Today’s new moon in Leo occurs at 10.38am UK time. The Sun and Moon align in Leo, in a separating conjunction with Venus - still deep in her retrograde phase - and in an exact square aspect to Uranus. This new moon calls us to dig deeper than ever into our hearts, and to stand for the truth of love and sovereign expression, even in the midst of unanticipated change and upheaval.

This month’s new moon in Cancer occurs on 17th July at 7.33pm (UK time). With the Sun and Moon aligning in this sensitive water sign, we can make a deeper connection with our innermost being, as our attention turns toward the care and protection of what we hold most dear. Immersed as we are now in the warm belly of summer, the trees pregnant with their sweetening fruits, their roots drawing deep for watery sustenance, so we ourselves can draw on our own roots for sustenance and support. The sign of Cancer is under the guardianship of the moon, which draws us inwards, evoking memories of what has passed and reminding us of the familial threads that our woven through our soul’s journey.

This month’s full moon is in Capricorn occurs on Monday 3rd July at 12.39pm UK time. A Capricorn full moon always occurs during the Cancer season, when with the Sun in the sign of the sensitive crab, with the Moon opposed to it in Capricorn, the sign of the hardy goat. Cancer represents everything that we have been, and part of our work is to honour the past during the Cancer season, and to recognise the the patterns that have supported us historically, including those that have traumatised us. And to recognise also, that we cling to these patterns whether they have wounded us or assisted us on our journey.

We have a new moon in the late degrees of Taurus this week (Friday 19th May, 4.54pm UK Time). This new moon connects us to a slower rhythm, that of the natural world; it seeks to impart to us the goodness of life, that we might engage in good faith what with the first fruits of the season and to drop deeper into the sensuous, embodied dimension of life. This new moon rounds off a significant week astrologically, which has seen Jupiter ingress into the sign of Taurus and Mercury station direct, while a powerful t-square between Mars, Pluto and Jupiter has been gradually forming, becoming exact in the first degree of the fixed signs this weekend.

On Friday 5th May (6.34pm, UK time) we have full moon lunar eclipse in the mid-degree Scorpio to complete this eclipse season, following on the heels of the solar eclipse, which occurred on 20th April in the last degree of Aries. And what a powerful day for this eclipse to fall, with the Sun at 15˚ Taurus, the exact midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, the true astronomical Beltane. Beltane marks a turning point in the year, charged with the power of creativity and fecundity, a moment of great calendrical significance, when the ratio of daylight over darkness (in the northern hemisphere) has reached its maximum acceleration rate of increase.

On Thursday 20th April, we begin our first eclipse season of the year with a solar eclipse, occuring in the final, ‘anaretic’ degree of Aries. It is the second Aries new moon in a row, and so represents a second and much intensified call to connect with that burst of fiery Aries initiative to spur us into action and catalyse new initiatives. Being a solar eclipse, however, we need to be especially mindful of the shadows that can gather around our intentions at such a time, and check our true motivation and calling.

Pluto moves into Aquarius on Thurs 23rd March, making its first venture into this sign, just for two months, before retrograding back into Capricorn, and returning in January 2024 for its 20-year stay. This is a time where we must confront the shadow aspects of a sign that is too easily idealised and anticipated as a harbinger of what is good. It seems we are destined to experience the dark side of Aquarius before we can truly know its radiant, light-filled potential.

Welcome to Aries Season, and the astrological new year! And we really start this new round of the zodiacal wheel with a spark of fire, as the Aries New Moon lands within 24 hours of the Aries ingress at the Spring Equinox which occurred yesterday evening; a brief, but potent moment in the year and when light and dark are equalised across the world, and mythologically the forces of light are seen to overcome the forces of darkness, bringing renewal to the natural world.

This Sunday 12th March, Chiron and Jupiter make their conjunction in the fire sign Aries. These conjunctions occur at irregular intervals of between 13-19 years, the last one having occurred in Aquarius in 2009. Here we have the coming together of two planetary bodies of such stark contrast: the giant gas planet Jupiter: powerful, majestic, and overarching in scope, and Chiron a tiny rocky planetoid who irreverently crosses the margins between the visible and the invisible, moving inside the path of Saturn and beyond the path of Uranus in its highly eccentric oribt. As these two archetypes align this week, the conceptual knowing of Jupiter fuses with the insinctual wisdom of Chiron. Jupiter helps to grow the meaning and morality that shapes a society, while the wild knowing of Chiron pays homage to the deepest wounds of the soul, and connects us with the primitive roots of our being. Perhaps through their union, we might hope to rehabilitate the indigenous wisdom that lies deep within each of us.

The Camino pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain is something very close to my heart. I walked the 780km route myself in 2012, and it had a very profound effect on me. Shirley Maclaine’s book about her experience was an influential part of me deciding to undertake this intense 5-week journey. So I was thrilled this morning, when doing some research for my upcoming course on “AstroCartoGraphy & Relocation Astrology” to discover how beautifully resonant Shirley Maclaine’s astrocartography map is with that part of the world, and with her experience of walking the Camino.

This month’s full moon falls in charismatic Leo, the sign that invites us to open our hearts, claim our true sovereignty and radiate our presence. And it is a highly charged moon this, full of radical, revolutionary energy, as the Sun and Moon, opposed across the Leo-Aquarius axis, are making an exact t-square with Uranus at 15˚ Taurus. So whatever was seeded as an intention at the new moon (14 days prior), may now experience an unforeseen consequence, whether that be an unexpected change of plan, an accelerated insight, a crisis or breakthrough of understanding or perspective. This full moon also occurs with Venus (in Pisces) and Mars (in Gemini) in square aspect which ramps up the energetic sexual tension in our lives, and can intensify the dynamics in our relationships with others. It’s strong stuff!

The new moon in Aquarius occurs on 21st January (8.54pm UK time), and sees the Sun and Moon align in the sign of the progressive, idealistic and forward-thinking water-bearer. They fall in the 2nd degree of Aquarius, separating from a conjunction with Pluto in late Capricorn, and applying to a sextile with Jupiter in Aries, which suggests a more optimistic theme for the month, where we can turn over a new leaf and see things in a more expanded way. This new moon also occurs at a time when all the planets are now in direct motion (Mars, Mercury & Uranus have all stationed direct this month), this signalling a time where we can more easily move on with our projects and initiatives. The new moon is the time when we sow the seeds for the month ahead, and this is a good month to create new possibilities for networking, collaboration and visioning the future.

Happy New Year and blessings of twelfth night, and the official conclusion of the the festive season, as the moon becomes full in its home sign of Cancer (6th Jan, 11.08pm, UK time), and when the intentional seeds sown at the Capricorn new moon on 23rd Dec now reach their mature expression at full moon.

The Moon opposes the Sun-Mercury conjunction in Capricorn, with Mercury making its closest approach to the earth, during the midpoint of its retrograde cycle, making it quite tricky, introspective and not necessarily easy to articulate one’s feelings in words.

The new moon in Capricorn falls on Friday 23rd December and sees the Sun and Moon align in the sign of the goat-fish, in a square aspect to Jupiter. which is poised buoyantly and optimisitically in the first degree of Aries having recently re-entered that sign, beginning a new cycle through the zodiac. As I we pass through the Winter Solstice, the gateway in the year that Capricorn stands guard over, we acknowledge the return of the Light, in the depth of Winter, calling up our strength of endurance and determination to overcome hardship and commit to the long road ahead.

This month’s full moon falls in Gemini on 8th December (4.08am UK time), with the Moon in an exact conjunction to Mars, which will tend to activate the restless, inquiring and rather anxious Geminian nature. It also marks an accentutated moment within the Mars retrograde cycle. We are currently at the midpoint of that cycle, Mars having turned retrograde on 30th October, and remaining so until 12th January. The Moon-Mars conjunction is making a trine to Saturn in Aquarius, keeping us accountable for our actions.

We have a new moon in Sagittarius today (10.57pm UK time, 23rd Nov) as the Sun and Moon make their monthly conjunction, this time in the mutable fire sign where our spiritual or religious instincts are awakened as we reach for a higher sense of meaning and purpose.

The Taurus full moon will always ramp up the tensions between our material life and our psychological life, between the visible and the invisible, between what we have, and what we stand to lose. Occurring during the Scorpio season, as darkness comes around us like a cloak and the shadows of Autumn gather, the underworld lays claim upon our soul and we undergo a crisis of abundance; we try to preserve what is most valuable, in the midst of deep transformational process. With Mercury and Venus conjunct the Sun in Scorpio, we a re reminded that this is the time of Perspehone’s return to the nether realm.

The presence of Saturn-Uranus at the heart of this eclipse adds a whole other dimension to these themes. At a global level this may prove to be a symbol of dramatic economic upheaval. Alongisde this, we will likely see fundamental changes to the social fabric of everyday life, with huge gains for some, and losses for many, and in ways that are not immediately apparent.

During this eclipse the Sun and Moon are exactly conjunct Venus in the same degree (2˚ Scorpio), which draws us into an uncomfortable encounter with the power and intensity of love and attraction, particularly in the way that it can consume us emotionally. Venus, in Scorpio, can jealously guard her love, making demands of her lover as she searches for deeper intimacy and depth of commitment.

We have a full moon in Aries this Sunday (9.55pm, UK time), and it is a particularly poignant one. To say that things feel stretched right now would probably be an understatement for many of us! This Libra season has been a real balancing act so far, and this full moon is likely to both accentuate the tensions we are feeling whilst at the same time, drawing us into a greater awareness of the nature of relationship.