There can be a slamming of doors if the family or inner circle is threatened in any way… in a darker sense, clannishness or Mafia comes to mind. Caution is a by-word for the Crab and they can slip into hypersensitivity and moodiness if they aren’t able to find time to recharge their emotional batteries with solitude and dreaming.
Cancer is a deeply caring character, first and foremost.
SCORPIO– Feeling
Arguably the most feared or ‘slated’ sign of the Zodiac, Scorpio is definitely the deepest . It finds its placement following Libra and the airy Scales of Justice, if Libra is the impartial judge, Scorpio metes out the punishment. There are three elements to the symbolism of Scorpio.
Fundamentally a feminine archetype, it contains the Scorpion with its capacity to sting and kill, the Snake that is associated with death, sexuality and transformation and ultimately, in its most exalted expression, the Eagle, flying above the fray, poised and able to hunt with surgical precision. Whatever the circumstances, Scorpio has links to the deepest well of experience and intuition and is exquisitely tuned to the slightest sense of threat. Not known for a forgiving nature, “once bitten… you’re dead”, Scorpio can appear calm and impassive (even cold or calcutlawhile experiencing a maelstrom of intensity beneath the surface. This is the sign of sex, death and plumbing the depths. The extraordinary tuning to the emotional currents enable them to make calculated decisions that seem uncannily accurate. Sex and death are doorways to another world/consciousness and Scorpio is able to navigate the darker sides of human nature without flinching. The up-side of Scorpio is their capacity to ‘hold’ these intense aspects of human nature and are thus make EXCELLENT guides as psychotherapists. This gift is not coming from a place of study and intellect but rather a deeply felt sense of their own pain and vulnerability, they KNOW the terrain.
Loyal, driven and possessive, Scorpio enjoys the dual rulership of Mars and Pluto. Magnetic, passionate sometimes vengeful and suspicious. Scorpio marks the turning point in the zodiac, it is the descent into the Underworld, the annihilation of Ego.
PISCES – Undoing
The expression ‘slippery fish’ was invented for Pisces. The symbol of two fishes, swimming in opposite directions – one toward matter and the other toward Spirit – tied together and thus in endless circling motion. Cancer provided the boundary with land/earth as the boundary for its emotional content, Scorpio is the deepest well, penetrating to the underworld and mystery, Pisces the last of the water signs and the last of the entire cycle of signs is WITHOUT bounds. It marks the dissolution of all that went before it and in so doing, contains ALL possibilities. Fishes are not aware of the water, it is their all, their medium. If we substitute water for emotions, then we begin to understand the conundrum of reality being the swell and the current of emotions where we cannot discern where we begin and the emotions end.
Some suggest that Pisces is not a water sign at all, but it is representative of The Fifth element – Ether – utterly other, utterly animating and invisible/insensible.
We assign Jupiter and Neptune joint rulers of this elusive sign. Jupiter traditionally as the archetype that links us to Spirituality and the world beyond expanding endlessly. Neptune brings in another quality, Lord of the Seas, it makes the link between the realm of Spirit and the connection with creativity, illusion, fantasy and dream. Pisces is an otherworldly sign indeed, often struggling with what it is to be in a human form, the sense of dislocation often leading to a keen sense of suffering and disorientation.
Suffering and victimhood, fantasist, addict, poet, visionary, dreamer, these are all aspects of Pisces, torn between the exquisite suffering felt and witnessed and the desire to escape and be relieved of the ongoing experience. The paths of compassion and forgiveness are ways of channeling the relentless buffeting of the world and art… poetry, music, colour and sound are means by which expression of the ineffable is made possible.
As there is no separation, no boundary with Pisces, they are often the conduits through which Spirit communicates… sometimes it’s genuine and sometimes it’s not. The fishes will often find themselves swimming with the current, moving in and out of illusion and revelation in equal measure.
The Piscean dissolution – undoing is the necessary precursor to Aries, Cardinal Fire.. initial spark and emergent identity.
Fire is the spark, the first differentiation, Earth is the formation of that spark, Air the idea that animates and communicates, Water… the infusion of soul through emotion. There is a development through each of the elemental expressions which demonstrates the extraordinary variety and nuance of Spiritual expression.
Astrology… there are SO many facets to it. No longer do we identify ourselves solely by our Sun Sign (corresponding to the time of year we are born). In the past few years there has been a dramatic upswing in the interest in astrology, fuelled by social media and online astrologers. This is all ‘perfectly on point’, as we have been moving, incrementally into the Age of Aquarius (no longer just a song from the swinging 60’s!) and Aquarius IS the sign of Astrology!! This is the year when we have, at last, tipped into Aquarius fully, without a backward glance.
So… you know your Sun sign, all well and good to recognise the characteristics that are typically associated… Taurus is stubborn/loyal, Cancer is sensitive/emotional, Virgo is particular/fussy. Incomplete generalisations that lead to a skewed sense of simplicity.
If you dive into the subject, seeking a nuanced understanding one of the ‘organising principles’ that emerge, we discover the Elements. When we think of the Elements we are talking about the basic building blocks of life, these are abstract principles that inform our expression as human beings. There are four elements represented in Astrology… FIRE, EARTH, AIR and WATER. These primary forces inform our experience on many complex levels and reveal a subtle face to what we understand as The Signs. Each of the twelve signs are divided between the four elements and provide us with an expanded and developed understanding of the unique characters associated with the element.
FIRE – what do we know? FIRE is inherently Yang, it’s going to capture your attention! Radiant, warming, inspiring, comforting, action-oriented, passionate, creative, innocent, child-like, generative, scorching, raging, burnishing. These are common qualities of Fire signs. HOWEVER… there are distinctive characters in this box of matches!
STYLES OF FIRE – Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
ARIES, is first out of the blocks… always. Headstrong, lusty, BURSTING with Life, Spring anyone? As the first of the Signs of the zodiac and it is the PERFECT demonstration of I’M FIRST! and READY or NOT! No surprises that the dates for Aries coincide with Spring Equinox (in the Northern hemisphere). We have been carefully schooled to think of December 31 as the beginning of the new cycle, when in truth, the beginning of the new year is March 21. I certainly feel as though the first couple of months of the year are like an ending of sorts, the shorter days, colder temperatures, time to withdraw and rest.
Aries is the epitome of leap first, look later… rushing headlong into the new, to discover what is and what isn’t – in a very direct way. Sometimes thought of as brash, The Ram is forthright but NOT calculating- PASSION and excitement, an adrenalin rush all in one packet. If you see one coming, either get out of the way or put on your running shoes to follow in their wake.
LEO, the second of the fire signs is a TOTALLY different kind of cat. Much of the warmth of Leo is radiant, bright, enthusiastic and cheerful. Just as the Sun is the star in the centre of our galaxy, so is Leo the centre of the story, the world gravitates and surrounds the life-giving Lion. And so we have a fixed expression of fire, it resides in its place, welcoming those who draw near. Sharing, benevolent, generous and encouraging. Majestic and regal, you may find yourself wanting to take your place at their feet.
Just as the ego is the lens though which our personality is projected, if it is neglected or humiliated or ignored Leo can display an inflated sense of self and be demanding, churlish and dramatic or, just as worryingly, a diminished sense of self-worth…anxious, unconfident, flat and unengaged.
When the Beatles wrote, ‘All You Need is Love’… they were singing Leo’s song.
SAGITTARIUS, if Aries is first out of the blocks rushing headlong into the next adventure and Leo is steady, is occupying the centre of the universe, the third of the fire signs is on the run, aiming his arrow to the next frontier. But with Sagittarius, make no mistake, THERE IS NO FINAL FRONTIER… The Quest is the whole story. Searching, seeking, exploring, questioning ALWAYS expanding into the next step, pushing the boundaries. This is so beautifully summed up by the child’s eternal and exhausting question WHY?
Restlessness is Sagittarius’ M-O. Always on to the next… freedom loving, philosophising, expect BIG, dreams, visions, ideas… Sagittarius also includes a healthy dollop of intuition and ENTHUSIASM writ large. Because the quest is so compelling, there can be a woeful lack of awareness for mundane matters, commitments or the feelings of others. IMPULSIVE and occasionally outspoken to the point of crudeness, the half man/half horse sometimes succumbs to his animal nature and speaks before he thinks. The bluntness of delivery is seldom intended to offend but can ruffle feathers and feelings nonetheless in his relentless pursuit of the TRUTH.
So… FIRE?! It can burn, sizzle, warm and inspire… Draw near and be advised that it will never be boring! Fire is ALWAYS aspiring, moving up and reaching… raising our gaze and inviting us to ‘Up our game’.
‘And the Seasons, they go round and round…’ Joni Mitchell
Here we are, the light is definitely returning, the birds are singing and chattering in their mad WAKE UP! song and we are reminded that new life is burgeoning. Imbolc, (February 2) the first stirrings of Spring.
This is announcement time, a traditional time in the Old Calendar where dedications and declarations of intent are made. Emerging from the blistering winter winds, the deep sleep of the dark, there are stirrings and efforts to reach up and forward into the newly emerging light.
So, in keeping with this time, I am announcing the commencement of two courses in the coming months.
Amidst the chaos of political, environmental and societal change uncertainty mounts, camps are chosen and some of us attempt to erect barricades. Astrology offers an opportunity to pull back from the binary of ‘us and them’ by illuminating and describing many, many different options for understanding and appreciation of ourselves and ‘the other’. Join us as we draw back the shade on an ancient language that offers insight, guidance and a glimpse at potential. Access the building blocks of ‘the long view’ and come to understand the perfection in every moment as it leads to the next.
No previous knowledge of astrology is required, a sense of humour and willingness to join in the conversation is a must!
Six week course
Trumpington, Cambridge
Tuesdays, 7-9:30pm
Commencing March 5
£190 Early bird before Feb 20 or £225 includes personal birth chart
Contact Marlow: info@marlowpurves.net
One of my all time favourite series to share. Homoeopathy, even after almost 30 years of practice, is close to my heart. This introductory course is called Life’s Resource because as people with bodies, we are well advised to develop familiarity and awareness of the owner’s manual! Centred around 36 common first aid remedies, the series will also cover basic homoeopathic philosophy (WHY we prescribe remedies) and illustrate the use of remedies with genuine cases. The aim of the series is to enable you to feel confident to prescribe in acute situations. We’ll cover, headaches to hang-overs, fevers to injuries and common childhood ailments.
Six week course
Trumpington, Cambridge
Wednesdays 9:30-12pm
Commencing March 6th
£170 Early bird before Feb 20 or £200
First Aid Kits also available for purchase
Contact Marlow: info@marlowpurves.net
NB. In all cases, group sizes are limited to enable maximum participation and to reflect the individual needs of the class.
Stardust_artwork_Jul_2018The new season is upon us, and I will be offering We Are Stardust: An Introduction to Astrology series again. The last cycles of classes have yielded a growing interest in how to apply and further our understanding of astrology and to this end, there is a second series brewing that will take us beyond the basics. Come and explore the outer reaches of the solar system and see how it speaks to the inner reaches of your psyche and experience!
The classes are interactive and you are invited to share your experience and reflections.
marlowpurves.net 