Jai Ho!

I'm finally in India!

It's been a hectic but exhilarating week. I feel like I really belong and I'm doing something I've always wanted to do. No doubt this is because my Sun is conjunct my MC here in Kolkata: for the first time in my life, I have my own office, executive desk and a driver (!).  It's all been pretty intense with the conference just under two months away.

But that doesn't mean there isn't time for fun!

After 24 hours of travelling was I ever glad to see these guys!

I was greeted at the airport by my new office mates and taken to my new home. I'm happy to report that even though I travelled during Mercury Retrograde and a Super Full Moon, I had no problems whatsoever. So there!

Gopal Bhattacharjee and his lovely wife Churni (who I haven't seen in nearly two years) and I had a fabulous dinner and got caught up with all our news. It's amazing how Gopal and I have very similar views about bringing the two zodiacs together. Both of us passionately believe that the only way to address "the big question" in astrology is by talking about it. And the best way to talk about it is at an astrology conference!

As we were musing about this (at 3am!), we drove over a bridge and I suddenly got a bright idea.

"Stop!" I shouted. One of the many things Gopal and I agree about is that we are building bridges, not walls. We needed a photo of us on that bridge.

East meets West on a bridge at 3am!

We stopped and piled out and Gopal and I posed for this photo. So there you have it: East meeting West on a bridge (at 3am)!

One of my tasks here is to design a Western Astrology course for Jyotish students and boy, did Gopal ever do well with getting a professional teacher to do this task. I developed a curriculum, designed the prospectus, did the lesson plans, assembled the resources and delivered my very first class all in the first week. Super exciting times.

Being introduced to a new astrological perspective can be something that can be a little frightening. I clearly recall the moment I had my tropical chart converted to a sidereal one. I was at an Indian restaurant with a group of Jyotish astrologers and I walked through the door and into the meeting with a plate of food, declaring that I just couldn't possibly be a Taurus rising! These days I'm far more happy with my sidereal ascendant because it is in the Nakshatra of Rohini. In Indian lore, Rohini was the favourite wife of Soma (a Moon deity) whose other 26 wives got a little jealous. They conspired to have a curse put on Soma but changed their minds. The curse was pulled back but Soma did not escape completely so he now waxes and wanes. The star of Rohini Nakshatra is Aldebaran which is said to bring riches and honours. And one of its symbols is a Banyan tree! In the UK, it's kind of fashionable to name classes after trees and I have taught a few "Banyan Tree" classes! It just seems so synchronous!

The pupils of one of my classes

The ascendant of a horoscope is the starting point and to convert a tropical chart to a sidereal one means subtracting about 23 degrees off of the absolute longitude of every planet. So a lot of planets are likely to change signs and therefore rulers. My final exam question will ask my pupils to explain and justify which zodiac they think suits them. I can hardly wait to see what they have to say!

The best part of teaching is that I'm also learning alongside of my students. Oh and we don't wear shoes indoors! I couldn't resist taking a photo of our shoes:

I'm barefoot most of the time! These are the shoes of my pupils.

I usually get a little nervous teaching adults because they are so quiet, but these guys really are the creme de la creme. They are all preparing to compete for a place to speak at the conference--a tradition of Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology since it began nearly a Saturn cycle ago. I LOVE this idea of creating opportunities for new astrologers. There are also writing competitions for their magazine that is distributed to 20,000 people. Yes! 20,000 people!! It's a huge honour for them and it's no wonder so many prizes are given out each year.

Gopal, Churni and I also checked out the conference venue. I've been to this particular hotel before but I didn't realise it had so many lecture rooms. And by "lecture rooms" I mean HUGE lecture rooms! Check this out:

One of the "smaller" lecture rooms

This is one of the "smaller" rooms!! I keep telling Western astrologers to be prepared to speak to a huge crowd here in India. Even at the bigger conferences in the US, there is just no comparison to what it's like in India! And the luxury! It's just so mind blowing! And the food? I'm not much a sweets person but not even I can resist the Kolkata specialty Rasgulla! Like a lot of things, the outside appearance can be very deceiving: buildings that look like factories are so elegant and beautiful inside and desserts that look bland and uninteresting can explode with flavour.

Rasgulla. Have it! And register for the conference here

This seems a little trivial given all the other stuff that's happening but  have a new website. Check it out. It really is the BOMB!! And all the lovely testimonials from astrologers around the world about my re-published book (The Wessex Astrologer darling) are there too. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can keep up with all these developments happening in India!
And there's LOTS to keep up with in India!

I'll sign off with the ad that's going to go in an awful lot of newspapers. We're so excited to be leading the call for astrologers to focus on what we have in common (a love of the sky) rather than how we a re different. There's so much to learn from each other! And thank the gods that be for a decent photo of yours truly!

By the way I'm learning to speak Bengali! In London, I have many, many pupils who speak Bengali and I'm looking forward to seeing their faces when I speak their language!

PS "Jai ho" is a Hindi phrase meaning "Let Victory prevail"

Fighting the Fight

I've been struggling astrologically. I don't mean I'm having hard transits or anything like that (although I do have a transiting waning Saturn square to its natal position coming up). I mean I've been wondering what the hell was the point of being a "practicing astrologer" when I seemed to be stuck on saying the same things over and over. Surely, I've said all I can possibly say on the topic of astrology and education?

And if I can't get the non astrologers to listen to me by now, maybe the time has come for me to shut up about the topic.

I was thinking perhaps it was time to take another course in astrology or to branch out into another field. Maybe I just needed to take time off and, oh I don't know, do some painting or something. Maybe I needed to take a pottery class.  I hate to admit it but I was feeling eclipsed by the eclipse. With the need to get the back-to-school message out, I was competing with what felt like every other astrologer in the world trying to get their two pence worth in about the damn eclipse. I even kind of tried to join in the fun. But I was defo feeling the frustration of it all.

And then, um, I got totally eclipsed by a boy (uh oh). Well that certainly took my mind off of astrology.

Except it totally didn't.

Do I tell the boy that I'm an astrologer or do I let him work it out for himself when I eventually wear my starry earrings? What if he hates astrology and comes to think I had tried to conceal the fact that I'm an astrologer from him?

I had found it so totally amusing to be mooning about (as it were) after some man I had met at the gym that I jokingly put my musings on Facebook. And like the Moon in Leo/Sun in Cancer I am, got a whole lot of attention I wasn't sure I wanted.

So much for being eclipsed by the eclipse. I never thought there would be so much interest in my love life!

But aside from hearing some very conflicting advice from astrology friends about what I should do about my predicament in love, I also had the opportunity to step away from the persona of Alex the Astrologer and just be Alex.

I mean, who am I if not an astrologer? I've spent that past 18 years focusing on becoming a professional astrologer and maybe I had forgotten who Alex the normal person was.

Yeah I'll just wait until you stop laughing about me being normal.

In fact, let me reveal that Mr Man (as I call him) thinks I am pretty together. He's even marginally impressed with my organisationals skills, fortitude and focus, believe it or not. For a few days this felt like such a cool manifestation of my natal Sun trine Saturn that it felt totally natural and not a little unlike I had been denying the Saturn in me all the time I was trying to embrace the Ura-- Oh forget it.

So fast forward (or at least it feels like a lot of time has passed since my hot date last weekend) to hopping on the plane to Edinburgh to speak to the Scottish Astrological Association on the topic of astrology in education. Of course, I love to travel. And I love this particular lecture (and its variations) but I was thinking I really needed to find something else to lecture about. I mean what is the point? I was thinking no non astrologer is ever going to get it. Nothing will ever change.

No one is ever going to listen to an astrologer.

I've said and written all I can say and write.

Me and a few of the Edinburgh crew

But as I was lecturing, I found myself consumed by the passion to make a difference. And over the cups of tea afterwards as I continued to answer questions about my research, I knew the fight wasn't over just yet. And when someone like Mark Cullen tells you that he respects your genuine and original research, you know the job isn't done. Maybe, I thought to myself, I'll come to the end of my research and someone else can carry the can for awhile.

This afternoon, as I tried to make a plan for my next steps, I came across this article. It's about children who have committed crimes when they are in their early teens and who will be imprisoned for the rest of their lives. I passionately believe that with a little astrology, a difference can be made to the lives of so-called lost children. I don't think I've tried hard enough to make the required changes, to call attention to the research or, for that matter, to finish what I've started.

In the middle of a busy cafe in the middle of Edinburgh, I felt white hot tears of frustrated anger spill over. And I just knew my job in astrology and education is far, far from being over. Somehow I have to keep pulling the rabbit out of the hat. I have to find someone who is in a position to listen to me.

So if you're tired of me rabbiting on about astrology and education, well just bugger off and go do some painting or something. Join a pottery class.

I got work to do.

Time to give up?

NB: This was written a few days after the eclipse in August 2017. I didn't post because I couldn't quite get to the point I was trying to make. After a bit of time and reflection, I think I finally got to it. So today, I finished this post off before moving on to a new one.

Eclipse blah blah blah eclipse blah blah blah eclipse. . .blah blah blah.

Eclipse. . .

My newsfeed had been (and still is actually) clogged full of predictions about whats-his-face in the big white house for weeks and the eclipse. I had been getting well sick of hearing about the damn eclipse. Even non astrologers (formerly "muggles") were making predictions about the bloody eclipse. And when the Mug--I mean the non astrologers--start making predictions about eclipses,  I rather think we've reached saturation point.

"Guys," I kept trying to tell non astrologers, "Nothing happens on the eclipse!"

I even did a little research on the eclipse just to show. . .nothing ever happens on the day of the eclipse (actually things do happen on the day of the eclipse but it tends not to be too exciting unless you count the wedding of Chuck and Di--which took place the day before the eclipse). I even asked astrologers for their verdict about events that happen on the day of eclipses in the same Saros cycle and Great Goddess I got some wild answers. I couldn't work out what went wrong.

"Arrgg," I thought as my inbox got jammed with astrologers sending me mile long lists. "I must be being eclipsed to be so misunderstood."

"Astro peeps," I tried again, "I said EVENTS ON THE DAY OF THE ECLIPSE,"

"BUT ALEX NOTHING EVER HAPPENS ON THE DAY OF THE ECLIPSE"

"YES I KNOW THAT!" I said over and over (at least it felt that way to me). "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?"

So I went back and re-read my blog like twenty times and tried to make things more clear. Yes of course I know nothing ever happens on the day of the eclipse. I'm just experimenting! 

Anyway, this someone else PM'd me to tell me that nothing ever happens on the day of the eclipse so I re-read my original post on Facebook. And I have to admit, it was a bit confusing. No wonder. I changed it to make it more clear.

Let's just blame Mercury retrograde (haha) for that one. Sorry astro peeps.

Anyway, I thought I was eclipsed right out.

So my intention on the day of the eclipse was just to watch a few minutes of the news coverage--but I ended up getting completely sucked in. I watched the whole thing with what felt like most of the world. I thought the experience of watching the live broadcast was an incredible one: without sarcasm, I felt at one with the other observers of this incredible event. I whooped with everyone as totality was reached and whooped again when the sliver of the sun reappeared from behind the moon. It was terrifically moving. Seriously I thought I felt a collective shift.

Yep that must be the effects of the eclipse. Subtle yet profound.

And so to my confession. . .

I've been feeling a little weird about things recently. I joke that I'm deep, deep, deep undercover as a teacher and after a hectic tour, one needs a break. But even being locked out of Facebook, I still felt oddly exposed. Maybe this is because my progressed Moon is in Cancer. I don't know. But I needed quiet and solitude in recent weeks--which for me is odd indeed. I always feel my life is lived in the midst of one kind of storm or another (I work with teenagers day in,  day out). However, the more I tried to hide away, the more creative people got with finding me. I thought surely this had to be an effect of having one's Moon on the upcoming eclipse.

Perhaps it's exactly because life continued to be very hectic that I didn't notice that my entire approach to astrology was changing. And then I realised that the eclipse last month was the other bookend of an eclipse in 1999 (also at 28 degrees Leo). In August of 1999, hot on the heels of flunking my first astrology exam (oh there would be more flunking of exams to follow), I decided that yes indeed I did want to pursue my interest in astrology.

Eventually, I got my diploma a couple of years ago and can legitimately call myself a "professional" astrologer complete with the initials of DFAstrolS (don't knock it--lots of good astrologers gave up before they got there) after my name.

However, something's been bugging me and I haven't half been turning myself inside trying to work it out.

I sensed a need for clearing and clearance but damned if I could figure out what that meant for me and my astrology practice. Maybe, I thought somewhat pessimistically, it was time for me to step aside and find another interest.

I was eclipsed all right and it didn't half drive me nuts trying to work out what the hell was wrong.

Great American Eclipse 2017: Saros Cycle 145

Before there are any misunderstandings, a little disclaimer. . .I know that when we (astrologers) look at events around eclipses, we need to take into account bigger chunks of time rather than a specific day (and I think this article shows this). But I just wanted to do a little experiment by investigating events that happen on the actual day of the solar eclipse in a particular Saros cycle. I'm not trying to create new rules or anything, I'm just trying decide if I want to do more research.

I have to admit I have my hands so busy with other things that I don't get time (or the inclination) to research everything that catches my astrological fancy. But during my time off of Facebook, I've managed to clear some writing projects and as I woke up early on a Saturday morning, I thought I'd hit the laptop with some research on the upcoming eclipse. 

The first thing to catch my eye is that I know a lot of folks are hoping a certain someone is going to be eclipsed in a few days!

I have to admit to not doing too much of my own research into eclipses. I kind of take other people's word for it when it comes to eclipses--you know let them do the hard work so I can just quote them and get on with educating eager minds and doing my own thing with astrology and education.

But it seems like every astrologer I know is talking about the eclipse, about a certain someone in a big white house and even non astrologers are starting to get their hopes up. Pah, I thought. We can all live in hope (I'm a little off astrology predications since a little incident that happened in CA late last year).

There are lots of links to a variety of opinions on eclipses these days. And plenty more besides these.

And then there's this:

 

However, eclipses are components of bigger cycles and astrologers point out that events that happen near in time to them are related and over a long period of time, they sort of tell a story. Those cycles are called Saros cycles and here is the full, nerdy definition: A Saros is a period of approximately 223 synodic months (approximately 6585.3211 days, or 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours), that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. One Saros after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon turn to approximately the same relative geometry, a near straight line, and a nearly identical eclipse will occur, in what is referred to as an eclipse cycle. A sar is one half of a saros. A series of eclipses that are separated by one saros is called a saros series.
(from RH van Gent's "A Catalogue of Eclipses", pilfered from Wikipedia)

Saros series are numbered and the eclipse that is coming up, "The Great American Eclipse" is the 22nd one of Saros Series 145 (according to David or S.S. 19 South according to Bernadette Brady). So I was poking around one of David Cochrane's posts on Facebook and came across the charts he did from his astrology software that lists all the eclipses in this Saros cycle.

Now most astrologers I know are aware that Charles and Diana married on an eclipse but the upcoming eclipse is the same Saros cycle as the one the day after their wedding. And what should come up in my newsfeed? All the speculation that Prince Harry is about to pop the question to his girlfriend Megan Markle.

So that just made me more curious. And on this cloudy Saturday, I started looking at events that happen near to the day of the eclipses (even though astrologers usually consider a much longer period of time for the effect of the eclipse to kick in). There's another reason for my curiosity: the Saros cycle picks up a lot of my natal planets and the Great American Eclipse is bang on my natal Moon ("The Throne Room" for you Siderealists).

Bernadette Brady, from The Eagle and the Lark, says: "This is a family of eclipses that brings with it the element of surprise. Sudden happiness, a joyful event, the lucky break, the lucky win. The events can be believed and can positively change the person's life."

Well yes please then.

Bernadette has recently done a podcast with Chris Brennan which can he found here.

But to be honest, it doesn't really look like too many nice things happen on the days of the Saros Series 145 eclipses.

Here's a BRIEF summary. Before we get too excited, let me just say this is just a LITTLE test run before I decide if I want to take on another full scale research project (especially when I really do have enough nerdery on my plate at the moment).

11 August 1999

9 August 1999: Boris Yeltsin dismisses his Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin as well as his entire cabinet (for the 4th time)
10 August: A Pakistani Navy plane is shot down in India, sparking tensions between the two countries.
August 19 1999  In Belgrade, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. (a little far away from being exact to the day but I thought it was interesting).

30 July 1981

29 July 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana

On 30 July 1981, Dawda Jawara, the president of the Gambia is deposed in a coup whilst a guest at the royal wedding in the UK

19 July 1963
Colonel Jassem Alwan of the Syrian army leads an attempt to overthrow the government in Syria. Hundreds of people were killed in the battle that followed.

8 July 1945
Allied forces celebrate victory in Berlin (6 July 1945)
Norway declares war on Japan (6 July 1945)
Kalagong massacre by Japanese soldiers in Burma (7 July 1945)
Australian troops land in Borneo (8 July 1945)
Utah prisoner of war massacre (8 July 1945)

Funeral of John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia (9 July 1945)

28 June 1927
Japanese leaders meet to discuss long range strategy for the conquest of China and possibly the world (27 June 1927)

16 June 1909
Alfonso Pena dies on 14 June and a replacement is sworn in on 15 June 1909

5 June 1891
John MacDonald, Canadian Prime Minister dies

25 May 1873
President Thiers resigns and the right-wing monarchist candidate Marshal Marie Edme MacMahon is elected president (24 May 1873)

14 May 1855
The Italian revolutionary Pianori is executed in Paris for attempting to assassinate Napoleon III

3 May 1837
Panic of 1837: A financial crisis in the US that led to banks stopping redemption of paper currency to its full value in 10 May 1837

23 April 1819
(haven't found anything significant yet)

11April 1801
(haven't found anything significant yet)

31 March 1783
(haven't found anything significant yet)

20 March 1765
(haven't found anything significant yet)

9 March 1747
(haven't found anything significant yet)

26 February 1729
(haven't found anything significant yet)

16 February 1711
(haven't found anything significant yet)

3 February 1693
(haven't found anything significant yet)

24 January 1675
(haven't found anything significant yet)

13 January 1657
(haven't found anything significant yet)

2 January 1639
(haven't found anything significant yet)

So obviously A LOT of holes in the research that need to be filled. But it also needs to be said those holes don't mean nothing happened either. We all know news travels much, much faster these days. I also have to say, I didn't find eclipses to have a significant result in my research on adolescent behaviour and lunar phase. However, this was a bit of fun on a Saturday but I don't think I have the time or energy to check into bigger stretches of time. BUT I'm happy to collaborate if anyone wants to help.

Any takers?

In other news, I'm gearing up for my UK tour, including the Scottish Astrological Association. And I'm over the Moon to be a bridesmaid in Ana Carrapichano and Nick Dagan Best's wedding in Cape Town in early 2018. I couldn't be happier for them, for me (!) and for all the other family, friends and tribesmen who will be gathering to help them celebrate. Astrological wedding of the century! I've never been a bridesmaid before so I'm doubly excited.

MIAA

The morning after being locked out of Facebook. . .note smile

So for the past month I've been MIAA (missing in astrological action) because I was locked out of Facebook. I wasn't really out of action because I do have a website but comically, with T Uranus square my Sun I was also locked out of this at one point (all resolved)!

I didn't realise what a problem all this was going to be until my return to London when my email inbox was FLOODED with demands to know where I was. I was scolded by quite a few lurkers for not being more on the ball in letting folks know I had landed safely (guys, I'm not Buddy Holly!). How was I to know so many people follow my adventures when they don't like or comment on my posts? Fortunately, there's good old blogger and it kind of took the pressure off of having to answer so many emails just to be able to post that I really had landed safely.

But back to Facebook. . .

It was a bit of a bummer to get locked out of Facebook. I tried not to make a big deal out of of it but I realised what a problem it was when it dawned on me what a lot of work it was to respond to individual emails or to pick up the phone to actually talk to people.

And here's where we get to the source of the problem: my hearing ain't so good. I can't hear on phones unless I have earbuds in--and what a drag it is to know the phone is vibrating but not being able to get the buds out in time to answer the phone. And then to have to hear the message (and lately I get an awful lot of JUNK messages). Anyway, I decided that if folks want to talk to me, they could do it via written messages so I ditched the phone (actually the battery blew and I couldn't be bothered to replace it). I didn't bother to update the cell phone number stored on Facebook because wtf, why would I need to do that?

Anyhoo. . .with all the travelling, I guess Facebook wanted to make sure my account was safe and secure by sending codes to this old cell phone number (which I no longer had access to). And as there seem to be no humans one can reach on Facebook, I just had to be patient. As Tom Petty once said "The Waiting is the Hardest Part"!

I even went through the 5 stages of grief:

1) Denial: I kept compulsively trying to log in and then checking to see if I really was locked out

2) Anger: I try not to swear because as a teacher that is definitely not a habit I need to cultivate. But I did a lot of swearing in Facebook's direction

3) Bargaining: Well, I told myself, if I can't access my old account, I can always start from scratch (actually I couldn't because when I gave in and tried to start a new account. . .Facebook sent more codes to the old number!!). That was a bummer of a day.

4) Depression: Kubler-Ross herself said that the stages of grief didn't always follow the same order nor did they necessarily happen at all. I wasn't depressed but I was pretty frustrated.

5) Acceptance: Of course eventually, I just let it all go. I reckoned I played on Facebook far too often and I just focused on my work. And good goddess, I had a PILE of stuff to get on with. And I finished most of it before Facebook sent me an email with a link to help me.

Almost straightaway, I got access to my account again. I was delighted to see so many of my friends had been campaigning for my return! Gosh! Thank you!

Tea at the Queen's house (yes I do have permission to use their photos!)

So to update on what I'm doing now. . .I am deep, deep, deep undercover as a teacher of English as a foreign language. A lot of teachers are too knackered to work over the summer (and they get paid anyway) but as a working job teacher, I'm both lucky enough and experienced enough to be able to walk into any school and just get on with it. I've got a good gig going on in an ultra plush school in a VERY nice part of London. I've seen a West End show ("School of Rock" thank you very much!), went to Harry Potter World, Arsenal Football stadium (this experience is for another post!), every museum in town and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I even had tea with the Queen (OK maybe I pushed it a bit there--I did the tour of Buckingham Palace and had tea in the garden with all the other tourists including my pupils).

Oh and I have to give a MASSIVE shout out to Chris Renstrom!!! I've been using his daily horoscopes to teach English idioms and new vocabulary!! Astrologers always ask me how I squeeze astrology into education and when one has 20+ teenagers reading out their daily horoscopes, the only option is to stand back and admire the beauty of the heavens in the classroom! And I could not have wished for a better astrologer than Chris. Thanks buddy and I can't wait to see you in INDIA!!

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm in the quiet before the storm. The KIA/IVC conference in India is like 5 months away and very shortly, I'm going to be BURIED in academic papers. Good job I'm a teacher, eh?

More news on our great connections a bit later. . .

On the Chris Flisher Show

One of the biggest surprises of my recent tour to the US was being a guest of Chris Flisher on his show, "The Turning of the Wheel"! It was a very unexpected chance meeting that just happened to perfectly slot into our busy schedules. Chris gave me plenty of freedom to run my big mouth on astrology and education and how we're letting our children down by not understanding their needs or knowing when they need the extra support. I have a lot to say about the so-called modern educational system so you might want to have a listen if you have school age children.

Chris has been interviewing astrologers for decades and past shows featured Jeff Jawer, Steven Forrest, Dorothy Oja, A.T. Mann, Glenn Perry, Eric Meyers and many, many others. Our hour together just flew by and what a thrill to be interviewed by one of the best.

You can hear the show on Apple iTunes by going to this page

Interested unlearning more about how you can help your children to develop into strong and confident adults? My book "Growing Pains" is due to be re-published very, very soon.

 Contact me at www.alextrenoweth.com or Skype AstroAlex1984

Unpacking

I don't know why I expect things to be completely different when I come home after being away for six weeks. Perhaps it's because so much has changed for me that I think everyone and everything else would have changed too. At least my lunar gardening experiment has changed. . .

I pondered this on my back step as I shared a chicken sandwich with my cat Perseus and procrastinated on unpacking my luggage (I love packing but it can take me WEEKS to unpack). 

Sensing he was missing out on something, my other cat Mr Bubbles decided he was going to stop pretending he didn't miss me and come out for a bite of the sandwich. Did I mention it was 6am in the morning of my first day back in London? Nothing like good old jet lag to throw my sleeping and eating schedule way out of whack. I had showered, dressed, had nearly finished "dinner" as well as had consumed about 5 cups of tea since I had given up on getting some sleep before heading back to the classroom. Why do I always underestimate the jet lag? It was a good job I had so much time to consider these important questions. The way things were going I'd fall asleep before break.

I shouldn't waste my time worrying about the small things as they always prove to be nothing to worry about at all: my job at a summer English Language School is off to a great start (I managed to stay awake for the every single lesson!!), I have things to catch up with at home but nothing unmanageable, the cats are well (judging by how much of my sandwich they had eaten), I have articles appearing in magazines all over the place--at the request of paying editors (what the hell was I thinking giving my good stuff away for free?), I had two great interviews coming out soon: one with Chris Flisher (arranged by the amazing Carol Dimitrov) and the other Sheri Horn Hasan of Karmic Evolution. I'll post the links once the programmes are out. And there will be a follow up interview with Sheri at the end of August. Oh and if you think you've heard everything there is to hear about "Growing Pains" then you would be very wrong. "The Wolf You Feed" is coming on nicely too so watch this space.

Now, I'm having a few problems with Facebook as evidenced by a DELUGE of emails asking me if I landed safely so there are a few things I need to put to rest. I'm so sorry to have made so many people worry!! 

I'm not sure what Facebook is doing with my account--all but personal page are absolutely fine. Facebook is looking into it and I hope things will be back to normal soon. Thanks so much for all the concern expressed--clearly I have landed safely. All really is well--I've just been so busy unpacking and I really didn't think anyone was missing me or I would have updated a lot earlier!!

Is this the most totally cool banner ever?

San Francisco was a total blast! Linea Van Horn (and family) is a total hoot--and even better, she laughs at my stupid jokes. My talk for the San Francisco Astrological Society went extremely well. And how long have I waited for this banner?

Me and Ra after my talk

How cool is that? 

I remember seeing way more famous astrologers with this banner and I used to think "one day it might be me". And now it is!! Many thanks to Linea for starting the group all those years ago and to my astro brother Ian Waisler (more on him in a minute) for carrying the flame and inviting me to speak way back at ISAR 2016!

I also got to attend a Summer of Love exhibition with my buddy Ra who travelled all the way from Los Angeles to come to my talk!  Ra is also speaking in India so we had a chance to bounce some ideas off of each other. Here are a few photos. . .

So here I am all blissed out and listening to my beloved Janis Joplin on a beanbag chair during a psychedelic light show in San Francisco during the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. . .

My astro brother Ian Waisler is coming to visit me in London!! How much do I love this guy? There will be another reunion and more photos of fun and frivolity. I don't want to give too much away but let "Glastonbury" be a hint! Here's a photo of us looking all cute and innocent: 

So it's Cancerian season and you know what that means!! My birthday is coming up! I've had the most outstanding year of my life packed full of incredible achievements (that I never could have done without such outstanding support from friends and others who had faith in me) and opportunities, a near miss or two (I wish I had trusted Julija Simas' intuition because my gullible "everyone is really nice" attitude nearly led me to making some exceptionally bad choices--but hey, I did learn a few things) and in fact, I think I can honestly say, things went far better than I ever could have hoped to imagine!

So how 'bout that solar return??

Dear me. . .let me TRY to summarise: I've had P Sun and Mercury on my natal Ur/Pl coming up to partile conjunction for a couple of years. My P Moon and P Venus have both changed signs and my P Jupiter is on my N Sun! And that P Venus is cj the MC of my solar return--and my solar return Moon is cj my natal ascendant! I do have Venus opposite Saturn in my solar return but hell, if I haven't learned how to handle harsh aspects between these two planets by now then there's no hope.

So I end this wonderful year with absolutely no regrets or bitterness or wishes that I should have done things differently.

I've unpacked a very full suitcase and found "only" joy, satisfaction, acceptance and deep contentment and above all gratitude.

About the Astrologer

Alex Trenoweth was voted Best International Astrologer, 2015 for her dynamic presentation on her innovative and original research into Astrology and Education. Her book, "Growing Pains" is an exciting development in astrology as it combines classroom teaching experience, sound investigation and the potential to have a positive impact on struggling adolescents, parents, teachers and those who have been labelled "at risk". She writes the weekly and monthly horoscopes and other articles for the Cosmic Intelligence Agency, one of the largest astrological social media groups on the web and was also a speaker for the AstroSummit, a guest lecturer for the London School of Astrology and has spoken at several UK local astrology groups. Past international events include United Astrology Conference (2008) ISAR, State of the Art Astrology conference, the Kepler Conference, Congresso Internacional de Astrologia (Portugal), Kepler College, the Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology, Astrology Restored in Cape Town,  the International Academy of Astrology and NORWAC.  Upcoming events include San Diego, Las Vegas, the San Francisco Astrology Society and the Scottish Astrological Association.  Alex is also Vice Principal and Secretary General of International Affairs for the Krishnamurti Institute of Astrology and will will be taking up her residential post in India 2017. For queries, consultations or syndications, please contact Alex via www.alextrenoweth.com or leave a message in the comment section.

"Growing Pains" can be purchased in paperback or kindle format on Amazon or can be signed and posted directly to you by Alex.

About the New Book

There are two wolves fighting inside of me, the old story goes, one wolf is good and the other is evil. “But Grandfather,” asked the child, “Which one wins?” The Grandfather answered, “The wolf I feed.”

We might like to think that being good is a natural instinct. In fact, doing the right thing takes a conscious decision. Every day, we are met with temptation to get ahead at the expense of someone else, to get away with something we know is wrong or to cut corners if we think no one is watching.

Following on from her powerful book on astrology and Education, “Growing Pains”, Alex Trenoweth explores the benefits of using “the bad guy” of the solar system: Saturn. Often avoided and seldom understood, if we understand our own Saturn then we can help others to understand theirs. Using case studies of  highly successful people contrasted with convicted serial killers, Trenoweth deftly demonstrates the dire consequences of feeding the wrong wolf.