Monday 23 April 2018

The Astrology of the New Royal Rebel (2)

copyright: Alex Trenoweth

And we have a baby boy!

Congratulations to the Royal family!

The new baby was born 23 April 2018 (St George's Day!!) at 11:01am, just out of orb for Venus conjunct Algol like his father and Princess Diana. But what a planetary connection for the new baby! His ascendant is on big brother's Sun and his Venus is on big brother's descendant (which is conjunct Algol!). And with the Sun conjunct Uranus in the 10th, I really don't have to change the title of this post--Royal Rebel indeed!

With Moon in Leo at 9 degrees, he's bound to be a hit with his great grandmother the Queen who has the Moon in Leo at 12 degrees. They also have a Sun conjunction!

It was VERY quickly noted by other astrologers that the new baby also has Chiron conjunct the MC and already there is speculation that there's going to be another healer in the family.

As a teacher, I'm eyeing up retrograde Jupiter in Scorpio and Saturn in Capricorn which can affect the important transits during adolescence. The baby will have 3 Jupiter passes for his first Jupiter return in 2030 and  a single Saturn opposition in 2033.

With Jupiter in Scorpio, growth through learning is pursued with passion and intensity. My experience in teaching these learners is that it takes a little time to get them fired up, but once they are hooked on a topic, it can be hard to get them onto something else (more on Jupiter in Scorpio learners here). They tend to be good researchers and aren't afraid to explore where other explorers fear to tread. The Queens' MC and Saturn are conjunct the baby's Jupiter in the 4th--it would seem her work ethic will have quite an effect on his emotional life. Maybe he'll take his official duties a little too seriously.

Saturn is in rulership in Capricorn. This is discipline with a capital D. But this new baby has his Pluto and Mars conjunct Queen Elizabeth's ascendant (in Capricorn) so I'm thinking his Saturn opposition in 2033 (in Cancer) may have a little to do with shake ups in the family at this time (the Queen of course will probably not be in any shape to be on the throne and Prince Charles might not be in such great shape either--but the new baby does have his Sun conjunct Charles' North Node). The opposition also falls in the 6-12th house axis so there may be changes in duties during this time. During this time, T Saturn will be square to dad's Mars in Libra.

If the Royal family (or anyone else is interested in more information on the astrology of education, my book is available here!

Here's an earlier post about Princess Charlotte and the Algol connections when she was born a few years ago:

Astrological characteristics between generations always have a tale to tell because certain features in astrology charts can often be traced in the family bloodline. For example, like her grandmother Princess Diana, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge has a Moon-Uranus opposition--so the House of Windsor had better batten down the hatches!! Also, the new baby's Mars is almost in conjunction with Algol (William and Diana have Venus conjunct Algol) so it's a very interesting, if a little intense, chart indeed! Baby brother George's descendant is conjunct Algol and little sister's Mars so don't bet on these two cherubs getting on very well.

The baby's ascendant is conjunct her father's Moon and Grandma Di's Mercury. How adorable is that? We may not have Diana here with us physically but it's so wonderful this new baby has inherited the old Spencer charm. How lovely to have named her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana!

The ruling planet of the new baby's chart is conjunct William's Pluto and Diana's MC. William is going to be one protective father and god help the paparazzi when the kid hits puberty. You think 'those shots' of a topless Kate made him mad? Just you wait until around August 2026 at her first Jupiter return. With Jupiter in Leo, that girl is going to love the spotlight and hate it when daddy tries to shield her from it. However, her down to earth Sun in Taurus in the 11th might calm this tendency.

Another interesting feature of this new baby's chart is Mercury in Gemini opposite to Saturn in Sagittarius. Mercury is extra strong in Gemini but with an opposition from Saturn, she may be a little reluctant to hit the books. Of course oppositions mean extremes so we could have a major academic on our hands (Mercury also rules the 3rd house). William's Uranus is conjunct her Saturn so while she may steady him, he may very well encourage that rebellious streak. One possible scenario is that William will encourage her to marry someone who shakes up the royal blood a little (Pluto in Capricorn descendant ruled by Saturn in 5th and Pluto ruling the 5th house).

No doubt there will be more and more astrological commentary on this baby. Personally, I don't like to say too much about babies but as this is a royal one and as I, a British tax payer, am contributing  to her upkeep, I reckon I can put my two pence in!



copyright: Alex Trenoweth. Not to be published without permission of author.
Media enquiries on alex.trenoweth@gmail.com

Alex Trenoweth is an astrologer, writer, lecturer and musician currently living in London England.  She is an MA graduate of the Cultural Astronomy and Astrology course at Bath Spa University (2007), has studied extensively with the Faculty of Astrological Studies whilst simultaneously gaining recognition as an outstanding teacher for her tireless and innovative education of adolescents. Her unique expertise in both astrology and teaching, coupled with ground-breaking research, has led to her writing “Growing Pains,” a book aimed at helping parents and teachers support and guide young people into maturity. The majority of Alex’s astrological work is aimed at facilitating clients to forgive, heal and learn the inner adolescent.


Alex is also an international lecturer and has spoken at several major US conferences such as UAC, ISAR, NORWAC, Kepler and SOTA, Astrology Restored in South Africa, Belgrade's Kepler Conference, Portugal as well as supporting local groups in the UK. She was voted “Best International Astrologer, 2015” by the Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology who also awarded her an honorary PhD as well as an award for "Outstanding Service to Astrology" in 2018.

In addition to being a committed teacher and astrologer, Alex is also a professional musician and has performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other major venues as a jazz trumpeter. In her spare time, she writes fiction as well as more popular types of astrology. 

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Embracing the Chaos

I still think we need a few more early nights!
Well. . .if one is going to invoke chaos (as only someone with Saturn in Pisces can!), one had better learn to love it.

And I don't know, I must have been walking around with a chaos magnet these past couple of weeks.

But it's all good. Honestly.

Gopal Bhattacharjee, his lovely wife Churni and I finally got to celebrate our successful conference together last night. Now we know not everything was perfect, we understand a few things could have gone better but we're pretty sure about one thing: we met our objectives in helping East and West understand each other a little more. We're building a bridge, we expected a little (snork!)  argy-bargy and we're enormously grateful for all the support we've received and continue to receive as already we're planning our 2020 conference!

I decided I needed a little time away from Kolkata immediately after the conference. I did
First time as a bridesmaid with my beautiful Ana in Cape Town
question my sanity as I packed for a week long tour because all I wanted to do after the conference was shut myself in a quiet room with the lights off for a few days. I hadn't really even recovered from the jet lag I had accrued during my very brief visit to Cape Town just before the conference. But once the shock of being on yet another plane wore off, and with the support of my fabulous travelling companions, I really had a wonderful adventure. Hanuman ki jai! I'll write more about this in a future blog.

Planning and organising the conference was so intense that I really did put my life on hold. I don't say this to gain sympathy
With Dorothy and Ra: Number 1 travel companions!
(although I wouldn't mind a little) but just to point out that WHOOSH I suddenly have a lot of things to put back together. So as Gopal and Churni and I clinked our glasses to our successes last night, a few things started to dawn on me.

I just remembered I have a blog that I'm supposed to be maintaining. I'm so far behind. I suddenly remembered this as I frantically was trying to plan a few articles (including one for Dell Horoscope about the IVC/KIA conference!) I'm supposed be writing whilst I was simultaneously preparing for an interview with the good astrologers of Athens.

At 3:00 am this morning. I mean I thought I was doing well keeping my Western astrology class going this week.

And then I discovered I didn't actually post my Christmas blog when I got to my office this morning. And I came across a note to myself that read : "Don't forget to book flights to Serbia". And then I remembered I have lectures to prepare for the Johannes Kepler Institute of Astrological Research and Education in Belgrade next month.

My website still has 2017 yearly horoscopes up. I'm not even going to put the link in until I fix that. Yikes.

I have three books that need to be finished. And several requests for interviews that I need to chase up and a few webinars (one for the Organisation for Professional Astrology) that I need to pull together. All of which needs to be done before the United Astrology Conference in May.

Of course there's also the conference in Italy in June

Oh and my teaching agency back in London is on my case.

So all of this is to say, it's been a little crazy. 

I like some craziness. I love the chaos of craziness because I work well without too much structure. Actually, I dislike structure altogether but I know other people need it so I just try to roll with it most of the time.

But I honestly think today is just one of those days that I look at the mess and think: "OMG, I need to spend a little time fixing up."

So I went for a good run at the gym. I'm getting better and I like it a lot better too. I organised my desktop (I can always tell when things are getting the better of me when my desktop is LOADED). And made a plan for catching up that included looking at my diary and making a commitment to clearing some of that massive to-do list.

It's just one of those days I need to take a bit of time to put the pieces back together.

But in the midst of the chaos, I found out another one of my articles will appear in Dell Horoscope!

So you see, it's all good!

I'll sign off with a photo of yours truly dancing at our Astrology Mega Party in Kolkata. Why am I posting a photo of my klutzy self dancing? Because I have NEVER been to an astrology conference where everyone danced with such abandonment and merriment. No matter what we disagree about or who we disagree with, today I am going to remember that astrologers laughed and danced together like never before in India. For a few hours, the astrology community boogied together and enjoyed each other's company whether they used the sidereal or the tropical zodiac.

I hope we will remember that it is totally possible to put our differences aside and just boogie with the chaos. I hope we can do it again in 2020.

A true riot of colours and sounds and there was even a drone hovering around to take more photos
How they set up a party in India!
Lynn Bell and Maurice Fernandez letting loose!
Everyone was dancing!
I think it's fair to say they had no idea what they were getting themselves  into

I may not be much of a dancer but yes, even I got up to dance
Now THIS is a proper DJ!!

Christmas in Kolkata

When I got on the plane (during Mercury retrograde AND a super full Moon) to come to India in early December, I had pretty much accepted there would be no "Hark the Herald Angles Sing" for me. The Christmas season in the UK had just about started in earnest and to be honest, I really wasn't all that fussed about not seeing any reindeer. To me it just seemed like a small price to pay for the adventure of a lifetime! I could sing along with the Christmas carols on youtube.
Churi and I rocking around a Christmas Tree in Kolkata
But as Christmas loomed closer, I started to get little pangs of missing the ho ho hos, the excitement of the children and that two week break. It didn't last too long--we've been working very hard here and I just got into the swing of things to the point I kept forgetting the Western world was starting to shut down for the holiday. And then one evening, I noticed there WERE Christmas lights starting to appear. And Christmas trees!
On reflection, my surprise is pretty silly. We celebrate Diwali, Chinese New Year, Eid and Hanukkah in London so why would I think Christmas wouldn't be celebrated or at the very least acknowledged in India? I mean globalisation, right?
In my own defence, it is abundantly clear that East and West view the world in completely different ways. The biggest difference? The West looks at the East as its poorest relation I think. Westerners look at every day life here in India and feel a sense of pity because of the poverty.
Just hold that thought for a moment.
A sense of pity because of the poverty.
Churni, Gopal and I with a reindeer or two
My experiences in India have taught me that there are two kinds of poverty: a material one and a poverty of the spirit. It's like the West is trained to look at the outside and the East is trained to look past outward appearances. I see the Western perception of "poverty" here but I also see tremendous joy and gratitude. I love the way nothing is really broken and thrown away: anything can be fixed here. I like it that life is seen as inter-connected: astrology, palmistry, gemology and yoga are just branches of the same discipline. Life is "modern" here and I can't think of a single thing that I miss (other than people which something different altogether).

Of course with the conference coming up, it's all very hectic and as a first time organiser of such a major international event, it's a very steep learning curve. My laptop sure is getting a workout. I hope it lasts! So from me to you, the Merriest Solstice how ever you celebrate it!

More Christmas lights than Oxford Circus: Park Street, Kolkata


UPDATE: 21 February 2018
Oh great goddess, you mean I forgot to publish this! Busy times. . .Trying to catch up with my blog this week.