GODDESS

A Solar Writer Report

for James Van Praagh

Written by Brian Clark & Stephanie Johnson

Compliments of:-

Awakenings, Inc.

PO Box 10672

Prescott, AZ 86304-0672

Voicemail: (928)925-0373

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.awakeastrology.com

Astrological Summary

Chart Point Positions: James Van Praagh

Planet	Sign	Position	House	Comment
The Moon	Sagittarius	25°Sg54'	12th
The Sun	Virgo	0°Vi10'	8th
Mercury	Leo	29°Le47'	8th
Venus	Leo	9°Le30'	8th
Mars	Taurus	19°Ta08'	5th
Jupiter	Libra	27°Li31'	10th
Saturn	Sagittarius	19°Sg05'	12th
Uranus	Leo	13°Le08'	8th
Neptune	Scorpio	2°Sc26'	10th
Pluto	Virgo	1°Vi57'	8th
Chiron	Aquarius	19°Aq36'	2nd
The North Node	Libra	23°Li51'	9th	read into 10th House
The South Node	Aries	23°Ar51'	3rd	read into 4th House
The Ascendant	Capricorn	0°Cp18'	1st
The Midheaven	Libra	24°Li01'	10th

Chart Point Aspects

Planet	Aspect	Planet	Orb	App/Sep
The Moon	Trine	The Sun	4°16'	Applying
The Moon	Trine	Mercury	3°53'	Applying
The Moon	Sesquisquare	Venus	1°23'	Separating
The Moon	Sextile	Jupiter	1°37'	Applying
The Moon	Conjunction	Saturn	6°48'	Separating
The Moon	Sesquisquare	Uranus	2°14'	Applying
The Moon	Trine	Pluto	6°03'	Applying
The Moon	Sextile	The North Node	2°02'	Separating
The Moon	Trine	The South Node	2°02'	Separating
The Moon	Conjunction	The Ascendant	4°24'	Applying
The Moon	Sextile	The Midheaven	1°52'	Separating
The Sun	Conjunction	Mercury	0°23'	Separating
The Sun	Sextile	Jupiter	2°39'	Separating
The Sun	Sextile	Neptune	2°15'	Applying
The Sun	Conjunction	Pluto	1°46'	Applying
The Sun	Trine	The South Node	6°19'	Separating
The Sun	Trine	The Ascendant	0°07'	Applying
Mercury	Sextile	Jupiter	2°15'	Applying
Mercury	Conjunction	Pluto	2°10'	Separating
Mercury	Trine	The South Node	5°55'	Applying
Mercury	Trine	The Ascendant	0°31'	Separating
Venus	Conjunction	Uranus	3°38'	Applying
Mars	Quincunx	Saturn	0°02'	Separating
Mars	Square	Chiron	0°28'	Applying
Jupiter	Conjunction	Neptune	4°55'	Applying
Jupiter	Conjunction	The North Node	3°39'	Separating
Jupiter	Opposition	The South Node	3°39'	Separating
Jupiter	Sextile	The Ascendant	2°47'	Applying
Jupiter	Conjunction	The Midheaven	3°29'	Separating
Saturn	Trine	Uranus	5°57'	Applying
Saturn	Semisquare	Neptune	1°39'	Applying
Saturn	Sextile	Chiron	0°30'	Applying
Saturn	Trine	The South Node	4°45'	Applying
Uranus	Opposition	Chiron	6°28'	Applying
Uranus	Sesquisquare	The Ascendant	2°10'	Applying
Neptune	Sextile	Pluto	0°28'	Applying
Neptune	Sextile	The Ascendant	2°07'	Separating
Pluto	Trine	The Ascendant	1°39'	Separating
Chiron	Trine	The North Node	4°14'	Applying
Chiron	Trine	The Midheaven	4°25'	Separating
The North Node	Conjunction	The Midheaven	0°10'	Separating
The South Node	Opposition	The Midheaven	0°10'	Separating

Asteroids Summary

Chart Point Positions: James Van Praagh

Asteroid	Sign	Position	House	Comment
Ceres	Virgo	13°Vi19'	9th
Pallas Athena	Leo	21°Le46'	8th
Juno	Virgo	3°Vi57'	8th
Vesta	Cancer	15°Cn08'	7th
Hygieia	Gemini	17°Ge09'	6th
Ariadne	Libra	5°Li37'	9th
Europa	Capricorn	18°Cp47'	1st
Pandora	Sagittarius	15°Sg22'	12th
Mnemosyne	Scorpio	18°Sc06'	11th
Hecate	Leo	24°Le01'	8th
Cassandra	Sagittarius	25°Sg52'	12th
Medea	Scorpio	15°Sc55'	11th

Asteroid Aspects

Asteroid	Aspect	Planet	Orb	App/Sep
Ceres	Semisquare	Jupiter	0°48'	Separating
Juno	Sextile	Neptune	1°31'	Separating
Vesta	Semisquare	The Sun	0°02'	Separating
Vesta	Semisquare	Mercury	0°20'	Separating
Vesta	Semisquare	Pluto	1°49'	Applying
Hygieia	Opposition	Saturn	1°56'	Applying
Hygieia	Sesquisquare	Neptune	0°17'	Applying
Ariadne	Sesquisquare	Mars	1°29'	Separating
Europa	Trine	Mars	0°20'	Separating
Europa	Sesquisquare	Pluto	1°50'	Applying
Mnemosyne	Opposition	Mars	1°01'	Separating
Hecate	Trine	The Moon	1°52'	Separating
Hecate	Sextile	The North Node	0°10'	Separating
Hecate	Trine	The South Node	0°10'	Separating
Hecate	Sextile	The Midheaven	0°00'	Applying
Cassandra	Conjunction	The Moon	0°01'	Separating
Cassandra	Sesquisquare	Venus	1°22'	Applying
Cassandra	Sextile	Jupiter	1°39'	Separating
Cassandra	Sextile	The Midheaven	1°50'	Separating
Medea	Semisquare	The Ascendant	0°37'	Separating

Introduction

The Goddess is the custodian of the Greater Mysteries and the primal world of archetypal forces. As representative of the world soul she engages us in the sacred rites of nature and reanimates life though the cycles of birth and death. Goddess culture flourished in the prehistoric period when magical consciousness prevailed, supernatural forces were deified and natural forces were revered. As consciousness developed through its phases the wisdom of the goddess was buried beneath the rational constructs of a scientific knowledge that erased the mysteries from life and excluded the magical processes.

With the advent of the asteroids the wisdom of the goddess is once again available to consciousness. Goddess wisdom revels in the ancient wisdom of cycles, the intelligence of the inner life, the sanctity of divination, the mystery of healing and the necessity for sacrifice and ritual. The ancient feminine wisdom of the goddesses embraced all phases of life, celebrated its mysteries, ritualised its passages and knew the power of the natural world. The Solar Writer - Goddess report celebrates twelve goddesses and heroines and seeks their wisdom and guidance.

The maxim 'as above, so below' underpins the philosophy of astrology. Inner and outer lives are woven together through investing the celestial sphere with meaning. Therefore when astronomical discoveries are made astrologers find new meaning and revelation in them. Astrological tradition suggests that with the major discovery of a planet the collective is confronted with the conscious awakening of an archetypal force that may have previously lain dormant or been repressed. As the 19th century dawned such a discovery was made reawakening the feminine power and wisdom of the Goddess.

Late in the 16th century Johannes Kepler first suggested that there might be a planet between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter. Nearly two centuries later the publication of Bodes Law reiterated this possibility. Based on the theory that all the planets were in a harmonic distance from the Sun the law suggested there should be a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. When Uranus was discovered in 1781 its distance from the Sun conformed to the law giving greater weight to the theory of the missing planet. Finally on New Years Eve 1800 a Sicilian astronomer spotted a new body in the region and named it Ceres after the patron goddess of his homeland. To the Sicilians Ceres favoured their island and it was here they claimed Hades abducted her daughter.

One year later its orbit was confirmed and although small in comparison to the other planets the missing planet had become visible. But early in 1802 another body was sighted between Mars and Jupiter and named Pallas Athena. Astronomers wondered if a planet had exploded in this region and therefore more would be discovered. And they were. By the end of the 19th Century over 400 hundred of these small planets had been named.

It was not until the early 1970's as the woman's movement began to accelerate that astrologers began to take note of the significance of these new bodies, which were named asteroids. In 1973 an ephemeris of the first four discoveries was printed and the astrological community began to experiment with these new archetypes. The first four asteroids were named after the Olympian goddesses who had been previously unnamed in the astrological planetary pantheon: Ceres, Juno and Vesta were the three sisters of Jupiter while Pallas Athena was his daughter. All four were prominent in Greek myth and their cults predated their male counterparts. Previously in the astrological pantheon only the Moon and Venus were available to represent the lineage of the feminine traditions. Renewed images of the feminine had now appeared in the astrological tapestry. As astrologers began using these potent images of the asteroids the cults of the ancient goddesses were rediscovered paralleling the cultural reclamation of feminine power. With the discovery of the asteroids and their use in astrology the ancient feminine wisdom of the goddess was brought to consciousness.

Each goddess in your personal Solar Writer - Goddess report has a specific function, being emblematic of an important sphere of your life. Every one embodies a different aspect of the Goddess herself. However all twelve are involved in the handiwork of the Goddess. Therefore underlying each individual goddess is the sanctity of being, the awareness of the seasonal cycles of our life cycle and the acceptance of inner intelligence, signs, symbols and dreams. All twelve honour the instinctual wisdom of nature and follow her guidance.

All twelve goddesses preside over the three spheres of Heaven, the Earth and the Underworld. Being Olympians the goddess Ceres, Pallas Athena, Juno and Vesta are the goddesses of heaven who oversee the important initiations and transitions of the life cycle. The goddesses of the underworld are powerfully insightful and understand the deep waters of the unconscious, the complexity of feelings, the power of mystery and magic and the uncertainty of life. These goddesses may reveal themselves through a healing crisis, the psychic senses, loss, betrayal or a myriad of other mysteries that arise in our lives. Hygieia, Cassandra, Hecate and Medea are the four goddesses who plunge the depths of the unconscious realm. Finally the goddesses who rule the Earth symbolise our worldly concerns and attitudes. Ariadne, Europa, Pandora and Mnemosyne are the influential representatives in the world who watch over our loves and labours, as well as our trials and triumphs.

The Solar Writer - Goddess report is a celebration of twelve of the numerous asteroids. Below the asteroid goddesses and heroines have been listed by their order of discovery. Each asteroid has its unique cycle and position in the horoscope. Keywords are listed below to introduce you to the meaning of each goddess as well as other astrological correlations that have a similar essence to the asteroid archetype. Each goddess will be explored through her myth and cult to appreciate her ancient role and contemporary meaning. The oracular meaning of the asteroid goddesses and heroines is based on the individual cult of the goddess. Once familiar with the presence of each goddess or heroine we will petition them for an oracle.

Ceres, Asteroid No 1. Discovered 1801. Ceres is closely aligned with the archetypes of Pluto and the Moon and especially strong when the Moon aspects Pluto. Her process may enter our lives when Pluto transits the Moon or the 4th house.

Pallas Athena, Asteroid No. 2. Discovered 1802. Athena is sympathetic to the air signs especially the justice and strategy of Libra and the intelligence and objectivity of Aquarius. She is aligned with the masculine archetypes of Mars and Uranus and close to Jupiter, her father's realm.

Juno, Asteroid No. 3. Discovered 1804. Juno is the goddess of marriage and social customs. She reverberates with Libra and the 7th house. Her passionate side is reflected through the 8th principle of Scorpio and interchanges between these two astrological principles reflect the goddess.

Vesta, Asteroid No. 4. Discovered 1807. Vesta is the spirit of the 6th house, the domain of the sacred in the everyday, the rituals of work and well being. Planets in Virgo respond to the archetype as do inner planets aspecting Saturn, the need for authenticity.

Hygieia, Asteroid No. 10. Discovered 1849. The axis of health in the horoscope is the 6th-12th polarity. The Sun symbolises the vitality and the ascendant suggests how we conduct that vital life force. Chiron is the archetype of healing. Hygieia is very much concerned with these principles.

Ariadne, Asteroid No. 43. Discovered 1857. Ariadne's story plumbs the depths of the water houses. She leaves the familial terrain of the 4th house to be abandoned by her lover in the labyrinth of the 8th but awakens to her divine connection in the 12th. Neptune aspects to Venus or Mars may highlight these themes. Ariadne's process is revealed with transits to planets in the 8th house or Pluto transiting Venus or Mars.

Europa, Asteroid No. 52. Discovered 1858. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn and their rulers Venus, Mercury and Saturn represent the earth instinct. Of all three signs Taurus is the sign most closely aligned with Europa's passions and power. Planets in Taurus or the second house constellate the mythic pattern while transits through the second house or to Venus may evoke issues concerning values and resources

Pandora, Asteroid No. 55. Discovered 1858. Pandora is a change agent and therefore may be sudden and unexpected like Uranus. Her curious nature and marking of threshold change is Mercurial linking Mercury and Uranus. As an agent of transformation she has a Plutonic essences as well. Planets in Gemini or Mercury aspects to Uranus or Pluto.

Mnemosyne, Asteroid No. 57. Discovered 1860. The Moon records, reflects and reveals every heartbeat, breath and nuance of primitive life therefore the progressed Moon evokes memory as it progresses through the horoscope. Aspects between the Moon and Mercury as well as other planets aspecting these planetary archetypes reveal the process of feeling and rational memory.

Hecate, Asteroid No. 100. Discovered 1868. Aspects to Mercury may signal how we might manage crossroads, our facility for change and adaptability. Crossroads in the life cycle are mapped out by the cycle of the slower moving planets while personal crossroads are reflected in the transits of the transpersonal planets to the personal ones. Note the South Node of the Moon.

Cassandra, Asteroid No. 114. Discovered 1871. Cassandra revels in the world of Neptune - the archetype of the medial woman. Aspects between Mercury and Neptune, or Mercury in Pisces reflect Cassandra. Interconnections between Jupiter and Pluto may also ignite a similar pattern.

Medea, Asteroid No. 212. Discovered 1880. Medea is similar to the archetypes of Pluto and Scorpio, as she understands the process of metamorphosis. Planets in the Eighth House or in aspect to Pluto may conjure up the potent magic of Medea.

Goddess Mythology

Mythology serves as a psychological record of human development recording the imagination and symbols of the culture. Mythic stories speak to the inner life as they deal with universal themes and truths illustrating the archetypal forces that influence the course of the human drama. In archaic societies myths offered an explanation of the world and its creation, the cycle of birth, growth and death, how things came into existence as well as how they disappeared. In contemporary times we have scientific explanations for many of the ancient mysteries, but myth is just as valuable to help us to imagine our own origins and invest our lives with meaning. Mythic themes stir the imagination and broaden the horizon of the individual's story placing it in a context of a larger story.

Mythology is the link between the magical phase of being when consciousness participates in nature and the rational phase when we are separated from the natural world. The magical phase embraces the culture of the Great Goddess when life is full of mystery and wonder and we are one with the natural order, not separated or expelled from it. In this phase all nature is sacred as all life is invested with the divine. The asteroids are surrogates of the Great Goddess and reconnect us to her culture. As emissaries the asteroid goddesses and heroines invest life with the sacred, value imagination and mystery and inspire ritual and sacrifice in order to reconnect to the wellsprings of her magical forces.

Following is a summary of their genealogy and mythic tradition. Let the myths resonate with your imagination and speak to you in their own way.

The Roman goddess Ceres is also known as Olympian goddess, Demeter. She is the daughter of the Titan Cronus and Rhea and mother of Persephone. She is the Corn Goddess who personifies the agricultural cycle of fertility and harvest, as well as loss and renewal through her daughter Persephone.

The Olympian goddess Pallas Athena was a daughter of Zeus. The Romans referred to her as Minerva. She is revered as representing the wisdom of reflection and strategy.

The Roman goddess Juno is also known as the Olympian goddess, Hera. She is the daughter of the Titan Cronus and Rhea and mother to Ares, Hephaestus and Hebe. She is the goddess of Marriage and Social Customs who oversees the seasons of a woman's life.

The Roman goddess Vesta is also known as the Olympian Goddess Hestia. She is the daughter of the Titan Cronus and Rhea and is the goddess of the Hearth who embodies sacred space.

The Olympian goddess Hygieia was also known in Rome as Salus / Salud. She is from the healing dynasty of Asclepius. She is the sister of other minor healing deities and heroes including Panacea, Machaon and Podalirius. Hygieia is the goddess of Health, the giver and preserver of well being whose function is to maintain a healthy relationship between body and soul.

The Cretan goddess Ariadne was from the Minoan dynasty. She is the daughter of King Minos and Queen Pasiphaë, granddaughter of Helios and Zeus. She is sister of Phaedra and half-sister to the Minotaur. Ariadne represents the marriage to the divine after the trials of betrayal and abandonment.

The Olympian goddess Europa was a Phoenician princess, sister to Cadmus and matriarch of the Minoan dynasty, mother to King Minos and grandmother of Ariadne and Phaedra. She represents the creative and earthy process that supports and guides worldly success.

The Greek goddess Pandora was the first woman and was shaped by Hephaestus. She was married to Epimetheus and mother of Pyrrha. Pandora brings the gift of hope.

Mnemosyne was the Olympian goddess of memory and mother to the Muses. A Titaness, she was thedaughter of Uranus and Gaia. She represents the enchantment and power of remembering.

The Olympian goddess Hecate was the daughter of Perses and Asteria, and the granddaughter of Phoebe. She was the underworld goddess represented in her three-fold nature as the goddess of the crossroads and the guardian of transitions.

In Olympian mythology Cassandra was connected to the Trojan dynasty as the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, twin sister to Helenus and sister to seventeen other siblings including Paris and Hector. She had oracular ability. Cassandra knows the feminine mysteries of divination in a modern world that devalues the sacred tradition.

The Olympian goddess Medea was the Princess of Colchis, granddaughter of Helios and niece of Circe. Medea is the great sorceress of the Greek myths and was knowledgeable in herbs, healing and the art of metamorphosis.

Ceres - The Earth Mother

'I died to mineral and plant became

Died from the plant and took a sentient frame

Died from the beast and donned a human dress

When by my dying did I ere grow less?'

Rumi

Ceres is the Roman agricultural goddess whose gift of grain, 'cereal', was distributed to mankind as thanksgiving for the release of her beloved daughter from the underworld and also as an eternal symbol of the continuity of life. Ceres is the goddess of agriculture who instinctually knows the cycle of loss, death and rebirth through her attachment to her beloved daughter.

The Roman goddess was modelled on her Greek counterpart Demeter whose central myth focused on the loss of her daughter, Persephone. It was this myth, which inspired the greatest initiation rites in the ancient world - the Eleusinian Mysteries. These mysteries re-enacted the terrifying journey of Persephone into the underworld and through these rituals both male and female participants faced their terror of death and became thankful for the gift of life.

Ceres, corn goddess, patron of farm life and vegetation is both an agricultural and underworld deity. She is an earth mother who presides over the cycle of fertility, birth, harvest, decay, death and rebirth. From the archaic period the goddess protected and insured the fertility and propagation of the crops and livestock. Her sanctuaries were placed near arable land, outside cities, where pilgrims would come to petition the goddess for a fertile crop and feast on the abundant gifts of food that the goddess provided.

Her myth was more ancient than her male contemporaries and reached back to the epoch when deities of the underworld (death) and the earth (life) were one. Ceres represents both loss and harvest and her classical story embraces each aspect in the myth of her daughter who becomes the Queen of the Underworld.

The myth of Ceres/Demeter and her daughter is a heartbreaking narrative of closeness, separation, grief and reunion, the motivation behind the establishment of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The brutal breaking of their attachment is the impetus that allows each woman to develop independently of one another into sovereignty over their own sphere. Since antiquity this poignant portrait of the mother-daughter bond has probably been the most cherished of all the Greek myths. The classical myth is also remarkable as it places the feminine characters at the heart of the narrative with the male gods on the periphery honouring a sacred and profound feminine story. Ceres myth was first told in a hymn to the great goddess Demeter.

Kore, the innocent maiden Persephone, was playing in a meadow gathering flowers when the earth rumbled beneath her and broke open. Suddenly from the chasm in the earth a chariot drawn by four black horses appeared. In the chariot was Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, who seized her. As she struggled to break free the chariot carrying them disappeared into the black hole. Demeter wandered aimlessly in search of her daughter. No mortal or god could help her with information about her daughter's disappearance. Finally after nine days she met Hecate, the goddess of the crossroads. Hecate heard Persephone screams, the only clue to the abduction.

Demeter raged and withdrew the gift of fertility from the earth causing a great famine. She also withdrew herself from the company of the gods and in disguise wandered amongst mortals unnoticed. Grief-stricken, depleted and withered, Demeter wandered to Eleusis where she met the daughters of the local king who pitied her and brought her home. Their mother gave Demeter the task of caring for her infant son. Demeter nursed him on ambrosia and nectar and every night she would baptise the infant in fire in order to render him immortal and safeguard him from the fate of the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. However one evening the Queen interrupted Demeter in the middle of her ritual and screamed in fear for the boy's safety. At that moment the cycle of mourning was broken. Demeter cast off her old age, changing her size and appearance to reveal herself as the great goddess and commanded the king to build her a great temple and introduce her worship to the people of Eleusis.

However Demeter was still furious at the abduction of her daughter and withheld the new crop's seed so the earth continued to be barren. Zeus intervened and demanded Demeter return to Olympus and fulfils her duties. Demeter refused. Finally Zeus in his anguish agreed to release Persephone from the underworld so the crops would grow again. Persephone was eager to be reunited with her mother. But before she left the underworld Hades gave her a pomegranate seed to ingest. Innocently Persephone took the seed and swallowed it now binding her eternally to this place. Having eaten in the underworld meant Persephone now belonged here.

Demeter and Persephone's reunion was ecstatic and both rejoiced at the sight of one another even though they knew they would not be together as in the past. As the nourishing caring mother Ceres indicates the necessity to nurture a creative project even if that means letting it go. By letting go of an attachment a phase of the cycle ends and prepares us for a new beginning.

Astrologically Ceres represents the feminine wisdom that acknowledges loss. Loss is intricately woven into the tapestry of life; attachment, separation and loss are part of life's greatest mystery. Feminine wisdom knows that grief is only one phase of the great wheel, and mourning allows the process to be complete so that we may let go and life may be renewed.

Ceres is in the 9th House

You have a deep connection with the world as a whole. As such you are likely to be passionate about travel, study and philosophy. However, you are not interested in high-minded ideals. Rather you seek an earthiness. These areas of your life provide real sustenance. As such you are likely to study subjects that are both practical and global such as international relations, environmental science, archaeology, geography, and world poverty. You are likely to want to travel to foreign lands preferring to visit people and natural environments rather than the big cities. Trekking in the Himalayas or visiting a Buddhist community in Bhutan is likely to hold more appeal than staying in a luxury hotel in the middle of Hong Kong. You may also have a strong need to visit and help the world's poor. Your interest in philosophy feeds your soul. Discussions of religion or international politics can really feed your passionate beliefs. Music and other artistic forms from different parts of the world may soothe you in stressful times.

You may also form close bonds with people from different backgrounds, perhaps those who live in foreign lands. You may meet and marry someone from a different cultural background or form strong business connections overseas. On the other hand you may become involved in publishing your own or other people's works. If this is the case then you need to make sure that you give creative publishing works, and those involved, plenty of freedom of expression. If you become too attached to any creative project then you are in danger of becoming excessively scheming. You could become your own worse enemy. On the other hand if you can give yourself and everyone involved the freedom to play his or her part then your publishing is likely to be successful.

Your challenge is to nurture your own need for knowledge and the dissemination of that knowledge while respecting other people's beliefs and intellectual property. The more that you are able to let go of your grand schemes the more that you are able to attract erudite associates and stimulating creative projects.

Ceres is in Virgo

You feel most comfortable when you are being useful. This can be when you are putting things in order in your own household or when you are helping someone else with practical matters. You are a whiz at household chores because you enjoy the comfort that comes from cleanliness and order. You also sincerely delight in helping others achieve a sense of order in their lives. Nevertheless you need to be wary of being too bossy or critical. Mostly your help is very welcome, but sometimes others can feel that you are taking over. Therefore you need to make sure that being honest with yourself. Who needs to create order from mess? Perhaps your friends prefer their chaos? Or perhaps you need to ask your friends to help you with practical matters in times of need? It is possible that your gifts would be better channelled into your professional rather than personal life. For instance you may enjoy working as a personal secretary, accountant, events organiser, librarian or office manager.

Gardening or farming may also be a great solace to you in times of stress. You have a fine understanding of the cycles of nature and therefore get much pleasure from digging, weeding, pruning, planting and other gardening chores. You may also enjoy caring for domestic animals particularly those that can contribute animal products.

This placement of the goddess Ceres is likely to reflect a fairly reserved relationship with your mother. You know that she cares for you, but you sometimes wish that she could be a little more affectionate and a little less practical. On the positive side you have inherited your mother's wisdom, her love of the natural world and her ability to nurture through practical means. Your relationship with your children, on the other hand, may be one in which you attempt to compensate for your own sense of loss. You are a dedicated parent.

Pallas Athena - The Wisdom Of The Warrior

'I celebrate the powers of Pallas Athena, the protectress of the city:

Dread, as Ares, She busies herself with the works of war,

With the sack of cities, with the battle-cry and with the combats.

It is She also who saves the fighters that go to war and come back alive.

Hail, Goddess, give us good fortune and happiness Pallas.'

Homeric Hymn 11

The architectural masterpiece, the Parthenon, was dedicated to the goddess whom the classical Athenians cherished. Pallas Athena was their advocate for law and order, the teacher of household arts like spinning, weaving, and cooking, as well as their protector and defender.

As their goddess of war she helped the Greeks defeat Troy, the Athenians repel the Persians; as their goddess of useful and decorative arts she inspired them to build exceptional monuments and temples. The goddess of merciful justice transformed the law courts and at the dawn of the fifth century she inspired the democratic shift in Athenian politics. Athena was the revered goddess of the Athenians who celebrated her birthday each year with a great festival and procession through the Agora up to the Acropolis.

As a multi-tasked goddess many images are associated with Pallas Athena but it is the owl that reminds us of her wisdom. Her intelligence is 'bright-eyed' and sharp, focused on the immediate, located in the present, aligned with the head and not the instinct. Pallas Athena embodies the rational and encourages left-brain thinking. Her wisdom controls the instincts, learning to direct them into heroic pursuits to eradicate what is dark and primitive. She is civilising and organising, bringing culture and cultivation to mankind. Justice and law are part of her new order replacing retaliation and revenge.

Strategic, reflective and controlled her craft and skill is mirrored in the multiplicity of devices she offered man, the fertility of her ideas and the usefulness of her inventions and techniques. As Pronoai she is 'before knowing' embracing forethought and strategic thinking. As a warrior queen she was born from the forehead of her father Zeus, fully armoured and mature, suggesting that the wisdom of goddess had been reborn into a new order. As father's special daughter Pallas Athena mirrored the rational intelligence and counsel of Zeus. Metis, the mother of Athena, was an ancient goddess of wisdom known as Wise Counsel or Cunning Intelligence. She knew the feminine mysteries, the intelligence articulated by the heart and the inner world of instinct and intuition. From her Pallas Athena inherited another kind of wisdom: the wisdom of intuitive knowing often experienced in the belly as a 'gut instinct'. It is a knowing that may speak through symptoms or disease, through creativity or craft, or radiate through stillness and tranquility or even erupt in anger or hostility. It is a wisdom born out of an intimate connection between mind and matter, a fluid way of being the ancient Greeks knew as Sophia.

Athena is a proud daughter born from a power struggle between her powerfully dominant father and her intuitively wise mother. Consciously Athena only knows her father's way and the new order. Born of man, like Eve, this myth is often cited when tracing the emergence of 'father-right' from the long held tradition of 'mother-right'. The daughter is now aligned with the sky father who colludes in rejecting the earth mother. The tables have turned in the familial pattern and now it is father and daughter colluding against mother, no longer mother conspiring with her youngest son against the father. When Athena emerges she reflects the need for logic and rationality rather than feeling and instinct. Her path follows the reason of the head, aligned with her father, not the impulse of the heart, the vulnerable feminine side that she has not been nurtured by.

Like Eve, Athena's feminine legacy is not so easily erased. Both their myths contain the image of the snake, a sacred symbol of their legacy of feminine wisdom, healing and regeneration. By the classical period Athena's wisdom became subjugated to Zeus. Shaped by the masculine wisdom becomes linear, logical and rational. Metis is no longer acknowledged as her other parent. The internal wisdom of cycles, intuitive knowing and the complexity of intrapsychic understanding becomes concealed under Athena's armour.

Athena is also associated with the arts of healing, health and regeneration. As Athena Nike she was the goddess of Victory, first victorious in war and later a victor on the sports field. Athena signalled victory and as a patron of heroes she was also known as the goddess of the near, as she was always close to the hero and a staunch supporter of the heroic. As the goddess of war and defender of her father's realm Athena became aligned with the hero as his guide and protector. In mythic portrayals of the hero, Athena stands behind or beside him as his staunch ally against the monstrous and dark forces. When Pallas Athena appears prominently in a birth chart she encourages us to be heroic and battle the regressive forces of our instinctual nature. It is necessary to reflect on the situation and not react emotionally, detaching enough to formulate a decisive plan of action.

In astrology Pallas Athena represents the reflection and meditation that develops out of the turmoil of chaos and uncertainty, helping us to become more strategic and deliberate in our actions. Metis is the valued intelligence that guides our instincts and plans strategically and arises into consciousness at exactly the right moment. Pallas Athena discerns and through reflecting on emotionally entangled situations allows consciousness to develop.

Pallas is in the 8th House

You are skilled at managing other people's resources - their finances, property investments and their personal matters. You are insightful, perceiving the best methods for other people to move forward in their lives. You are a born manager, able to listen, learn and make decisions. For this reason you could enjoy accounting, stock market investment, property management, publishing and sales. These skills also mean that you are skilled at running a business enterprise, either your own or someone else's. You can manage all facets of a business as well as foretell business trends and advise on methods of implementing change. You might be surprised by how quickly you achieve promotion within some enterprises. You have a strong set of business ethics to which you adhere and expect others to respect your rights. If anyone should fail to respect your code of ethics then you are likely to become warrior like in seeking justice. While you have excellent management skills you also have high expectations. Can others always meet these expectations? You need to ensure that you choose your battles wisely. You find it difficult to let go and trust a natural course of justice. Your battle skills are considerable. You are able to rally resources and allies and beat the opposition, however; you need to make sure that you are acting with integrity. Are you really seeking justice or are you being self-righteous? Are you seeing things from all perspectives? Have people simply become numbers? The answers to these questions will help you choose your battles wisely. Make sure that you are protecting your own rights, or other people's rights, not seeking revenge. The goddess Pallas always preferred mediation rather than confrontation. Conversely if you have walked away from a battle do not have any regrets. Justice does not need to be personally sought in order to apply. Integrity is more important; otherwise you may win the battle but lose the war. In other words a court of law may find in your favour but you then have to deal with the consequences.

Your insights are valuable in business, but you are also wise in understanding human nature. Your friends, colleagues and loved ones may rely on your advice in deeply personal matters. For this reason you may enjoy counselling, social work, psychiatry or psychology as a profession. You may also be a gifted teacher, able to help others learn valuable lessons about life, not just one particular subject. On the other hand you may simply delight in learning about metaphysical matters for your own personal edification. Books about the meaning of life and death may fascinate you, as do other people's psychic experiences. The goddess Pallas discerns and through reflecting on emotionally entangled situations allows consciousness to develop. This is one of your greatest gifts, the ability to shed light on entangled situations and help others rise above them.

Pallas is in Leo

You are a strategist, a charming one at that! You believe that charm is likely to win you friends and influence people and you are probably correct. On the whole you genuinely enjoy the company of your friends, family and colleagues. You have many creative talents and enjoy sharing your gifts with others. You have a good sense of fun. You like to spread joy and goodwill wherever you go, and appreciate others joining in on your escapades. Your effervescent personality is a delight. However, as editor and reviewer Cyril Connolly wrote, 'all charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.' Are you truly being yourself, or are you like an actor on a stage? Do you know when to show your true colours? Perhaps you rely too heavily on the expectations and opinions of other people rather than on your own sense of self worth. This is likely to be your challenge. You need to learn to appreciate your own gifts, to feel genuine joy over the achievements of other people but to pursue your own fulfilment. You are a born creative leader. In other words you have the ability to bring out the best in other people, to motivate them to use their gifts and to follow their dreams. Your positive outlet is an inspiration. Your talents may be linked to the entertainment or hospitality industry, the arts, fashion or decorative arts. You may also enjoy teaching young children, helping them reach their full potential. Beauty may be important to you. Again you need to make sure that you place the same emphasis on inner beauty as you do on the artifice of beauty products and appearance. When your true inner joy shines forth then you are a force to be reckoned with!

Juno - Socialising The Soul

'And wheresoever we went, like Juno's swans,

Still we went coupled and inseparable.'

As You Like It, Shakespeare

Juno Regina shares the honour of the highest deity in the Roman pantheon as queen next to her husband-brother Jupiter, king of the gods. Each woman had their own guardian spirit named Juno, who guided their transitions into the stages of motherhood and marriage. As a light bringer she was also invoked for protection during childbirth. As the goddess of marriage her Roman name Juno was the derivative of June, the season of the bride. Women celebrated her annually in the festival of Matronalia. By the Roman period Juno had become emblematic of the woman as wife and citizen presiding over social customs and duties. In earlier Greek myths Juno was a powerful goddess in her own right known as Hera, the adored feminine deity of many powerful city-states.

The derivation of Hera's name may be related to Hora or season, as she is custodian of the seasons of a woman's life. On the Olympian pantheon she was the goddess of marriage and embodied social ritual and custom. At her cult in Argos young girls ran races to prepare for their marriage and the rituals of womanhood. In the Greek myths Hera was a wife and unlike her husband Hera does not have affairs. However in Greek myth Hera also seeks revenge upon her husbands' liaisons with others. By the classical period the tales of Zeus and Hera rival contemporary soap operas where the cycle of betrayal, outrage and revenge is the central plot. Hera consistently plots revenge against Zeus' lovers and children from these affairs. However there was an earlier time when the Olympian couple was not always locked in power struggles or scheming and bullying each other. This was when they first fell in love in the palace of their aunt and uncle where they were being hidden, protected by their mother Rhea from the familial wars that were raging with their father. Here in the great palace beneath the sea, they consummated their relationship, a relationship that was to remain secret for nearly 300 years. Underpinning the later myths are fragments, which reveal Hera was an ancient goddess before she became aligned with her brother in a sacred marriage.

Epithets of Hera such as 'cow-eyed' refer to her earlier association with the earth and agriculture, while her epithet 'of the white arms' may link her to an association with the Moon. She is often depicted in three phases as the maiden, the fulfilled and the solitary, a trinity of aspects represented by Hebe, Hera and Hecate. Hebe was the daughter of Hera and the cupbearer to the Gods who became married to Heracles after his apotheosis to Olympus. In this aspect Hera is the maiden, the youth and the aspect of the feminine that retains her virginity, even in relationship. The central phase was motherhood, wifehood and a woman of power. Local folklore suggested she bathed in the streams of Argos where she was able to regain her virginity lost in the marriage with Zeus. Hecate was associated with the final phase embracing Hera's aloneness and need for solace. At times Hera would leave Zeus to go off on her own to pursue her needs for privacy, renewal and worship.

Hera was indigenous to Greece long before Zeus was triumphant. The cult of Hera may have been so powerful that unlike the other goddesses Zeus was unable to be dominant, settling instead for an equal relationship. Her cult on Samos and in Argos are linked to the prehistorical period. On Samos one of the first mammoth stone temples of the archaic period was built in honour of Hera. Similarly her temple at Olympus predates the magnificent one built for Zeus. No doubt Hera is an older goddess like Demeter and Hestia, her sisters who were born to Cronus and Rhea before their brothers. However to incorporate Hera into the politics on Olympus she became the wife of Zeus and mother to his children.

Another mythic fragment, which suggests Hera is a powerful ancient goddess, is her link to Heracles. Even though their relationship is estranged Heracles is named for the great goddess. His name literally translates into the glory of Hera. Hera whose name closely resembles hero is aligned with the greatest of all heroes, Heracles and plays a potent role in many heroic sagas. Their antagonistic relationship ironically spurred him on to become the greatest hero and ironically myth depicts Hera as his mother-in-law. No longer the object of her scorn Hera has challenged Heracles to become the hero. As mother-in-law she models a strong and uncompromising woman who demands the hero be the best man for her daughter.

Juno and Hera are the composite that portray the seasons of a woman's life as well as the evolution of woman's roles. The Juno in contemporary woman has new power and possibilities and the card is an invitation to challenge the constructs of the social roles that are inhibiting. As a partner and equal Juno is supportive, enterprising, challenging and confronting helping shape potentiality into reality.

In astrology Juno represents the status and achievement in the world that are intricately aligned with social customs and tradition. Equality in relationship is necessary at all stages of the life cycle to insure both inner and outer fulfilment. Juno's ancient legacy is equal relationship and through her archetypal experience you can become aligned with your heroic self.

Juno is in the 8th House

Marriage is a deeply personal and significant union in your eyes. You value love, commitment and the promise of marriage. You are unlikely to make a lasting commitment to a defacto relationship, preferring to exchange vows in an official ceremony. It doesn't matter to you whether or not this ceremony is performed in a traditional or unorthodox ceremony, but you do want the comfort of ritual and the making of vows. Once a vow is made then you are determined to keep it. You expect the same from your spouse. You enjoy the intensity of romance and passion at the start of your marriage, the exchange of vows and the initial passion and the excitement of setting up a home together. However, much to your own chagrin, you find that familiarity can indeed breed contempt. The daily grind of living together soon loses its shine. Your challenge is to keep the flames of romance burning, and to find meaning within daily acts of love and kindness. Otherwise you soon become bored, and if this is the case you are likely to create conflict simply for the effect of escaping boredom or look for trouble where it doesn't exist. You may start to doubt your partner's commitment, either because you realise that your behaviour is not conducive to loving relations or because you are suspicious of your spouse's behaviour. Possessiveness and jealousy, either your own or your spouse's, can cause further problems. The birth of a child in this scenario is unlikely to prove a salve to your problems. In fact it is more likely to cause further tribulations. Love, loss and betrayal can becomes themes in your marriage. Eventually you may drive your spouse away. Your love life can start to resemble the soap operas that you enjoy so much.

On a more positive note, you learn much about the seasons of life through your marriage. The act of commitment to another person reflects your honourable intention of remaining true to yourself and another person. There is great beauty in your promise. You can learn to accept your own, and your spouse's, failings. In doing so this strengthens your resolve to live your own life to the fullest extent. You also learn the true meaning of passion. As famous author Mark Twain once said, ' Of the delights of this world man cares most for sexual intercourse, yet he has left it out of his heaven.'

Eventually you can attract a partner who is supportive, enterprising, as well as challenging and confronting in positive ways.

Juno is in Virgo

You have a fairly accurate mental picture of the type of person who is worthy of your love, trust and fidelity. You require a partner who has integrity; someone who can communicate and is willing to work with you rather than against you to make sure that the relationship is an equal partnership. Equality does not necessarily mean sharing the same tasks, but rather working out what each person can contribute from their field of expertise. It is possible that you will attract a partner who has considerable practical skills; someone who cooks, cleans, fixes household appliances or is skilled in trades jobs. Even if you have extensive skills in these areas, you are keen to attract someone who can match these skills rather than an impractical, romantic or laid-back person. In other words the practical application of expertise of any kind is an attractive quality in a potential mate. You have a keen sense of self-awareness and also require your loved one to develop personal communication and relationship skills. You enjoy sharing daily rituals with your spouse and are willing to put in the extra effort required to be thoughtful and attentive. However, you are very keen to avoid being the only person working within or on your marriage. You have high standards when it comes to marriage and so you need to be wary of having unrealistic expectations of your spouse. You are a perfectionist and may be unduly critical of perceived failings in your partner. If you are not careful you are likely to alienate your loved one with your constant vigilance. You are likely to discover the hard way that no one person is perfect and that not everyone shares your need for constant self-improvement. If you can acquire a good dose of tolerance and compassion, then you are more likely to succeed in maintaining a long-term union based on mutual respect and love.

Vesta - The Inner Life

'Leave those vain moralists, my friend, and return to the depth of your soul:

that is where you will always rediscover the source of the sacred fire which so often inflamed us with love of the sublime virtues;

that is where you will see the eternal image of true beauty, the contemplation of which inspires us with a holy enthusiasm.'

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The cult of the Roman goddess Vesta was connected to the Greek Hestia. However the Roman archetype had considerably altered from her Hellenic counterpart. By the Roman period the sacrament of virginity was literalised, no longer conceptualised as a psychic state but now institutionalized as a spiritual way of being. Priestesses of Vesta, known as Vestal Virgins, served the goddess for a period of thirty years. While the position was privileged it also was one of great piety, devotion and responsibility. Vestal Virgins tended the sacred flame and guarded the Palladium, the secret objects brought from Troy to the preserve the memory of the ancient city and protect the new satellite city of Rome. However in ancient Greece Hestia was the embodiment of an internal and sacred space not a religious institution. Vesta's heritage reaches back to the traditions of honouring the authenticity of the inner life as symbolised by the spirit of the sacred flame, not a system of regulations.

In ancient Greece the goddess received the highest respect. Acknowledged as the deity mankind must first honour when feasting and drinking the goddess embodied grace and virtue. Veiled and virginal her sanctuaries were places of refuge, asylum and political peace. Constant, focused and disliking change Vesta is the hearth, a symbol for both the centre and the focus of the home as well as the metaphor for family life and the family circle. As custodian of the hearth she is central to psychic life representing the sacral centre, the goddess who honours sacred space and protects holy images. She embodies spatiality, conferring safe places to congregate, mediating soul by giving it a hallowed place to be acknowledged. As a virgin (unto herself) goddess Vesta is the custodian of soulful space personifying the stillness at the centre of our busy everyday lives. As goddess of hospitality she also welcomes travellers across the threshold offering sanctuary and hospice. Vesta is the continuity of family life and the coherence it brings to our everyday experiences. Vesta was the first-born child, the first devoured by Saturn and the last one to be disgorged from his belly. Therefore she represents the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the eternal cycle. Vesta is not a part of the outer rim of the cycle but situated at its centre, personifying stillness, discretion, centering and immobility, aspects of her Greek counterpart, Hestia.

Few Greek myths remain of Hestia; she is rarely personified, no statues or temples remain, yet at times in the archaic period she was the most honoured goddess, worshipped at the centre of the city and the centre of the Greek household. By the classical period Hestia was not included as one of the twelve Olympians having been replaced by Dionysus. Hestia and her brother Hades are the only two siblings who remain detached from the Olympian family dramas and feuds. Unlike their brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, or their sisters, Hera and Demeter, they are not identified with their family of origin or their siblings. Their places are internal, interior and introverted. Few images or alters survive as reminders of their worship or importance in cult. There were virtually no temples erected to them and they were seldom represented in art, sculpture or vase painting. Neither were they parents to heroes like their siblings. As gods of place both Hestia and Hades have been re-placed and dis-placed which are potent clues as to what we culturally and psychologically have done with these archetypal energies. In a modern context this place of Hestia, as a metaphor for the hearth of inner life, has become dis-placed, re-placed by the rush and busyness of the outer world. When the inner life is sidelined and banished to the fringes of society, anxiety, terror and panic can no longer be constrained in the community. Hestia reflects the need for solace, quiet and retreat into the inner sanctuary of the Self.

As an image of centre, Hestia is not personified or remembered by statues or temples but manifests through the sense of centring. She is the central point; the meeting place the fires of the home, the hearth, the Omphalos as the symbol for the centre of the Earth. In antiquity her sanctuaries were non-warring zones, places of political peace. Plato remarked, 'when the Gods warred, only Hestia did not take part' which characterised the goddess' propensity to non-involvement. In the earlier myths of Hestia she resisted the advances of both her brother Poseidon and her nephew Apollo and was honoured with remaining eternally virginal, symbolic of her attachment to the inner life. She is the aspect of self, which can never be violated or abused and always able to access the soul. Hestia is central to psychic life and expressions like 'can't settle down', 'off centre', being off base' remind us of being out of touch with Hestia. As the hearth she is a guide to the inner life and the central image around which soulful images can constellate. She represents sacred space, the meditative moment the soul of place and the feeling of home.

In astrology Vesta is the inner instinct that honours soul by giving it a sacred place, an altar, a quiet moment. She represents hospice and offers hospitality to the aspects of self that feel displaced and dislocated. As the hearth light she offers stillness, quietude, meditation and solitude in the midst of the everyday. The inner life is the container for anxiety and despair as well as a refuge from the pollution of daily life.

Vesta is in the 7th House

All of the stories and poems that are written about divine love fire your imagination because you are seeking your own sacred fire through love with another person. If you are really fortunate then you find this love, forming a lasting bond with a loving and supportive spouse, someone who helps you discover and express your own unique gifts. In other words you have the ability to experience the love that others dream about. As author Amy Bloom said: 'Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.'

However, you may make mistakes if you choose the wrong spouse or marry for the wrong reasons. In your efforts to find the perfect love you may lose sight of your own gifts, sacrificing too many of your own interests in an effort to maintain your marriage. Circumstances may force you to rely on your own resources, although this may not be a comfortable situation. In some cases this placement of the goddess Vesta can indicate that you are not willing to sacrifice your own independence for marriage because you are concerned that too many of you own individual gifts could be lost in partnership. You fear that you will lose more than you will gain.

Forming a deep and meaningful marriage may be your focus in life, but you also need to focus on partnerships in general. Your collaborative work with others can bring many rewards. Counselling, teaching or working in diplomatic circles may bring good fortune for you and those who work with you.

Vesta is in Cancer

You are well aware of the role that families play in society, both the positive and negative effects that families can have on individual members. This is also true for society as a whole. You are able to unconditionally accept family members, foibles and all. However, this is not always true for other people. You may or may not have suffered at the hands of your own family, but you are aware that love not judgment is vital for the growth of human beings. Families are the building blocks of society in your opinion. Therefore it is essential that people have a firm foundation on which to build their lives. Acceptance of other people's values and family systems is also vital. These are the matters that motivate you to right the wrongs in some area of society. You are committed to supporting your own family members, even at great personal cost to your own desires. Education for future generations is one of your catchcries, however, you also need to nurture yourself. You are also committed to helping the less privileged members of society, especially disadvantaged children or animals. You may move away from home to achieve your goals, to a different neighbourhood or even another country. You need to be wary of becoming disillusioned. Your own high ideals may not be attainable. If you work with disadvantaged animals, children or families then you may find that your enthusiasm may be dampened unless you withdraw occasionally to stoke your own fires.

You have a kind heart and true purpose to show and teach compassion. You are a real treasure for your loved ones.

Hygieia - The Soul Of Health

'Health, greatest of all the blessed gods, may I live with you for the rest of my life'

Hymn to Hygieia, Ariphron

In the ancient Greek sanctuaries of healing statues of Hygieia, the goddess of health, reminded the pilgrim of the archetypal quest for wholeness and well being. Adorned with a simple garment Hygieia was often represented as youthful, radiant and smiling, attributes that are companions of health. Either she is holding or feeding a snake. Carrying a bowl of food or water Hygieia is generally represented tending the sacred snakes that were housed in the temples on the sanctuaries of healing. Sometimes she is presented holding a wreath of laurel, combing victory with health, or other plants known for their medicinal properties, a motif that links her to an ancient tradition of woman healers, herbalists and midwives.

Hygieia's intimate relationship with the serpent recalls her link to the ancient goddesses of healing and nature. Earth and Mother goddesses were accompanied by serpents and the ancient belief was that they transmitted the power of healing and prophecy. As a symbol of both regeneration and divination serpents were sacred to the goddess who gave them sanctuary in the bosom of the earth. Later the cult of sacred snake was adapted and serpents were included in the rituals at the sanctuaries that offered healing and spiritual guidance. The ancients also saw the sacred serpent dwelling in the body and when awakened it could offer illumination, vitality and the radiance of well being. As nature became less mysterious snakes became demonised, no longer transmitting the ancient wisdom of healing but transporting demonic and darker forces.

Hygieia nurtures and tends the snake revering its sacred power to rejuvenate and shed its old ways. She celebrates its dark chthonic force and recognises the divine mystery of illness and health. Like her ancient ancestors, Hygieia honoured the union between the natural and supernatural worlds knowing that health and well being depended on bringing them both into a cohesive whole. Goddess wisdom also knew that all of nature was animated by spirits which could be petitioned through magical and religious ritual in an attempt to restore equilibrium and well being. Hygieia is the modern surrogate of the ancient goddesses who honour the great mystery of healing.

To the Greeks Hygieia personified health, that mysterious amalgam of well being, wholeness and happiness. She emerged in the classical period when the cult of Asclepius became widespread and flourished throughout the Graeco-Roman world. Hygieia was mainly represented as the daughter of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, although sometimes known as his wife. Her numerous statues equal those of Asclepius and in the cult of healing she was revered and equal to the god himself. Interestingly the popularity of temple medicine practiced at the sanctuaries of Asclepius paralleled the growth of rational medicine that had emerged through the teachings of Hippocrates. Hygieia stands at the crossroads of magico-religious healing rituals and contemporary medical practice, holding the tension between the two but allowing each to co-exist. She embraces wholistic healing in every manifestation as she is dedicated to the pursuit of health.

In the ancient community disease was portrayed as a possession by a demon, the intrusion of a spirit or the curse of a god. In the cult of Asclepius illness was seen to be more the call of the divine, the voice that echoed the split between body and spirit. It was the illness that called the pilgrim to the temple to restore equilibrium and well being. At the temple the patient would prepare for an encounter with the god often by fasting, bathing or meditating. Then the patient was escorted into the temple where they would lie down and fall into a deep sleep wherein the god would appear to them in a dream. Once contact with the god had been made through the inner process of the dream the patient would be restored to health. In the healing sanctuaries of Hygieia health was evoked through contact with the divine in the inner sanctuary of the soul. Yet synchronous with these practices were medical doctors who suggested that disease was a natural occurrence and not of the god's making. Hence Hygieia eventually became associated with mental health and well being as rational medical doctors gained a stronghold on the health of the physical body.

When Hygieia is strong in a birth chart we are reminded that health is the alignment of body and soul, heart and mind, outer success and inner peace. One at the expense of the other constellates dis-ease in the temperament that may manifest as a physical symptom, mental anguish or emotional pain. Hygieia is the personification of Health who calls us into the inner sanctuary of the soul to restore health and regain equilibrium. On a divinatory level Hygieia will be chosen when the healing of a situation is imperative. Rational healing is not the only answer. It must be accompanied by attending to the root cause, which ultimately is the illness in the soul. In a psychological sense Hygieia is soul of health, the urge to attend to psyche and its needs by nurturing our deeper urges and impulses. Feeding the snakes is a metaphor for nurturing the dark and mysterious aspects of the soul and attending to the unconscious.

In astrology Hygieia represents health that is forged through the alliance Of the natural with the supernatural, the right brain with the left, the inner world with the outer, the serpent with the soul. Hygieia reminds us that health is an archetypal image embedded in the psyche. When the soul is not nourished or attended it speaks through illness and disease.

Hygieia is in the 6th House

The 6th house, where your Hygieia is placed at birth, is the sphere of the chart that naturally focuses on the need to achieve balance in the chaos of an everyday life. Therefore the goddess of health in your horoscope reflects the necessity to attend more consciously to the everyday rituals of well being or else stress will develop. Stress levels are regulated through a health regimen that allows you to take the time to feel centred and focused. With Hygieia in the 6th house it is important to address the question 'what do I need to do on a regular basis to create a sense of well being?'

You may already have to focus on your diet or health due to an allergy, physical ailment or frailty either in your self or someone in your household. However it is this very sensitivity that has given you an appreciation of the need for a healthy lifestyle and the urge to feel centred. Ironically it may have been a disease that has called you to a healthy balance in your life. Whether this is the case or not Hygieia stresses the importance of healthcare in the schedule of everyday life.

While work and service are key motifs for this sphere, the work and service of the sixth house is directed to the maintenance of our well being, which is strengthened through the process of self-reflection. Therefore it is imperative to honour the daily need for contemplation, refection and stillness and incorporate this into the rituals of your everyday life. It is imperative to find the time and space to settle and be quiet or else health becomes the focus. You have an instinct for what is necessary to be well. Inherently you know what foods are best, what vitamins and supplements may be necessary; diet, hygiene, holistic healing modalities are all familiar to you at a deep level. Therefore it is important to honour this innate knowledge and provide an access to it in your everyday life. The goddess invites you to be more conscious of the daily rituals of your life that provide you with a greater sense of wholeness.

Hygieia is in Gemini

Your well being is intimately connected with your ability to be mobile and adaptable and in having enough avenues of expression to appease your curious mind and adventuresome spirit. As your patroness of health, the goddess Hygieia finds her conscious expression through the qualities of Gemini. This suggests that to feel whole you need to scratch your restless itch by being multi-tasked in responding and communicating with those in your environment. Well being is forged through communicating, listening and interrelating to others, sharing ideas and long walks together. It is important you find the space in your life to feel liberated enough to try different things. However, with your fondness for stimulation and new circumstances you may be prone to being indiscriminate and scattered, fraying your nerves and becoming anxious. Hypertension and the inability to relax or concentrate may be how the goddess lets you know you need balance in your life. As the need for activity and stimulation is high, a healing crisis impeding access to your abundant energy may trigger the need to change your habits. As the goddess of health channels healing through the element of air it is important to monitor your breathing. You may be accustomed to being on the go, which increases anxiety and stress. Shallow breathing may result and therefore it is important to correct this using some yoga or fitness techniques. Although you may not be aware you are sensitive to smoke and other pollutants in your environment. Your lungs will let you know; not only do they feel agitated with environmental pollutants but they strain with the weight of unexpressed feelings. Without adequate oxygenation you will feel tired and mentally fatigued. Similarly without communication and the stimulation of companionship you feel exhausted. To boost your vitality get out the bike and cycle around the neighbourhood, take your kid brother to the park, phone a friend or accompany your workmate to their next yoga class or fun run.

In the body Gemini rules the shoulders and their bones, the arms, hands, fingers and lungs. Your upper torso needs to be stretched, a metaphor for your need to exercise the mind. While it is important that you are aware of exercising the body, your mind needs activity as well. You enjoy learning, gathering ideas and information, mapping and labelling things as exerting the mind is an essential key to feeling happy. A myriad of interesting things to study waits to claim your interest and help restore a sense of well being. Through this journey you discover the healing power of thought and affirmation.

Ariadne - The Labyrinth Of The Soul

'To be always fortunate, and to pass through life with a soul that has never known sorrow, is to be ignorant of one half of nature.'

Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

Daughter of the great dynasty of Knossos, Ariadne's fate was overshadowed by the curse that plagued her family. In the guise of a great white bull, Zeus had abducted her grandmother Europa from Phoenicia and brought her to Crete. Her mother Pasiphaë had also became enamoured by a great bull. Ariadne participated in the family fate: as Pasiphaë's daughter her lifeblood was impassioned and as Europa's granddaughter her destiny was to abandon her ancestral home.

Poseidon cursed Ariadne's family when her father Minos refused to sacrifice his most magnificent bull to the god. Spurned, the god aroused Pasiphaë's shameful lust for the impressive bull that became embodied in her bull-son, the Minotaur, human from the shoulders down. Banished into the labyrinthine blackness below the palace Ariadne's half-brother, the Minotaur, fed on sacrificial children sent from Athens every nine years. Heroic Theseus was one of fourteen youths sent to Crete to face death at the hands of the Minotaur.

When Theseus arrived to participate in the bull games Ariadne's passions were ignited when she saw him for the first time. Beguiled by the handsome hero, Ariadne devised a plan for Theseus to slay the Minotaur and return safely through the dark tunnels of the labyrinth. For her complicity Theseus promised he would marry her and take her away to Athens. Unconscious that her fate was enmeshed with the god Dionysus and not Theseus Ariadne set upon her course to help her lover and in turn betray her family.

Through the dark labyrinthine tunnels Theseus crawled, quietly, mindful not to make sounds that would waken the sleeping Minotaur. Wrapped around his wrist was a ball of yarn, tied to the pillar at the entrance of the maze, which unravelled as he made his way through the dangerous tunnels. Ariadne's thread was the umbilical cord that connected him to the outer world and guaranteed his return after he killed the Minotaur. That evening Ariadne escaped with Theseus. In the dark Mediterranean night they set sail for a victorious return to Athens. Leaving behind her father and sacrificing her brother she surrendered to the passion that burned inside, the rapture only Aphrodite could inspire, a similar fervour that had inflamed her mother and grandmother. The next night Ariadne and her lover reached the island Naxos. Exhausted by travelling and fatigued from the emotional turmoil that had preceded their escape they collapsed into a deep sleep. But as the rays of the morning sun lit her face Ariadne awoke to discover her lover had vanished. At the edge of the shore she saw the sails of his ship in the distance. Athena had carefully woken Theseus before dawn, setting him on his course home without Ariadne. Abandoned, betrayed and used, Ariadne descended into her own labyrinthine world on the shores of Naxos.

Blinded by her passions Ariadne had been complicit in her abandonment. In betraying her family to follow her hero she had set the cycle of betrayal in motion. Projecting her heroic self onto Theseus had left her separated from her own centre. Alone Ariadne was forced to connect with her internal world. At this threshold Ariadne experienced an epiphany of Aphrodite the goddess who ignited the passionate fires that led to her suffering. Appearing to Ariadne the goddess revealed her true fate: she would wed her real soul mate, the divine Dionysus. Dionysus celebrated their sacred marriage by offering Ariadne the crown as the symbol of their intimacy and eternal union.

Ariadne's myth portrays the heart's painful journey when connection to the inner self is severed and sacrificed to the lover. Ariadne followed her lover's course rather than her own internal labyrinthine journey losing her genuine direction. Using the thread, the symbolic connection to her inner core, to serve the hero Ariadne lost contact with her own inner wisdom. Abandoned she was no longer able to define herself exclusively through a partner; therefore a more authentic sense of self could emerge. The painful process of confronting her naïve trust and blind faith in Theseus enabled her renewal and redemption. In psychological terms a more divine sense of union is possible when projections onto the other are consciously relinquished. Dionysus embodies a woman's masculine spirit enabling her to define herself in terms of her own needs and not through someone else.

When Ariadne is prominent in the birth chart she reveals the course of the heart encouraging the individual to acknowledge that the threads to their inner self are tenuous and must be honoured in relationship. Ariadne celebrates a more intimate connection with the heart, whether that is through a personal relationship, a new creative endeavour or a new course of life.

In astrology Ariadne represents abandonment as an archetypal process that strips away the mind's illusions in order to hear the calling of the true self. Confronted by the painful reality of being left the individual is forced to relinquish their hopes and fantasies in order to awaken to the authentic path of the heart. Ariadne embodies the soul in relationship that must first experience the painful course of the labyrinth before a divine connection can be realised.

Ariadne is in the 9th House

You journey far from the origins of your birth in pursuit of meaning in your life. This could mean that you travel to the shores of foreign lands, seeking cultural meaning or that you live your life based on a very different philosophy to that of your childhood family. Perhaps you go so far as to reject the religion of your upbringing. You may marry someone from a different culture, adopting his or her religious beliefs and losing your own cultural identity. Your pursuit of meaning is a valid one, however; you run the risk of losing all meaning if you reject your own creed. You need to listen to your heart in order to gather the grains of truth. Famous author D H Lawrence states, 'it is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing.'

Your challenge is to pursue your passion for meaning without losing your own identity. Travel, academic study and teaching, prayer, meditation, mythology and other uplifting pursuits are likely to help you stay connected to a sense of purpose, therefore bringing peace.

Ariadne is in Libra

You give so much of yourself to other people in so many ways. You are at the centre of social gatherings, organising or overseeing events and parties, helping to put others at ease. Your loved ones are aware of your need to please them and rely on you to keep the home fires burning. You create beauty and harmony, shining your light on all who come into contact with you. However, there is a negative side to this people-pleasing aspect of your personality. Where do you find time for yourself? You are so busy supporting your loved ones that you are in danger of losing sight of your own hopes, wishes and talents. This is particularly true when you fall in love. Romance is important but you have a tendency to go overboard, immersing yourself in your relationship. You may even give up your own interests and home and follow your loved one to distant shores. At some stage in your life's journey you are likely to be alone and this is a frightening thought. This could mean that your spouse abandons you, leaving you for another person. However, it is more likely that you reach a stage whereby you realise that you have lost yourself in a maze of social engagements and familial responsibilities. The goddess Ariadne's myth portrays the heart's painful journey when connection to the inner self is severed and sacrificed. Once you realise that you have disengaged your own connection then you start the slow process of linking to your own heart and mind. You are like a lotus ready to blossom, discovering the beauty of your own spirit. While the process maybe painful, the results are wondrous. You can celebrate a more intimate connection with the heart, whether that is through a personal relationship, a new creative endeavour or a new course of life.

Europa - The Soul Of The Earth

'On a beach in Sidon a bull was aping a lover's coo. It was Zeus.

He shuddered, the way he did when a gadfly got him.

But this time it was a sweet shuddering.

Eros was lifting a girl onto his back: Europa'

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Robert Calasso

Underneath the Cretan palace of Knossos hidden in a labyrinthine chamber lived a bull-man, the Minotaur, the shameful shadow of the Minoan clan. Two generations earlier the story began when Zeus shape-shifted into a beautiful white bull to seduce a young Phoenician princess named Europa. Like the gods of the old religion Zeus took the shape of a virile and magnificent bull to mesmerise the innocent girl who was unaware that her destiny would instigate the founding of two great dynasties as well as the eponymous continent named for the virgin Zeus had abducted.

Europa had been playing in a field gathering spring flowers to make garlands when she became enthralled by a large charismatic bull that meandered into the meadow. Possessed with desire to know the bull, she moved closer. Zeus, the bull-god, knelt before her gently beckoning Europa onto his back. She dared to climb upon him, and then slowly he took her step-by-step across the meadow towards the sea. With the power of a great god, the bull strode the waves across the sea to Crete. Europa clung tightly to the powerful bull, as she rode farther and farther away from her homeland. Zeus had made his conquest. He took Europa as his lover, fathering three children by her; one was Minos the founder of the Cretan dynasty.

Europa's father summoned his sons and instructed them to search for their sister and not to return home until the task had been accomplished. Cadmus set out on the quest, eventually journeying to Delphi to ask the oracle where he could find his sister. The oracle advised Cadmus to relinquish the quest for his sister, as his fate was to found the city of Thebes. In order to find the location he must follow a cow until it came to a place where it would lay down due to exhaustion. Europa had been abducted by a god disguised as a bull; her brother Cadmus is led by a cow to his destiny. Both siblings' destiny is to found a great dynasty guided by the commanding and enterprising bovine instinct. Like the zodiacal sign of Taurus the bull symbolises inherent resource and power and the ability to either cultivate land or build structures that create wealth.

Europa's son Minos claimed the throne of Crete with the blessing of the god Poseidon, his great grandfather who offered him a gift from the sea. A sacred white bull majestically arose out of the ocean and Minos promised to return it to the god in sacrifice. However the bull was so regal and powerful, Minos decided not to sacrifice the majestic bull but substitute it for a prized white bull from his own herd. Outraged at the deceit, the earth-shaker Poseidon cursed the Minoan dynasty provoking Pasiphaë, Minos' wife, to be sexually obsessed with the beautiful god-like bull. Her craving led to her becoming pregnant with her monstrous son, the Minotaur. Minos' greed and failure to respect the laws of the gods produced a monster that had to be buried beneath the surface of the family in the labyrinthine dungeons of the palace. Buried shame or repression lurking under the atmosphere of the family home eventually surfaces through the next generations. This became evident through the fate of Europa's granddaughters daughters Ariadne and Phaedra. The myth the Greeks retold was a variant of a much earlier motif when the bull was consort of the earth goddess. Europa is the ancient goddess whose earthy instinct is powerful and resourceful. Europa heralds contact with the ancient feminine instincts that generate the power to create abundance.

Throughout the myth of Europa the bull image reoccurs. It is a multi-dimensional symbol of earthy passions, desires, magnetism, wealth and potency whose shadow is greed and lust. The Great Bull of Heaven was an image of archaic power, fertility and enterprise. The appearance of the heavenly bull of Taurus heralded spring when the bountiful Earth became carpeted with wildflowers and the cycle of courtship began. The great bull is engaging and charismatic constellating the generative power of the feminine. Aphrodite who symbolises the beauty, sensuality and attractiveness of this archetype is the persuasive erotic power that draws Europa, Pasiphaë, Ariadne and Phaedra into her domain. Europa embodies the wealth and majesty of the bull, its earthy passions and its worldly triumphs.

Europa, as the bull-goddess, reclaims the power to construct and direct the course of her own life. When she is prominent in a birth chart it suggests the individual's present course is to construct a solid foundation that will secure the rapid growth of resources.

In astrology Europa embodies the ability to ride the bull, harness its power and give birth to its resourceful creativity. Innately she is the image of feminine power, guidance and direction. Embodying earthy instincts she knows how to cultivate the earth and create abundance through her passionate, attractive and commanding nature.

Europa is in the 1st House

Author Susan Sontag says, 'What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.' Both men and woman with the goddess Europa in this position are the embodiment of this quote.

In a woman's chart the goddess Europa represents your ability to embrace feminine qualities. You are able to carve your own path through the world, a gentle and wise warrior. You may attract a powerful man to help you fulfil your desires, or you may act independently. You are apt to support feminist beliefs. You are secure in the knowledge of your own autonomy but you embrace the feminist movement as a means to empowering other women.

In a man's chart this position of the goddess Europa indicates that you are very comfortable in the company of women. You enjoy the feminine arts, appreciate womanly traits and perhaps embrace feminism. You are likely to be attractive to women whether or not you are interested. Sensual pleasures aside, you are well pleased with your friendships with women and their willingness to help you achieve recognition.

This is a prominent placement for this goddess indicating that you want to direct the course of your own life. You are daring, fully able to use your own resources to achieve your desires. You are also able to enlist the resources of other people, if you so choose. You are passionate, attractive with a love of beauty and nature. Inspiration can come via sojourns into the natural world. You may enjoy gardening at home, or becoming involved in horticulture, agriculture, viticulture or some other earthy profession. You are also likely to feel an affinity with classical or indigenous cultures. In particular ancient cultural methods of using herbs, plants and other matter from the earth is likely to inspire your curiosity.

Europa is in Capricorn

You are aware of the importance of providing a basic foundation for yourself and your loved ones. Bricks and mortar and money in the bank mean a lot to you. You are able to work towards a goal with a determination to complete a task once you have made a commitment. Some may call you an 'Empire Builder' because of your commitment to accumulating material wealth. You need to make sure that you also take time to relax and enjoy your family, friends, marriage partner, children and the natural beauty of this world.

If you marry when you are young then you are likely to follow your spouse's lead, particularly if he or she wants to move to a different neighbourhood. This is not to say that you blindly follow, but rather that you enjoy a partner who can initiate action that benefits you and your marriage. If you have children then you work hard to ensure that they have the best possible start in life. You are supportive, loyal and trusting. You work hard to develop your own sense of self-respect and expect others to do the same. Here's where you can run into difficulties. Your expectations of others can be too high. Not everyone has your ability to adhere to a plan when the going gets tough. Neither do your colleagues and loved ones necessarily have the ability to see the long-term gains from short-term discomfort. It may repeatedly come as a surprise to you to see how others give up just before the tide is about to turn. You may also be surprised by other people's lack of independence. You enjoy a certain amount of solitude and autonomy, but you need to respect other people's differences. Perhaps you do not realise it but you are a hard taskmaster. Periods of loneliness may result if you continue to drive other people away with unrealistic expectations. Your challenge is to learn to enjoy life. You may need to spend more leisure time with family and friends. Take some time off. Surprise a friend with a social engagement. Have a holiday for the pure pleasure of living moment by moment. Throw the schedules out for a short time. How can your loved ones appreciate your loyal and loving nature if you are always working? If you are married, are you secretly avoiding intimacy through fear of not living up to your loved ones' expectations? If you are single, are you using your work as an excuse not to make a commitment to someone special? Only you can answer these questions.

Pandora - A Gift Of Hope

'Hope sole remain'd within, nor took her flight,

Beneath the vessel's verge conceal'd from light'

Hesiod (ca. 700BC)

Pandora's story was written eight centuries before Christ in the epoch when gender roles were rigidly defined. Yet the mythic plot echoes timeless motifs, even ones used in contemporary science fiction. In Greek myth Pandora is the first woman, mother of all mortal women, created by the gods to assert their superiority over mankind. Cast as a femme fatale, a 'beautiful evil', she possesses a jar filled with toxins designed to pollute the race of mankind. Alluring, yet dangerous, Pandora represents a vestige of the ancient goddess culture threatening the emergent patriarch. Yet she also transports an indelible gift from the goddess embedded at the bottom of the urn.

Three centuries later her myth was carved on the marble base underpinning the spectacular cult statue of Athena. When designing the Parthenon and its decorations the Athenians chose the myth of Pandora to be the motif at Athena's feet. On the pedestal of the colossal statue suppliants to Athena were reminded of the creation of the first woman and the plagues she brought to bear on humanity, a striking contrast to Athena who brought victory and pride to the Greeks. Like Athena Pandora's birth was unusual. Fashioned out of the earth at the command of Zeus, Pandora was the instrument designed to punish mankind for the unsanctioned possession of fire stolen by Prometheus.

Zeus was furious when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, smuggling it in a fennel stalk and distributing it to mankind. With the theft the distance between man and god narrowed, as fire was the alchemical agent that would refine raw materials and promote the development of mankind. As the human race developed there would be less need for the gods. Zeus' revenge was to send a 'gift' to man that would counterbalance the profit mankind gained from using fire. To date men had lived without evil in a golden age, which now would come to an end through the guile of a beautiful woman.

Zeus instructed the smith-god Hephaestus to fashion a beautiful maiden resembling a goddess out of clay and water. Athena was to teach the phantom how to weave a web, Aphrodite was instructed to make her seductive and Hermes, the trickster-god, was to teach her how to be deceitful. Adorned with beautiful garments from the Charities Zeus breathed life into Pandora, who was given as a gift to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. In her hands she carried an intricately designed urn, the dowry Zeus had given her. Shut inside it was all the evils, storms and plagues that bring misfortune to mankind. Instructed not to accept any gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus became enchanted by the beautiful Pandora and forgot his brother's warning. Pandora opened the jar and before she could close the lid disease, old age, pain, toil, death and all the other ills that plague humanity spilled out. When she was finally able to seal the jar nothing remained except Hope, trapped at the bottom. In their benevolence the gods had insured an antidote for suffering. Pandora offers hope when all else has failed.

The myth of Pandora was included in Greek literature synchronous with the time that the myth of Eve appeared in Jewish writings. In both myths Pandora and Eve become the patriarchal scapegoat for all of humanity's troubles aligning feminine power with evil. This mythic misogyny demarcates the epoch when masculine values were dominant and feminine values were denigrated, even demonised. Pandora and Eve became the composite projection of evil, blamed for their lack of foresight, chaos and feelings. Underlying the mythic stratagem was a motif from an earlier period when goddess culture was dominant.

In Greek Pandora translates into 'all gifts' and her entry into Greek myth suggested this name because the gods of Olympus each gave her a gift. However this mythic thread is probably an inversion from earlier goddess culture when Pandora may have referred to the goddess giving gifts. Gift giving became an essential component of Greek culture and this inverted fragment reminds us of the abundant side of the goddess who offers us the cornucopia of plenty. Pandora is born of the earth like Gaia, supplying the gifts of life. And the gift of life she brings that cannot be destroyed is Hope. On a psychological level hope is the mechanism that breathes life into the soul after it has been bruised and deflated.

Pandora emerges at a critical time historically and psychologically. She enters Greek myth when the goddess culture has waned and been rejected and man is no longer in favour with the gods. Psychologically Pandora appears to offer hope in devastating times. She brings a powerful gift that cannot be destroyed by life's ills. Hope is the life force that survives the disaster evoking images of healing and improvement. When Pandora is prominent in a birth chart she confronts us to delve into the deepest part of ourselves to tap the reservoir of faith. Having survived the projections and denigration of the other Pandora resurrects life once again through the auspices of hope.

In astrology Pandora reminds us that embedded in every disaster is the gift of renewal through the auspices of faith and hope. Illness, destruction, old age and pain are part of feminine wisdom and this knowledge stands in direct contrast to masculine fantasies of a Golden Age and Garden of Eden.

Pandora is in the 12th House

At heart you are a loner, enjoying silent contemplation and solitary pursuits. You can become immersed in your own company, bushwalking for days on your own in nature or immersed in reading a good book. You don't mean to be anti-social. It is simply that you delight in solitary pursuits and you lose track of time. You also find it difficult to fit in with some of society's expectations, preferring to march to the step of a different drum. Fashion statements leave you cold. You have your own individual style. Punctuality, social chit chat, work hierarchies and other such societal structures are meaningless. You sometimes feel that you are out-of-step with social expectations and as a result you find yourself in some tricky situations. You may resent the intrusion of family members, friends and work colleagues, when they encourage you to join their social activities. You may even feel misunderstood.

At some stage in life you need to accept some rules and codes of conduct as being necessary to living in a community. As you struggle to come to terms with the irrational versus the rational you also need a job to survive, preferably one that gives you enough freedom to express your individual talents, but that also requires some structure. Mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton was said have had but little interest for general society or for any pursuits save science and mathematics. After years of pursuing his own studies in university he was eventually required to take up a public government position.

You have a deep and profound connection to divine and metaphysical matters. Life Newton, you may also wish to be left to your own devices to study these matters particularly through meditation, alchemy and other such methods. Secret codes and societies may fascinate you. Be careful not to dabble in the dark arts because you may take on more than you can handle. Also, once again you need to be aware of society's expectations to earn function and earn a living. You also need to accept other people's spiritual beliefs even though they differ to your's. You may be required to attend baptisms, bahmitzvas, weddings and other such rites of passage as a sign of respect for your peers. Once you have fully accepted your own eccentricities and unique talents then you are more likely to develop a healthy respect for the unique gifts of other people. As such your deep connection to other worldly matters is likely to become an inspiration for others. Like Newton you may have a significant legacy to leave this world.

Pandora is in Sagittarius

You are never short of ideas. The curiosity of the goddess Pandora combines well in some ways with the ever-optimistic sign of Sagittarius. You are enthusiastic and full of boundless energy. You are likely to be a leader in your chosen field because your passion for your own ideas translates into action. Like the Sagittarian archer, you shoot arrows in every direction. You are adventurous and have a desire to make a difference, an urge to 'be all one can be.' Your only problem is that you don't know when to stop. Your enthusiasm is wonderful, but you need to slow down from time to time. You have the ability to drive yourself hard, but others may have some trouble keeping up. You can be quite selfish in your pursuits, demanding support from those close to you but failing to offer any sustenance in return. It may sound harsh, but if you are not careful you have a tendency to use other people in pursuit of your own considerable goals. The goddess Pandora did not realise the consequences of her lack of restraint. At some stage during your life you may have to live with the results of unintended consequences from your own actions, perhaps even a lack of appreciation of those who have helped you achieve your goals. As a result you have to undergo a process of change. This could be a change of attitude or a change of circumstances, sometimes both.

When Pandora was finally able to seal the jar nothing remained except hope, trapped at the bottom. This is your greatest gift to your fellow human beings, your ability to offer hope. You can be a great entertainer, perhaps even a comic, offering humorous insights on all manner of human quirks and achievements. You uplift the human spirit. The great comedian Groucho Marx comes to mind. If you have a more serious nature then your gifts could be more introverted. You may work behind the scenes. You may be a brilliant political strategist, counsellor, teacher, writer, scientist, or metaphysic. Whatever your chosen field of interest you are able to apply an enquiring mind, an understanding of human nature and compassion for the human condition.

Mnemosyne - The Soul Of Memory

'Thou fill'st from the wingèd chalice of the soul

Thy lamp, O Memory, fire-wingèd to its goal.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

The faculty of memory was so important to the ancients that it was personified as a goddess. In Greek cosmogony Mnemosyne was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, a pre-Olympian goddess who characterised Memory. Being one of the original deities Mnemosyne is the custodian of memory before the advent of writing, literacy, books, recordings and computers. She embodies the voice of an oral culture that communicates from the soul through stories, pictures, metaphors and body language. Mnemosyne finds her voice through the poetry of images revealing her memoirs through a dream, a feeling, a response, a longing or a sudden thought that darts into consciousness. Embedded in the fragments of a song, a myth, or a fairy tale linger ancient truths that awaken the goddess. Dwelling in the soul Mnemosyne unexpectedly arouses memory through our senses and bodily reactions.

To the ancient Greeks memory was a goddess residing in the heart. Memory was soulful, an aspect of psyche that was creative and evocative and the ancients also saw the goddess as mother of the Muses. Goddess culture honoured her form through three phases and originally Mnemosyne was celebrated through the Muses of meditation, memory and song. In early myth the Muses were the triune aspect of memory who inspired poetry and song. As rational science and beliefs began to emerge the seat of memory began to shift to the brain, aligning memory with a more logical and calculating experience rendering Mnemosyne a passive goddess who collected and stored life's impressions. Later myth suggested there were nine muses. Zeus visited Mnemosyne for nine nights and was the father of her nine daughters, the Muses, the inspiration and manifestation of the soul of memory. As mistress of healing and prophecy the Muses inspired and taught others to contact a deeper knowing through their imagination and creativity which guarded the wellspring of memory. As custodians of the arts each had a sphere of influence which they inspired and animated with ancient images and recollections. History, Music, Comedy, Tragedy, Choral Dance and Song, Lyric Poetry, Religious Dance, Astronomy and Epic Poetry were the personifications of the ancient goddess of memory. Apollo, lord of the rational sphere, became their guardian and leader.

Memory's daughters are the muses, the ones who inspire and enchant the soul. Through her and her daughters we are able to engage in weaving the fragments of memory together to evoke meaning. Mnemosyne reminds us to remember the ancient ways. The goddess of Memory is not just a passive recorder of experience and events but a poetic and heart-rending process that inspires the imagination. Mnemosyne re-collects the emotional experiences, feelings and impressions of our life. She is the archive of all that we have tasted, touched, wanted, smelt and felt. Her memories are stored in the psyche as images, symbols, feelings, impressions and instincts or become imprinted in the body, in the adrenal or olfactory glands, the tension in the muscles, allergies and illnesses. Mnemosyne is rhythmic and reflective, not linear, evoking dreams, images, songs that give continuity to our life's narrative. Memory and imagination are woven together when Mnemosyne and her daughters are aroused.

To the ancients the sacred sanctuary of Mnemosyne and the Muses was the museum. These ancient shrines dedicated to the goddess ceded to the structures we know today as museums where we house the great works of the imagination. On an inner level the museum is the sphere of Mnemosyne where impressions and feelings from the past are evoked in the present situation.

In astrology Mnemosyne the goddess helps us remember images and impressions from previous phases of our life in order to give meaning, context and insight into these experiences. She acts as a loosening agent, allowing buried complexes, taboo feelings, repressed memories to breathe again to find some place in the sunlight of consciousness. She connects passages of time together. Links can be made back to times in the previous cycle allowing space for the process of reflection and musing.

Mnemosyne is in the 11th House

Memory is an important part of anyone's personality and identity. As far as you are concerned it is your memory that helps bring you closer to friends, groups, organizations, and societies. You enjoy spending time with friends, and taking part in group activities because it helps you feel a sense of belonging through the memory of shared experience. Communicating with other people inspires you further in your own work. For this reason you are likely to organise social events to commemorate important dates in your own, and your friend's calendars. You particularly enjoy significant dates in your own culture. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah or Passover. No matter what your background or religion you like to mark significant occasions in your calendar with friends or your local community. You are also keen to ensure that your friends intermingle. You can see value in all of your friends and in all cultures. You like to hear your friends' stories and in listening you start to see the links between various people, who don't know each other. You are keen for them to meet and share their common thread. For this reason you are skilled at networking, linking people with shared interests or skills. You may also enjoy book clubs or chat groups on the internet. You are more likely to join or lead a group of similar interests rather than a random social group because you are most focussed on shared interests, a common language so to speak. Although you enjoy working with groups and perhaps on committees, you are unlikely to receive accolades and recognition for your efforts in groups. You are more likely to be the secretary or public relations officer rather than the Chief Executive of an organization. If you join a committee then you are more likely to be a hard-working member or the secretary rather than hold the prominent position of President or Chairperson. This does, of course, depend on other aspects of your birth chart. Nevertheless you are seeking shared experience of working towards a common goal rather than appreciation or accolades. You agree with author Lester J. Pourciau who says, 'there is no monument dedicated to the memory of a committee.' You are generally philosophical rather than ambitious. Your individual hopes and wishes are linked to learning about friends, groups, society and humanity rather than personal ambitions. You are aware of the fact that all people are linked at a spiritual level and that we are all striving to our best to live on planet Earth. This gift for understanding others plays a key role in your life. The goddess Mnemosyne is urging you to inspire others with your philosophical, spiritual or artistic gifts.

Mnemosyne is in Scorpio

'An elephant never forgets' is a saying, so if a person has a memory like an elephant, he or she has a very good memory indeed. You have a good memory, not necessarily for everyday facts and figures, but for meaningful occurrences, those that are charged with emotions. You remember the birth of your children, the death of a close friend, the sensation of your mother's arms when she hugged you as a child, and the confidences of a close friend in trouble. For these reasons you are an excellent confidant in your personal life, and may take on a counselling, teaching or advisory role in your profession. There is also a darker side to the goddess Mnemosyne in the sign of Scorpio. You are likely to have difficulty overcoming some of the more difficult moments in your life. You are likely to experience many highs and lows during your lifetime, either your own or by standing alongside your loved ones. You have a tendency to dwell on the darker moments, the hurt, rejection and grief. You may even suffer from depression. Your challenge is to find meaning in your life. This could be through an artistic passion or spiritual quest. Either way meaning makes things more bearable. Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl wrote an entire book on 'Man's Search for Meaning' in which he stresses that people who find meaning in their lives are more likely to survive even the worst of scenarios. So don't store up negative memories and feelings, try to avoid self-pity or the need for revenge. Focus on the good times, the memories that bring feelings of warmth, acceptance and self-esteem. The goddess Mnemosyne is calling you to support and love your fellow humans, helping them to overcome the challenges of existence. You have a gift to share, a real calling. This could be as a gifted teacher or preacher, sharing your wisdom and depth of understanding or you could be talented artiste spreading the message of hope and joy through your work. As Victor Frankl says, 'a man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how'.'

Hecate - The Soul In Transition

'Leave those vain moralists, my friend, and return to the depth of your soul:

that is where you will always rediscover the source of the sacred fire

which so often inflamed us with love of the sublime virtues;

that is where you will see the eternal image of true beauty,

the contemplation of which inspires us with a holy enthusiasm.'

Anthony Robbins

Hecate became associated with the dark phase of triple goddess who embraced the spheres of heaven (Selene), earth (Artemis) and underworld (Persephone). Her initial association with the underworld was as an attendant to Persephone. It was Hecate who heard Persephone's screams when Hades dragged her down into the netherworld. Hecate was also present when Hermes escorted Persephone out of the underworld. As a guardian of the threshold Hecate witnessed Persephone's descent and release. Her cave is located between the earth and the underworld confirming Hecate's role as an intermediary, bound to neither world but in between both.

As a threshold goddess Hecate is encountered when the paths of our lives converge and we are uncertain which fork in the road to follow. Throughout antiquity she was worshipped at the intersection of roads and by Roman times she was known as Hecate Trivia, the goddess of the three ways. On the night of the New Moon pots of food were left at the crossroads as votive offerings to the goddess. 'Hecate's suppers' honoured the transition of one lunar cycle to the next on the night that the old month ended. Statues with three bodies and three heads were erected at crossroads for travellers to leave offerings and say prayers to Hecate for guidance across an important threshold.

As liminal places where travellers pass from one world into another, crossroads were often associated with spirits and shades. Hecate became aligned with ghosts and hallucinations as the ancient Greeks attributed the power to conjure up the dead and the phantoms of the imagination with her. Known as the leader of souls she was associated with magic, divination and contact with the shades of the dead. By the classical period Hecate had become affiliated with witchcraft and magic, known as the goddess of ghosts and night terrors. Her companions were dogs. As guardians of thresholds and instinctually able to trace a scent hounds represented Hecate's instinctual wisdom. By later antiquity Hecate had become the patroness of witchcraft.

Hecate's triple aspect was also reflected in the phases of the Moon. As 'Mistress of the Moon' Hecate governed its dark phase. Sappho called her the 'Queen of the Night' and as a light bearer she often carried two torches. Knowing the wisdom of cycles and their triune phases of birth, death and rebirth the lunar goddess also represented the menstrual crossroads in a woman's life cycle. As a birth goddess she was an intermediary figure not only for souls departing their body but also for souls entering a new one. Hecate appears at the threshold of change in women's lives as she enters a new phase of the life cycle. As a lunar goddess associated with fertility rites she is aware of the richness of the dark and hidden treasures. In her dual role as guardian of the threshold and Queen of the Night she knows that every decision taken at the crossroads must come from a deeper level of soul.

Since her early depiction in epic Hecate has become denigrated, often portrayed as a negative and a dangerous demon of the dark. Disassociated from the totality of the lunar cycle she has become identified only with its dark phase. Fear of the dark, death and the underworld were projected onto Hecate who represented the dismembered connection to the feminine wisdom of cycles. However her ancient myth reminds us of her perpetual role as an intermediary and attendant at the crossroads. As a goddess of liminality we meet her on the precipice of change, at crossroads, on doorways, in transition. During these times of initiation Hecate helps us to accept our disorientation between two ways of being.

When the godess Hecate is prominent in a birth chart she depicts the area in which we are at crossroads in our lives. Time can sometimes seem suspended while we reorient ourselves to a new way of being. Confusion, loss and disconnection are natural moods during this phase as we let go of what has been in order to greet what may be.

Hecate is in the 8th House

The goddess Hecate is deemed to be a goddess with dominion over women, in particular birth, childbearing and death. These important matters are dear to your heart. You are well aware of the important role that women play in society, planning for and dealing with the consequences of birth, childbearing and death. The 8th house in an astrology chart also expresses the importance of birth and death. These are often crisis points in a person's life. You are definitely skilled at dealing with crises, either your own or other people's. You have a gift for calming situations, soothing troubled souls and invoking a sense of peace and stillness. The goddess Hecate is also known as the Queen of the Night, and was a symbol of witches during the Middle Ages. Witches were not always recognised as pointy-hat wearing, craggy faced, hags. In the Middle Ages witches were midwives and healers.

In a woman's chart this can indicate that you work in a field that assists women, perhaps as a mid-wife, nurse or counsellor. You may have your own business as a woman's hairdresser; working almost as a proxy counsellor or helping them change their appearances and therefore their lives. You are the ultimate makeover artiste! On the other hand you may work as a grief counsellor or in a funeral parlour, perhaps even operate your own business for women. On a more esoteric level you may enjoy helping women through spiritual initiations. You have high self-esteem and are likely to marry a man who acknowledges you as his equal, and vice versa. Mutual respect and intimacy is possible in your marriage, however; you notice that many other women struggle in this area. You are keen to help them value themselves and to take their rightful place in society.

In a man's chart the goddess Hecate is calling on you to respect your own feminine side, as well as the important women in your life. This could mean that you feel compelled to embrace a more spiritual lifestyle, or perhaps that you work closely with women. You are likely to marry a woman who you consider your equal, someone you respect and with whom you share a close bond. You may wait for the right woman rather than rushing into marriage. In some cases this may be a lengthy waiting period, but you are content to enjoy friendships with influential women until you can marry the woman of your dreams. Your wife is likely to be someone who shares or influences your spiritual beliefs. You may jokingly call her a 'witch' but you know that she possesses special gifts and you love her for it. You need to also embrace your own psychic abilities.

The goddess Hecate has a strong link with the spiritual world, and you are likely to share this union with the spirit world. You may have psychic powers, which you use to help other people. It could simply be that you work with the stock market predicting future trends and offering investment advice. However, it is more likely that you become a more personal or metaphysical adviser, assisting others in coming to terms with the emotions that arise in the process of new beginnings or endings. You have the capacity to help other people listen to their heart's desires, live their lives with integrity and embrace their soul's purpose.

Hecate is in Leo

You are larger than life, a veritable tour de force in your chosen field. The powerful goddess Hecate in the sign of Leo combines the potency of the Moon and the Sun. Therefore you have the Sun, Moon and stars at your disposal. You need only be wary of becoming a little too self-centred. You need to remain focussed on this goddess' calling - finding an outlet for your many talents, a passion that does not feed your ego but does assist other people. As US author Henry Miller once said, 'develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.'

How many people have playfully called you a saint or a scoundrel? That's because you know the important of levity. It is almost as if you feel compelled to make jokes in serious moments. You are irreverent. You understand the importance of making life-changing decisions, of reaching crossroads in life that demand serious consideration, but you also know that people can get bogged down and this is not helpful. Sometimes you may go too far in your attempts to be funny and entertaining, and other people may not appreciate your jokes. Nevertheless your irrepressible joy is contagious, uplifting even the most downtrodden acquaintance. You believe that laughter is the best medicine, even in a crisis and may become a comic actor, stand-up comic or writer of funny stories. Your aim is to help people through troubled times by lightening their load. Hence some people may claim that you are a saint and some may state that you are a scoundrel who doesn't understand their true pain.

You are also likely to understand the inspirational role of the arts in human society. You know that opera, theatre, music, dance, art and poetry can all helping people through difficult transitory times. You are likely to have an artistic passion that needs to be expressed in your life, whether professionally or as a hobby. You need a vehicle through which you can understand your own emotional undercurrents. Whenever you are at a crossroads in your own life you can come to a better idea of which path to take by following your heart, finding a creative outlet and expressing yourself. Too many responsibilities are likely to weigh heavily on your soul. You may also be a night owl, preferring like Hecate to travel at night. The excitement of the city night-lights may be irresistible, luring you out to nightclubs, theatre venues and other such attractions. Be wary of the dark night of the soul, those moments when the excitement starts to wear off and you feel somewhat despondent around three in the morning. You love the glitter and glamour, but are you also aware of your own spiritual nature. The goddess Hecate is urging to find meaning in your life, something that inspires you and uplifts others.

Cassandra - The Prophetic Soul

'And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.'

I Corinthians 13:2, Bible

Cassandra stood on the walls of Troy and watched Paris' ship enter the harbour. Her brother had returned from Sparta having seduced Helen away from her homeland to bring her to live in Troy as his wife. With the blessings of Aphrodite Paris and his lover Helen had snuck away from her palace undetected and sailed across the Aegean to Asia Minor. A dark cloud shrouded the ship as it anchored. When Cassandra watched her brother and Helen disembark and approach the city gates she was flooded with images of Troy's destruction, filling her with an ominous and terrible feeling. Possessed by this eerie perception she uttered a warning to the crowd that was gathered at the gates to welcome the couple. From deep inside she divined the future: Helen's entrance into the city would lead to its destruction. Ignoring Cassandra and her prophecy the crowds turned away to welcome the new royal couple into their city. Time and time again her message was rejected and ridiculed. Ten years later a similar scenario would unfold. Cassandra would warn the Trojans not to accept the wooden horse into their city. Once again no one would heed her accurate predictions. The Greeks, angry at Helen's abduction, sacked Troy and left the city in ashes.

Cassandra was one of the daughters of the royal family of Troy, a sister to both Paris and Hector and twinned to her brother, Helenus. When the twins were infants they accompanied their parents to the temple of Apollo to celebrate a festival in honour of the oracular god. During the ritual the twins fell into a deep sleep. Two temple snakes slithered into their basket as they slept and bit them on their ears injecting the gift (or poison) of prophecy into them. From that day both Cassandra and Helenus were known for their prophetic nature.

Having the gift of sight Cassandra entered the temple to serve Apollo being called to her vocation as his Pythia, the voice of the oracular god. However Apollo fell in love with her and demanded she reciprocate his desire. But Cassandra refused to consummate the relationship preferring to worship the god in spirit, not body. Enraged Apollo found a way to avenge her rejection. Knowing he could not retract the gift of prophecy that he had given her when she was so young he cursed her so no one would ever believe her prophecies. The god begged her for one kiss and Cassandra consented. As she opened her mouth to kiss the god Apollo breathed his curse into her insuring others would no longer value her prophetic vision. He turned his back on her, condemning Cassandra to see the perilous future yet never able to be understood or believed. Cassandra, cursed by the narcissistic god for rejecting him, was later violently assaulted by Ajax upon the altar of Athena when the Greeks were ransacking Troy. After the sack of Troy the leader of the Greek fleet Agamemnon took her as his slave back to his palace of Mycenae. As she approached the mammoth walled city her images of destruction became more and more intense. Racked by the violent visions she screamed a warning for Agamemnon to not enter the palace foreseeing his brutal murder at the hands of his wife. In her heart she also knew that entering the city with him would result in her own death.

Cassandra personifies the medial woman whose intuitive faculties and understanding of the unconscious patterns are not welcomed in an ordered rational society. She sees what others are too fearful to see and exposes the inevitable patterns that underpin the situation. In an atmosphere of control and denial Cassandra is marginalised and demeaned becoming the projective reflection of the fear of chaos and uncertainty. Disbelief and ignorance render her wisdom impotent. When dark feelings, dread or grief are repressed in the atmosphere Cassandra is the medium of their expression. Her curse is that she is not identified with her feelings leaving her unable to connect or be understood. Her feelings are identified as autonomous ravings abandoning her to the sidelines of society. In a psychological context Cassandra's ego identity has collapsed through her symbiotic alliance with the unexpressed shadow lurking in the atmosphere. Cassandra is able to sense what is taboo and unlived but unable to remain separate from it.

Cassandra represents the archetype of medial knowledge. Unlike the ancient world there are no longer sanctuaries or sacred places to honour her way of knowing. She reflects the need to be aware of our medial skills and intuitive knowledge and seek training to help strengthen the ability to use this skill and not be overwhelmed by it. When Cassandra appears prominently she encourages the individual to find a voice for the medium through understanding the symbols, images, signs and omens of unconscious language. She embodies the ancient ways of knowing in a culture that no longer values prophecy and divination. Her knowledge is not objective but oracular. To embrace Cassandra we must abandon logic, separateness and rationality and enter into the irrational world where meaning is revealed through feeling and connectedness. However Cassandra reminds us that in a scientific and ordered society our knowing may be rejected. Cassandra encourages us to have the strength of our convictions and a strong and healthy identity about our beliefs.

Oracular knowing springs out of the collective through an unconscious and unbound participation with everything in the environment. When boundaries are blurred and the veil between the worlds is lifted we enter into a participation mystique with the spirits of the world beyond us and may be called to act as a vessel for their message.

Cassandra is in the 12th House

You have the ability to see far beneath the superficial aspects of life. You are wise beyond your years, able to analyse and understand everyday matters as well as highly spiritual ones. You are able to foretell the outcomes of societal trends, as well as personal ones. On a personal level others often seek your counsel, advice and support. You may choose a professional that requires your gifts of personal and collective insights, such as social work, counselling, politics, policy making, stock-market trading and economics.

The goddess Cassandra was both gifted and cursed. At times you realise that your insights can be curse. Sometimes your loved ones refuse to heed your well-meant advice. You can see the consequences of the actions of those close to you long before they can, but you can't control their actions. Sometimes you feel like you are simply sitting to one side and waiting for a train wreck to happen. This is true both for personal and societal matters.

In a woman's chart it is possible that an influential male will challenge your beliefs at a very deep level. In a man's chart it is likely that you will attract a wise woman who helps you understand the deeper meanings in life. Either way you are challenged to develop the spiritual side of your life in a way that enhances your own, and other's journeys.

Cassandra is in Sagittarius

'Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry? Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?' This is a quote spoken by Cassandra in Aeschylus' play 'Agamemnon'. It is particularly apt for the placement of the goddess Cassandra in the sign of Sagittarius. You are a true archer, able to see far into the future and predict the outcome of present activities. This is a powerful force. You are able to make your mark when you set your sights on something of worth. However, you are also apt to be misunderstood. The classic 'foot in mouth' disease is prominent if you are not careful. The trick is to ensure that your words are welcome. Many of your peers and loved ones would prefer to make their own way, even their own mistakes, rather than be the recipient of unsolicited guidance. If you learn when to remain silent and when to speak then it is likely that others will return to seek your counsel when they are ready. Patience is the key to your success.

Meanwhile, you may enjoy the pursuit of knowledge, studying subjects such as classical literature, philosophy, theology, law, media, archaeology, metaphysics, and archaeology - anything that enables you to cast your mind back and forth in time.

In a woman's chart this placement of the goddess Cassandra can mean that you are a wise and adventurous woman, determined to express your independent spirit. You may journey to foreign lands, study or work in traditional male domains or pursue competitive sports.

In a man's chart it is likely to mean that you are challenged to embrace the rights of women. You may attract an independent and spirited woman who is your equal in all areas of your life. You need to respect the blessings that this woman, and others, offer or you may discover the loneliness of rigid thinking. On the other hand your adherence to equality will bring you great blessings.

The house placement of the goddess Cassandra in your chart will tell you the area in which you are most likely to seek knowledge.

Medea - Herbalist And Healer

'Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow, A herb most bruised is woman'

Euripes, Medea

Medea, a princess of Colchis, was known as the 'wise one' for her skill of healing and proficiency at using drugs and herbs. Colchis, which gives its name to Colchicum, the meadow saffron, was a kingdom on the Eastern shores of the Black Sea, considered a foreign, barbaric land through the eyes of a civilised Greece. Medea's ancestors were linked to both the sun and healing long before Apollo became the god associated with these realms. Helios, Medea's grandfather, was the Sun god of the old order, born a Titan's son. Her aunt Circe was a sorceress, a magician, herbalist and healer who knew the ancient ways of plants and spices and how to cast spells. Circe had trained Medea as a young woman in the arts of sorcery, magic and herbalism, teaching her how to mix potions, direct spells and rearrange matter. Medea was also a priestess in the temple of Hecate, honouring the goddess of the dark night and magic. Hecate guided her instincts. As a medical intuitive she knew the magical properties of herbs, the appropriate plants for healing, homeopathic tinctures and the process of preparing and administering these remedies in her cauldron. As the surrogate of Hecate Medea knew the timing of the lunar cycle and how to draw down the moon when ritual and ceremony was needed.

However Medea was unable to withstand the unholy alliance of the goddesses Hera and Athena who petitioned Aphrodite to conspire with them and cause the princess to fall in love with Jason. Medea became enchanted by Eros and fell in love with the Greek hero, who had come to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Medea helped Jason achieve this impossible task with the help of special ointments, incantations and timing. Medea enabled Jason, her heroic/lover, to succeed at the trials set before him but in helping Jason be successful Medea had to betray her family and flee her homeland.

On their flight from Colchis Medea visited her aunt Circe who absolved her of her betrayal and eventually Medea arrived at Jason's birthplace, at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. When she arrived in her new homeland Medea used her great skill at the arts of magic and herbs to rejuvenate Jason father but also used her sorcery to trick the king's daughters into unintentionally killing their father. To prepare for this procedure Medea disappeared for nine days collecting the special drugs and herbs that she needed. As the Moon swelled she returned, sacrificed to her goddess Hecate, then used drugs to help Aeson, Jason's father, fall into a deep sleep. She then cut his throat to let the old blood run out, dismembered him, putting the pieces in a cauldron with the liquid herbs she had prepared. Jason's father emerged from the cauldron rejuvenated, forty years younger. Medea's spell captured the daughters of Pelias, the wicked uncle of Jason who had usurped his rightful claim to the throne. The daughters also wished to rejuvenate their father and Medea said she would perform the task again. The daughters prepared their father by dismembering him, however this time Medea did not put the herbs in the cauldron and their father never emerged.

Having been responsible for the murder of the king Medea and Jason once again were forced to escape. While fleeing Medea's herbal bag broke open spilling her drugs seeding the plains of Thessaly with an abundance of healing and magical herbs. As the first sorceress to perform rituals in Thessaly Medea is the seminal figure behind the region being known as 'the land of the witches'. Her myth intimates that she introduced woman's herbal knowledge from Asia Minor into Greece.

In later myth Medea is usually remembered, not as the skilled healer, but as a revengeful and spurned partner, a woman caught in the grip of jealousy for which she had no antidote. By the classical period the playwrights depict Medea consumed with rage murdering her own children to avenge Jason's infidelity. However Medea is more a reminder of the great respect and knowledge of healing, herbs and magic that was brought to the West and then subtly ignored and eventually demonised. Underpinning the myth are fragments of an older tradition. Jason's name means 'healer' and his partnership with Medea complements the old ways of healing before the emergence of rational medicine and the demonisation of magic.

Botany evolved away from gathering herbs and digging roots of the pastoral communities to empirical and detailed research purification ceremonies and the use of herbs became replaced by manmade drugs and prescriptions. The connections to the more instinctual, chthonic and natural ways of healing were left behind. Traces of magic, ritual healing and evoking the spirit of the disease began to disappear in the Western medical tradition. Left to carry the ancient process of magic was Medea the embodiment of the archetypal witch. As a heroine Medea champions the feminine wisdom that knows intuitively knows how to cooperate with nature and her cycles. She instinctually knows the right time to perform rituals and ceremonies to evoke the healing spirits or exorcise the demons.

When Medea is prominent in a birth chart she reveals the need to explore the ancient feminine traditions of herbalism, witchcraft and magic ritual. Intuitively we know the natural cycle of the body and what it needs to be well. Medea reminds us to honour the ancient custom of relating to the plant world, the wisdom of nature and the powerful healing and transforming properties embedded in the natural world. Instinctually the witch is the impulse that draws us to remedies and potions at the right time and is the urge to create ritual and ceremony to evoke the powers of the goddess.

Medea is in the 11th House

When the powerful goddess from Colchis takes residence in your 11th house she brings her commanding persona into the sphere of social activity. If we imagine Medea in this role she could be an advocate for equality in corporate organisations, a promoter of woman's spirituality through reclaiming the goddess' place in organised religion, a campaigner for governmental recognition of herbs, an organiser of sacred rituals, the chair for meetings that raise the awareness of healing the earth, or an active participant in a mystery organisation. In literal terms you need to make life sacred and meaningful and are drawn to groups that help to facilitate this process. Through this search you discover the influential power that you have in groups, the facility to support and campaign for the rights of the disenfranchised or your own abiding fascination with the mystery of life. You need to involve yourself with like-minded seekers who share this reverence. However through the group your own influence and power may become apparent, and is often visible in others' reactions to you.

On a personal level you may feel betrayed by the group or a friend in particular who is unable to hold what is sacrosanct or respect your deep need for privacy and containment. However, it is through this feeling of betrayal by those whom you trusted as confidants and companion seekers that you're able to come to know your own power and healing ability.

No doubt with this placement your inner need for exploration of the mysteries and the search for the sacred is interwoven with groups and takes you on a explorative journey through the ancient arts that have been rejected in our rational culture. It is wise to reflect on groups dynamics and power as most likely you will be seen as the one who is powerful and controlling whether you're conscious of this or not. However through the group you will come to recognise this power that is probably your formidable urge to resurrect the ancient healing ways that are buried under science's scaffolding. As a surrogate of Medea in social situations you may feel that you're marginal or outside the group, but never underestimate the impact and the transformational dynamic you can offer the group.

Medea is in Scorpio

Medea is on familiar ground in the sign of Scorpio. As an archetypal impulse she represents the urge to engage in the mystery and magic of the unknown. One of the ways mystery engages us is through crisis, unexpected change or the release of powerful feelings. And mystery clothes herself in the guise of anonymity or enshrouds herself in secrecy and ambiguity. Therefore in your life experience you have had to delve deeply into yourself to make sense of your surroundings, learning to trust your instincts. From the beginning you may have sensed the feelings that were denied in the family or been aware that something was being concealed. From these experiences you were introduced to a powerful feeling intelligence that penetrated the mask of what was hidden and lifted the veil on what was unknown.

This aptitude also endows you with a great emotional intensity. In times of danger or critical change you can summon the strength to confront the situation. This allows you to be present for others in times of emotional distress or loss. This therapeutic capacity may lead you into the realm of transformational healing, forensics or psychotherapy. However, whether or not this faculty is at the nucleus of your profession it is at the heart of your personal life. You need to be engaged fully with those you love and trust those who are involved with you. Like Medea you know the depth and intensity of the feeling life and do not make promises or commitments likely. Therefore you expect loyalty and trust will be returned. This may not always be the case and therefore you need to trust your own judgements, feeling responses and intuition.

In Scorpio we are able to build something with another that would be impossible to do by ourselves. Through the merging of resources you can generate much more resource and wealth than you could on your own. Again you will need to be discriminating about how you share your insightful knowledge and prophetic wisdom. Once you are fully met in terms of the engagement then you are able to give a free rein to your powerfully transformational abilities. The essence of Scorpio embraces the innate power of the medial woman. Therefore it would be wise to sharpen your intuitive skills and educate yourself in the psychology of the unconscious or the occult arts. Start your day with choosing a Tarot card or throwing the runes. You draw great inspiration and comfort from your inner self. Try some new rituals in your kitchen; a new recipe with leeks perhaps. Or use some ginseng in your cooking and introduce horse radish to your palate. Sprinkle some pennyroyal oil at the back door and around your patio to keep pesky insects at bay. Or try an essential oil mixture of camphor/lavender to detoxify the atmosphere. During these rituals remind yourself of the power you draw from the mystery and magic of life.

Conclusion

When using this report, please bear in mind that, inevitably, every chart will contain some contradictory influences. Usually it is the responsibility of an astrologer to synthesise these apparent contradictions in order to present a cohesive and meaningful interpretation of the dilemmas of the chart.

Please also be aware of the fact that each person has positive and negative influences in the chart, and therefore in their lives. The challenge is to accept and overcome the negative influences, so that we can successfully focus on the positive traits. This report outlines both influences, and therefore parts may be difficult to accept. Any advice given is meant to be an aid to a person taking responsibility for their own lives. The ultimate decision rests with each individual. The authors and publisher accept no liability for any adverse effects of this report.

This report is meant more of an introduction to the wonders of the Asteroid Goddesses rather than a complete course in its intricacies. Further studies, or a consultation with a professional astrologer, are encouraged to explore this most ancient scientific and philosophic tool. We hope that you will discover a common thread that gentles winds its way through the 12 Goddess placements in your chart, a thread that inspires you to continue to follow your dreams and discover the Goddess or God within.

The text in this report has been written by Australian astrologers Brian Clark and Stephanie Johnson.

Brian Clark Brian is one of the main tutors of a four-year program in applied astrology for Astro*Synthesis. He has been active in astrology since 1972, having served as National President for both The Fraternity for Canadian Astrologers and The Federation of Australian Astrologers FAA. He has twice received awards from the Canadian astrological society, received the Education Award from the FAA and been nominated three times for the International Regulus Award. Brian also lectures on myth and conducts tours to sacred sites in Greece through Odyssey. Brian has a BA from Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Canada and a Post Graduate Diploma in Classics and Archaeology from Melbourne University. He is the author of 'The Sibling Constellation'(1999) and a contributing author to Intimate Relationships (Llewellyn, 1991), books that have also been translated into French and Japanese. A new book called Celestial Tarot is soon to be published.

Stephanie Johnson is co-director of Esoteric Technologies Pty Ltd., the company behind astrology software Solar Fire, Solar Maps, Solar Writer, Solar Spark and JigSaw. In 1994 Stephanie, and her partner, were awarded the Federation of Australian Astrologers' Southern Cross Award for Research and Development, and in 1998 they were awarded the Southern Cross award for Community Service and Research. Stephanie holds a Federation of Australian Astrologers' (FAA) Practitioner's Certificate and was awarded an FAA Diploma for her share in designing and developing the Solar Fire suite of programs. She is a student of Medieval Astrology and the Ancient Wisdom teachings, holding a Masters of Science degree in Esotericism from the University of the Seven Rays, New Jersey, USA, as well as the Robert Zoller Certificate of Medieval Astrology. Before commencing her professional astrology career Stephanie was a journalist for 15 years in Australia, England and the USA.

Kay Steventon is a Melbourne based artist/astrologer. After graduating from R.M.I.T. in 1980 with a Diploma Fine Art, Kay gained the F.A.A. Professional Astrologer qualification, and 'Living The Tarot' Diploma. Since 1966 Kay has had many solo and mixed exhibitions in Melbourne and overseas,specializing in symbolic art in 1992. Her first Tarot deck and book,'The Spiral Tarot', was published in 1998. Kay 's second Deck, 'Celestial Tarot', was published in 2003 with the Celestial book written by Brian Clark. A 52 card deck, 'Goddessess and Heroines' is due to be published 2005, again a joint effort by Kay and Brian Clark.

If you would like further information please contact Esoteric Technologies Pty Ltd PO Box 578 Magill SA 5072 Australia. Phone/Fax (08) 8331 3057. Email: [email protected]