Editorial

Written November 2004 and published 1 January 2005
By Gerasime Patilas

As far as I know Charles Carter was the first astrologer to use a chart drawn for the New Year. Such a chart is symbolic of the year ahead and can be drawn for any country. Some say that this is an artificial chart, but as Carter pointed out, most of us are likely to be asking ‘What will the New Year bring?’ while pouring copious amounts of alcohol down our throats. So we can treat 00:00 hours local time as a collective horary question even though the answer for the very next day is obvious: ‘A hangover!’

If we use the 1801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland chart the first of January of any year is also the UK’s astrological birthday. In this case, the Sun and angles will be at the same place every year, so they have to be used with care when trying to predict something about the UK and its people.

The 3rd house is associated with schools and education, transport, and communications. The stellium in the 3rd and its ruler, Jupiter, in the 1st emphasise this area of life in the UK. Under the general heading of communications come the postal service, telephones, the media, and I would say computers or businesses connected with computers. The Mercury return repeats the same themes, more or less. With an election looming, we can expect some of the above themes to be highlighted by the Government, especially education.

Mars is usually accompanied by trouble and although it sextiles the ASC it ‘hates’ the sign of its depositor, Jupiter. The mutual reception between Venus and Jupiter is helpful but Venus rules the 8th and Jupiter rules the 6th, so there may be some truth to the ‘climate of fear’ that the Government is being accused of creating, especially if this involves transport. The square involving the Moon, Mars (separating) and Mercury (applying) is particularly worrying. Mars, of course, rules the military and soldiers. These fall under the rulership of the 6th and its ruler (here ruled by Jupiter), which are also connected with the police and the Health Service. So something unpleasant or painful is highlighted. Mars also rules the 2nd (money), 7th (open enemies), and 4th by exaltation (land, houses). So difficulties in this area are also highlighted.

With retrograde Saturn in the 10th conjunct the UK’s Moon things don’t look good for the Government in this election. However, Jupiter in the 1st and conjunct the North Node also rules the 10th by exaltation and disposits the UK’s Moon. This suggests a happier outcome for Blair’s party, except for the association of Jupiter with the 6th.

Of course, you don’t need to be an astrologer to predict unpleasantness for any year, but you do have to be one in order to time when something is going to happen.

What do you think? Drop us a line with your predictions, especially if you’ve timed the events. That’s the skill!