Halloween (Samhain) is in the rear view mirror as time seems to be bolting along… Before us we have ‘the month of the ancestors’ where we may feel the breath of the Gone Befores at our cheek. I love the drawing in of the evenings, some how the dark has a distinct quality at this time of year, enveloping and private.
This, of course, in stark contrast to the brightness and blessings of the Yuletide season that beckon from just around the corner. Communion with loved ones, excitement for the little people (in all of us), plans, food, exchanges of greetings and gifts. It is a season with mixed reviews but also a time for renewing a sense of hope as the Dark finds its longest night and we are slowly but surely ushered into another turn of the wheel, a cycle of renewal and faith.
This Yuletide/Christmas/Hannukah, share the gift of personalised insight, vision and opportunity with your loved ones. An astrology gift certificate provides a doorway to the Soul, revealing our essential nature and our strength and foibles, dreams and mission.
A reading consists of an hour long recorded astrological interpretation and includes a copy of the Natal chart.
Contact: info@marlowpurves.net.
Order before December 1, 2025 and receive a 20% discount on a natal chart reading. Type HOHOHO25 in the title.
Join us on Monday, October 20th for a seven week dive into the use of 36 Common First Aid Remedies in the treatment of acute and common illnesses.
Learn to care for your family and friends with natural, holistic remedies.
From Hang-overs to Headaches, Flu to Food poisoning, Accidents and Injuries to Childhood illnesses or Coughs, homoeopathic remedies offer an effective, safe option that enables your body to do the work of healing, leaving you feeling restored and strengthened.
You will learn about:
36 must have remedies in your First Aid Kit and when to prescribe them
The Function of acute illness and how to support the body in its efforts to heal.
When to call the Homoeopath or Doctor
Meet other people who are like-minded
The classes are live online and include questions and answers as we go according to the needs of the group and will be recorded for further reference. Additional notes will also be provided.
Contact Marlow at: info@marlowpurves.net and join a growing community!
It’s a VERY blustery Autumnal day today, warm temperatures being tempest toss’d. The winds are reminding me of some of the odd things you learn as an homoeopath, notably how we can be affected, for good or ill, by the climate and conditions. I, for one, LOVE a good windstorm, it is invigorating and enlivening; nothing like having breath being given a push start! I am also aware that there are those of us who DREAD the wind, feel stirred up (not in a good way), irritated, ruffled through and through… and some of our pains can be triggered too. It also illustrates the fact that in homoeopathy, when we are searching for the ‘remedy’ for a person, we glean all sorts of individual and particular symptoms that help us to differentiate one remedy from another… but where to start?
I often have people ask me how to know which remedy to choose, say from a number of different contenders… It is a bit confusing at first, to find that there are several possible candidates for the job, and it’s important to realise that every symptom is potentially relevant when making a choice. Hence… in the case (for example) of earache, do you like the wind? or do you HATE the wind, do you even know it’s windy become important considerations. This one odd tidbit of information can be the deciding factor between several remedies…
One of biggest joys is to share the magic of Homoeopathy with people and in October, I am offering another series of Kitchen Table Homoeopathy. The seven part series introduces 36 common remedies that can be used for acute illnesses ranging from headaches to food poisoning, hang-overs to accidents, earaches (from wind or no?) to flu.
The course will extend over seven weeks. During that time we will look at 36 Common Remedies and how/when to prescribe them. The aim of the course is to provide you with the wherewithal to treat acute situations with confidence. The remedies span quite a large range of potential acute situations from headaches, to asthma, to shock, to post-surgical instances, accidents and injuries.
In addition to the 36 remedies we will discuss and learn a little about the history and foundation principles of homoeopathy, what is disease/what is health, vaccination, case studies, when to call the dr or homoeopath, how to assess if a remedy is working…
Notes are provided and there is scope for conversations, so that this is not just a lecture format but interactive where anyone who has experience of using remedies or questions are invited to share them so that the class as a whole can benefit from the query. It is usually a smallish group, so an exchange is possible and hopefully will encourage the development of community where people can share resources. Each session is recorded for future reference too.
The final session is devoted to creating a practical therapeutic model to help organise the information (which can sometimes be overwhelming!) in a way that makes it accessible for you.
If you are keen to take more control of your health, and to learn a little more about what health IS, come and join us.
When: Mondays beginning October 20th, 2025 from 7-9pm (UK) online – for seven weeks.
Investment: £275 – including recordings of the sessions and notes
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.
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