Author: Ingrid Hoffman

The Mirror and the Dark—Pluto enters Aquarius—November 19th.

It was not by a serpent, but by paper and ink that evil came into the world.
Hilary Mantel.

November is the season of falling leaves. Here in the north, a dying sun lies lethargically on the horizon. Trump’s in charge now, a landslide win has loosened a dark sludge of discontent that has been bubbling since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008 and financial markets tumbled and fell. As historian Heather Cox Richardson writes, “democracies die more often through the ballot box than at gunpoint.”

At this inflection point in our human story, for so many, this new era stirs up an ancient fear that flexes like the slim tail of a serpent as it slithers across centuries of patriarchy, torture and burnings, women’s bodies owned, defiled, bartered, and sold.

Sales of dystopian books have soared, while leaders hurry to pay homage to the man who is a mouthpiece for the collective. In response to the misogyny that ripples through society, the 4B movement goes viral. Young women refuse to marry, engage in sex or bear children, until they have their rights back. Margaret Atwood, author of the Handmaid’s Tale, posts on the Musk-owned X, “despair is not an option. It helps no one.”

The astrology mirrors the light and the darkness as we enter this crucible of change.

On November 19^th, Pluto returns to 0° Aquarius. There will be no sudden shift into the golden “Age of Aquarius”. It’s unlikely that “peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars.” Pluto’s potent energy infuses our lives over the next two decades, society as we know it is destroyed and reshaped. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is “Building structures for the survival of the group”. These new structures will only emerge slowly, as Pluto represents an invisible, unfathomable level of life. Pluto in the fixed, rational, air sign of Aquarius acts like a poultice for the trauma and heartbreak in the collective consciousness. The shadowy qualities of Aquarius are rationalisation, icy detachment, immoveable ideologies, totalitarianism, group think collated and controlled by algorithms, seduced by AI and science.

Societal reform, often accompanied by bloody revolution and fanaticism shattered societies during Pluto’s passage through Aquarius in the 1700s long before we had “discovered” Pluto in the darkness of our solar system.

Pluto the invisible planet was orbiting silently in space when Herschel “discovered” Uranus in 1781, that planet associated with breakthroughs and revolution. This was a time of upheaval and revolt in France, America and Haiti. The first Industrial Revolution was under way. Captain Cook and William Bligh searched for new consumables in southern lands. Pluto’s last passage through Aquarius (1778-1798) marked the beginning of the climate crisis and a soulless sense of alienation and loneliness that now threatens our survival as a species.

We speak glibly of “patriarchy”, yet as Pluto gouges out embedded beliefs and offers a different way to live, how many of us will be willing to relinquish our “comfortable” way of life? How many of us will be willing to question and think deeply about personal and collective issues. How many of us will really be willing to share our resources and live equally?

Writes Angela Saini in The Patriarchs, How Men Came to Rule, “patriarchy “is not ‘they’; it’s all of us”. And changing it would mean losing many of the things many people cherish…to really radically create a completely equal society would mean rethinking everything fundamentally. Marriage, childcare, how we structure societies … work, pay, everything. It would mean challenging class, capitalism … monarchies … We’re not just creatures who want to live equally. We’re also creatures who care about the cultures that we’re in. And challenging culture is really hard.”

The full moon in Taurus on November 15^th carries the uncomfortable, erratic signature of Uranus, co-ruler of Aquarius. Uranus stirs up the grounded nature of this Taurus moon by tight conjunction, reminding us that nothing is certain, nothing is permanent, that we must redirect ourselves now and rebuild in new, unexpected ways. Uranus transits often accompany a sense of alienation from bedrock aspects of life and thrust us into the uncharted terrain of choice and crisis that we’ve been doggedly resisting.  As we choose courage over fear, Saturn turns direct, also on November 15^th, as the log-jam of obstacles that have been blocking our progress since June, at last begins to move and we find a way through.

The archetype of Saturn carries ponderous associations with fate and consequence as the western civilization turns to rubble, and unfettered growth and expansion are bounded by the inconvenient truth of climate crisis and mass migration. “Everything you love, you will eventually lose. But in the end, love will return in a different form,” writes Susan Cain in her new book, Bittersweet: how longing and sorrow make us whole. In a world where enforced smiles and white-knuckled positivity clench against the wild winds of adversity, she reminds us that “light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired.” 

These next weeks and months will require determination and effort, as Mars and Pluto stay within orb of their opposition until mid-January and Mercury turns Retrograde on November 25^th-December 16^th so take time to rest and restore amidst the busyness of work deadlines and social commitments.

As we stand collectively and personally at the threshold of this new era, may be hold our dear ones close. Pluto’s long slow passage through Aquarius will demand of us all that we continue to engage our imaginations, trust our intuition, bow our rational minds to the ancient wisdom our hearts.

I am fully booked ’till mid-February 2025. To make your booking for an astrology reading in the new year, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Thin Places—Full Moon in Aries—October 17th.

Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby—awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess. Lemony Snicket.

This is the month when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, a time when our soul seeks the deep, dark root of rest and reflection, even as the world calls for lights and action.

In October, nature gathers her beauty in one last incendiary bolt of colour. Trees wear crowns of copper and carmine. Hawthorns and rowans bear clusters of bright berries. In the shadowed hollows, lacy spider webs spangled with silver dew drops stretch over fronds of burnished bracken. Here in the north, soft mists ready us for the darkness that accompanies winter.

In those tender, thin places where we feel exposed to the world’s hard edges, October’s Aries full moon illuminates the pain and suffering in the world. Aries is an action-oriented sign, ruled by the planet Mars. So, as we tune into the energy of this lunation tonight, we acknowledge those moments when we pushed past our soft place of comfort, and dared to be brave enough to receive what we longed for and feared to ask for.  When we trembled yet said, I love you.

It takes courage to love bravely in a divisive, disconnected world, where toxic individualism has wreaked havoc on our relationships. In a world where we have thousands of “friends” and no one to hold us tight when our heart is breaking. Where “artificial intimacy” leaves us more alone than ever. As this moon cycle ripens in union with Chiron in Aries,  we honour those few precious true hearts who have journeyed with us over the past six months. The total solar eclipse of April 8^th, also aligned with Chiron, a thin place in everyone’s birth chart that holds our scar tissue.

This lunation ramps up the most significant astrological event of late 2024 and early 2025: a tense, confrontational engagement of Mars opposite Pluto which builds in intensity from October 14^th and will remain in orb until January 22^nd. This strained opposition will colour our own lives and be mirrored in world events as destiny delivers what it delivers. Mars in Cancer entered his shadow on October 5^th and will station Retrograde in Leo on December 6^th opposite Pluto.

Mars Retrograde cycles often coincide with low energy levels, as Mars, the war god, retreats from battle. We may need to reassess our goals, or even postpone things till the battle-weary Mars stations direct on February 24^th at 17° Cancer.

Mars carries the warrior/hero/heroine archetype, and in a world that is predisposed to battle, our conflict might be within or projected outwards onto those we love.

Pluto now moves through the final anaretic degree of Capricorn, exposing the shadowy dimensions of Capricorn’s ruthless obsession with ensuring survival at any cost as tyrannical father-figures take their last stand. Capricorn carries the mantle of authority and responsibility traditionally held by the head of the family.

As Pluto trawls across this final degree of Capricorn, another sexual predator, former owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, is exposed, revealing enablers who averted their gaze. The fine-spun, golden cocoon of privilege and powerful connections continues to insulate those who feel entitled to take what they want when they want it.

Pluto has been moving through Capricorn since 2008, exposing the putrid rot of toxic masculinity and patriarchal lust for power-over others. Pluto represents a primal urge to survive, which often becomes distorted as the dark power-over dynamics in our relationships, as strongmen (and women) crush dissent, and salesmen in the guise of politicians tap into the throbbing vein of discontent and vulnerability that pulsates through the masses. As we question the collective beliefs that thread through his-story, authoritarian Tyrant Fathers continue to peddle an age-old lie: some people are better than others. To the hollowed out middle classes, the promise of going back to a rose-tinted way we were is seductive. Blaming the woes of society on those they perceive as being beneath them provides a conduit for feelings of impotence and rage.

In how many ways have our lives been affected, our thin places pierced and scarred by those all-powerful Tyrant Fathers and Mothers? How have we been seduced by the glitter of wealth or power, fallen asleep as they have stolen our self-worth with impunity, undermined our talents, trampled our hopes and dreams? Pluto enters Aquarius on November 19^th and will not return to Capricorn for another 232 years, so these next weeks mark a culmination of this Pluto cycle.

There are three exact alignments of Mars and Pluto: 3^rd November 2024 (voting day in the US is two days later), 3^rd January, and 27^th April.

For those who are the mouthpieces for the collective, the gods seem to be smiling on Donald Trump. The day before voting, expansive and opportunistic Jupiter in Gemini conjoins Donald Trump’s North Node of fate and his Gemini Sun (identity, core aliveness) while benefic Venus and the Moon (the public) in optimistic Sagittarius brush over his South Node (challenges and gifts from the past) and natal Moon (emotions, instincts.) Unpredicible Uranus (excitement, freedom), in the most public place in his birth chart, delivers a radical and erratic bolt from the blue which, in the past, has worked in his favour. Traditionally these transits are tipped to fascilitate prosperity, abundance, and good fortune. Transiting Saturn (duty, responsibility, limitations, delay, boundaries) in Retrograde in Pisces moves over Chiron (wounding and healing) in Kamala Harris’ birth chart on November 5^th. A nebulous Neptune Retrograde makes an insecure quincunx to her Libra Sun/Mercury, as Pluto makes a challenging square, suggesting that the rigours of this battle may have had a detrimental effect on her health. Mercury enters Sagittarius on November 3^rd, and Sagittarius carries the archers far-sighted vision, a propensity for truth telling, or shooting from the hip.The months ahead will be telling, as we ask ourselves what aspects of own shadowy selves do our strongmen leaders, our false gurus, and our brittle shining celebrities mirror.

It takes courage to love bravely in a divisive, disconnected world. It takes courage to allow love to permeate our thin places when we can no longer trust what we see with our eyes. Yet now the time has come to take a stand.  “Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all,” writes Toni Morrison in Beloved.

To book an astrology reading, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Seasons of the Heart—Lunar Eclipse Pisces Full Moon—September 18th.

A slow soft light settles over the meadows. Leaves flutter,  bronze and golden butterflies in the cooling air and choirs of migrant birds begin their long pilgrimage south.

“To everything there is a season,” yet change, like all initiations, rearranges our feelings, evokes dread or the salve of denial. As each bright leaf falls, we may be moving through our own season of fall. We may be weary, emotionally raw, finally able to disconnect from a difficult situation. Finally ready to admit that all the love and time and energy we have invested in a person, or a place, or a career will never bring us what we long for.

It’s eclipse season. A season of dimming light when our instincts are whetted by the necessity of endings. Some people may feel the energy of the eclipse a month before the first pair of eclipses. They experience a strange sense of hightened awareness that lingers for a month or more after the second eclipse.

Nebulous Neptune conjoins the moon in Pisces on this lunar eclipse, creating a force field of vulnerability and heightened emotion. This Neptune/Moon conjunction is infused with a sense of nostalgia, but can also quite literally present as extreme wet weather, high seas, and storms. Neptune is also associated with delusion and illusion—castles in the air, flights of fantasy—so, pause for a few days before committing to a decision that may be flawed. Dedicate time for self-care. Consciously disconnect from what agitates and disturbs the nervous system.  Mercury in discerning Virgo will oppose Saturn this weekm supporting considered thought processes and deep listening, yet also exposing a tender place of vulnerability. Be mindful of how the words will land before you send them out into the world.

Mercury joined the sun in Virgo on Monday 9^th September, and on Wednesday 11^th, it returned to the degree at which it turned Retrograde (August 4^th). In astrological jargon, it is moving out of shadow, which means returning to speed and strength. Now is the time to be receptive to new perspectives but fact-check before assimilating information as a “truth”. Mercury enters the shadow again on November 7^th as votes are counted in America and the Mercury Retrograde cycle begins again on November 25^th.

Saturn is still moving very slowly, in Retrograde, through Pisces, clearing the way for new beginnings as activities and projects come to completion. What has outlived its purpose dies and decays. We learn our own limitations, confront own fear and sense of inadequacy. Saturn also presents as responsibility and accountablity.  As I write this post Apple loses an EU court battle and must pay a tax bill of over €3 billion to Ireland. Google loses a court appeal and must pay a fine of over £2 billion.

Just before the new Virgo Moon on September 2^nd, Pluto made its final significant retrograde back into Capricorn and will turn direct on October 12^th.

Pluto will spend only two months in Capricorn before returning to Aquarius again on November 19^th. It will remain there until 2055. These next two months will be especially impactful for those who have personal planets in the last degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, and early degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. This marks the end of an intense evolutionary process, a finishing up phase, that will leave a lasting imprint on our lives.

Pluto has been moving through the sign of Capricorn since the global financial crash of 2008. Over these past 16 turbulent years, we have entered a world where nothing is as it seems. Deep fake, deep state, made-for-media politics, and a babble of voices competing on social media, which serves as an accelerant to hate speak, and them-and-us mistrust.

The true meaning of democracy might have to be re-examined as Pluto moves through Aquarius over the next two decades.

Pluto has circled slowly through the darkness of outer space to the to the place it stood on July 4^th, 1776, when the nation of America was born. Over these past 16 years, America has experienced the long slow process of  its first Pluto Return. As reminders of the painful legacy of dispossession, enslavement, ecocide, and genocide seep through a nation experiencing so much polarisation and collective angst, America is also experiencing a Chiron Return. America’s origins must be either confronted or repeated.

Transiting Mars opposes Pluto on the day of the US election, signifying a ruthless and merciless power struggle, the potential for violence, the possiblity of a contested election.

Unpredictable and erratic Uranus is still conjunct the fixed star of Algol, making a conjunction with Kamala’s Jupiter on election day and also back on Trump’s midheaven, aspects that will be positive in different ways for both candidates. The Moon moves into conservative Capricorn on that day, and Saturn Retrograde trines a Scorpio Sun signifying a stable, conservative tone which may favour either candidate, depending on your political prism. With Uranus activating the birth charts of both candidates, this election will deliver drama, uncomfortable reckonings. And Pluto will still be in Capricorn, a sign ruled by Saturn (responsibility, hard lessons learnt with humility, reality and the potential for enlightened leadership). Already we are witnessing the conflict between the energies of Neptune (suffering and sacrifice, compassion and confusion) and Saturn (responsibility, self-sufficiency, defensiveness and mistrust). Whoever “wins,” they will have to deal with the divisive effect of the coming Neptune/Saturn conjunction in Aries nearly exact in July next year and perfect at 0º Aries on 20^th February 2026, as our own inner conflicts and projections shape our reality.

At this turning point in the year, the equinox on September 22^nd readies us for wintering. “Autumn poses the question we all must live with—how to hold onto the things we love, even though we know that we and they are dying. How to see the world as it is, yet find light within that truth,” writes Pico Iyer in his exquisite book, Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells.

As we tend to the grief that accompanies endings, may we pause awhile, make space to feel the emptiness, then prepare to turn our attention inwards as the nights draw in.

To book an astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Shine—Full Moon in Aquarius—August 19th.

Darkness will always give you an opportunity to create your own light—Iain Thomas.

August’s full moon arrives trailing appellations: She’s a Supermoon, a Blue moon, an Aquarian moon.

In these dog days of summer, as Sirius, the fabled Dog Star rises with the sun and Venus shimmers at sunset, this full moon blazes close to the earth and for a fleeting moment, softens the rough edges of this world with her shine.

In a world that so often steals our ability to see any light, this full moon arrives at a peak point astrologically. Today, a graceful celestial duet commences as Jupiter in airy Gemini (growth, expansion, optimism, hype and misinformation) squares Saturn in watery Pisces (discipline, effort, limits, finality, contraction). This marks an all-penetrative change in tempo. An opportunity to create our own light even when the world around us seems so dark.

This choreographed dance across the night skies repeats three times: August 19^th, December 24^th (Jupiter Retrograde 14° Gemini and Pisces), and June 15^th (Jupiter exulted at 1° Cancer and Saturn in fall at 1° Aries.)

This transit calls for cautious optimism and determination. Saturn transits arrive as the henchmen of stasis that often thwart our efforts to move forward. Yet they present as circumstances that grow us up, if we’re willing to learn. Jupiter brings bold vision, big possibilities, and the opportunity for self-enquiry as we carefully consider what will truly fulfill us. This is about the slow build towards a future that will feel more aligned, more authentic. If we are on the precipice of a big decision, these coming months will require thoughtful planning, patient vision holding. If we are feeling stagant or stuck, we might use this time to rest, enrich our connection to spirit. As we let go of the heaviness or fear,  perhaps we might become more compassionate and accepting of our imperfections, validate the small incremental steps that allow us to revive our energy, define ourselves once more.

This Saturn/Jupiter cycle was seeded at 0° Aquarius on the December solstice of 2020. This alignment marked the start of a pivotal period for humanity as we emerged from months of stifling restraints that prohibited our innate need for touch and connection.

Pluto has been energising this generative 0° Aquarius point  this year. We have already glimpsed the future: civil unrest, cancel culture, fanaticism, waves of migrants and homelessness, and the naïve belief that the new gods of technology and AI will offer redemption. Yet there is still so much goodness in this world. The innate kindness and generosity of so many who ask, “how can I help”? When the world looks so dark, let’s remember that Martin Luther King once famously said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

This big-bodied moon makes an unsettling square to Uranus, wild card of the zodiac. Look for  signposts and signals, embrace unexpected news that might shed light on a blind spot. Find the courage to take that momentus U-turn, that in hindsight, “was for the best.”

Mercury Rx times typically highlight setbacks, detours and delays that challenge our resourcefulness, hone our ability to be grateful for small wins.

One day before this lunation, in the lead up to the US Democratic Convention, a charismatic Mercury Retrograde in Leo is “cazimi”, nestled in the heart of the sun. When Mercury is re-forged in a tight alignment with the sun, it is bathed in the strength and vitality of solar fire, escorting brilliant ideas, effortless solutions, hightening our ability to think counter-intuitively. “The real heroes of race and culture would always be the people who stepped out of their own line to make a larger circle,” writes Naomi Shihab Nye.

The tail end of August’s dog days offer the potential for quiet introspection and attentive, practical planning. Mercury is Retrograde August 4^th-28^th moves from Leo into the sign of Virgo, as we bring our attention to the little things that make up the hours and days of our lives. Virgo presides over our health—what we ingest into our bodies and into our minds.

Past and future intersect this over-heated summer. For those who have planets or angles between 26-28° Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, this energy might manifest quite literally as an epiphany: a sudden, unexpected turn of events that compels us to redirect our plans in unexpected ways.

From Bangladesh to Butler Farm, Southport to Venzuela, it’s been an impassioned summer. We witnessed the ruthless, destructive, chaotic symbolism of the volatile Mars/Uranus/Argol conjunction portrayed in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13^th. Uranian symbolism infuses the race to the White House as Kamala Harris takes to TikTok, and Swifties mobilize in support.

On July 19^th, Mercury entered its shadow phase and came into square with the separating Mars/Uranus conjunction—a symbolic and literal electrical overload. A global IT outage reminded us of all of the fragility of our reliance on technology.

The horror of a mass stabbing of young girls and their teacher at a dance workshop in Southport on July 29^th froze a nation. Communities circled in grief. The moon and Uranus met in the heavens and a garrulous Mars in Gemini raced towards Jupiter, ratcheting up malicious misinformation, algorithms roused primal fear. Archaic xenophobia in deprived areas of the UK, where the scourge of poverty is the real villain, was deliberately unseen by millionaire politicians and the billionaires of Silicon Valley.

Wild winds whipped up fires in the suburbs of Athens as temperatures soared on August 12^th as the destructive energy of Mars combined with the largesse of Jupiter in airy Gemini.

Stock markets shuddered while glossy wolves of Wall Street gobbled up more profit.

The celebratory combative Mars/Jupiter combination was depicted in the triumpant, combative and courageous sporting achievements of the Olympian gods and goddesses.

Venus and Saturn form a tense T-square, activating the Mars/Jupiter conjunction from August 16^th-19^th, dismantling what has reached breaking point, illuminating situations that must change. This is about faith over fear as things fall apart: as we leave a stultifying job, move to a new city, finally have the strength to keep moving towards what feels authentic. 

The vibratory signature of this grand finale Supermoon may light the way to a flowering of purpose, a deeper way of listening, a different way of seeing, an outward rush of a life force that floods through us even in the darkness. “Despair is our chance to wrestle with fire and come through,” writes Christina Baldwin. Trust. Don’t let go.

There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this―Terry Pratchett

Please get in touch if you would like to book an astrology consultation: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Way marker—Full Moon in Capricorn—June 22nd.

How beautiful to finally understand that solitude is a mark of self-worth… to truly accept that you, alone, are worthy of your own company—April Green.

A striking full moon in the sign of the Sea-Goat stares into the heart of the sun tonight.

On June 22^nd a rare lunistice, or lunar standstill, occurs once every 18 years when the moon is at the most extreme point in her cycle. We have reached a place of pause where we can rest in this moment, reflect on how far we have come, maybe allow ourselves to turn instinctively to what nourishes our soul. This is a time to take some time alone. Perhaps to set an intention, be clear and conscious of what it is that we long for. Capricorn accompanies a steady quality that we draw upon when we set healthy boundaries, focus on goals, harness the self-discipline to put in the hard work required. Yet, this unusual moon, warmed by the intense light of the midsummer sun, carries with her a trace of something out of the ordinary. She’s just entered the sign of Capricorn, a sign inbued with the qualities of integrity and responsibility on good days; steely ambition and calculating opportunism on days when the Devil Wears Prada. As the moon moves through Capricorn in our own birth chart, she is a steady reminder of the need to stay true to qualities like maturity, integrity, and discernment, in a world where the clapping hands of social media or a hunger for worldly power can rip us from our roots, shred our self-respect.

The moon is in her “detriment” in Capricorn.  When a planet is in its detriment, also called “in exile”, it journeys circumspectly across a foreign landscape. It functions in ways that might seem strange or unexpected. It can be extremely creative and innovative as it seeks new ways to be in the world, to find its highest expression. This full moon is also “out of bounds”, another technical term that conveys a quality of energy that often correlates with feelings of being an outsider, of not fitting in, of behaving unconventionally. This lunation reminds us of the ancient archetype of the exile, the outsider who behaves differently and is a stranger in a foreign land, a feeling we may experience in situations where we feel our aloneness or differentness, when we feel unheard, ignored or misunderstood. We may feel exiled in our communities, cast “out of bounds” by the choices we have made to experience a life that does not conform to what is deemed to be “normal,” or lost and adrift in frantic activities that untether us from our faith, our values.

The astrological tempo changes, at this high-point of the year. The mid-summer solstice on June 20^th or 21^st (depending on where in the world you live) marks the sun’s still point in its passage through the heavens, the nadir of mid-winter in the south, a celebration of light here in the north. The sun, Venus, and Mercury are now moving through self-protective Cancer, a sign that contains a reservoir of emotion and vulnerability. A sign that reminds us of the comforts of home and belonging in a world where so many are displaced from the comfort of home and community by famine or war, where mass migration now has become a contentious political and moral issue.

We are halfway through this year, a year of 80 elections as more than half the world’s population go to the polls. In some countries, fragile hopes for change have already been crushed by authoritarian governments; in others, pacts have been made by opposing parties to work together in cautious coalitions; while “snap elections” deliver a cacophany of harsh rhetoric devoid of fact-checking.

As Jupiter races through loquacious Gemini, and the Nodes move through Aries (self) and Libra (other) calcified ideologies are cut and reshaped by compromise. In South Africa, a collective psychological watershed has been reached. South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa (transiting Uranus opposing his Scorpio Sun) and the former liberation movement, the African National Congress have agreed to form a government of national unity with the pro-business Democratic Alliance. In France, Emmanuel Macron’s gamble on the dissolution of parliament has provoked a political crisis that may send France moving Eurosceptic hard right. Under a confusing transiting Neptune square to Macron’s Sagittarius Mercury and sun, the astrology suggests that Macron’s flutter may not end well. Here in the UK, transiting wild-card Uranus conjunct Sunak’s sun prompted another snap election punt with an election on the symbolic day of Independence, July 4th.

“After the ecstasy, the laundry,” author Jack Kornfield reminds us as governments turn to the daily task of translating the collective hope for change into an imperfect political system. Saturn, the ruler of this moon, turns Retrograde on June 29^th, a collective ebb of the tide, an invitation to slow down to allow something new to seed and gestate over the next nine months. As Saturn moves Retrograde, it’s energy turns inward prompting us to reassess, to  perhaps to respond to outer events with more maturity, more caution. Typically, the last passage of Saturn over this degree point will quite tangibly manifest what was seeded and has grown very gradually over the slow months of Saturn’s slow retrogression, so it will be in our Pisces house that we may encounter a necessary delay, an internalisation, or a phase of withdrawal. Saturn begins to form a tense square to Jupiter from 17^th to 23^rd August and again in December 23^rd to early January, requiring us all to temper our hopes with a good dollop of reality, to think clearly before adding more fuel to the narrative delivered by political performers who shock and dazzle the punters with their sociopathic rudeness and preposterously impossible promises.

Tonight, as this unusual full moon casts her light over a noisy, colourful, glittering world, she reminds us that solitude is a balm for fried and frazzled nerves. May our innate integrity steady us as we take stock of what truly matters. May we move with discernment amongst the babble of voices calling for freedom and for change. May we find the courage to question our beliefs and the beliefs that were never ours to begin with—with clarity and compassion. If we allow ourselves to be still tonight, we might hear change approaching, and if we’re hesitating at the threshold, still holding tightly to a situation that is stunting our evolution, now might be the time to step over, let go and begin again.

To book a private astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Possible—Full Moon in Sagittarius—May 23rd.

“May is the month of expectation, the month of wishes, the month of hope,” wrote Emily Brontë.

All things seem possible in May. Frothy hawthorn spills  along hedgerows, a diaphanous train of dazzling white. Slender spikes of foxglove thrust skywards. Daisies, bluebells, buttercups, and floaty cowslips tumble over pathways. Nature rejoices in her loveliness and as change swirls through our lives, scattering summer’s petals, May’s full moon falls in the expansive sign of Sagittarius.

Under these hope-filled moonbeams, we may glimpse what is possible as we imagine what William Ury, author of Possible: How We Survive and Thrive in an Age of Conflict describes as a balcony, a place of far-seeing perspective within ourselves.

For those whose birth charts are tuned to the “wavelength” of 2º Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini or Virgo, this lunation may hitch up a yearning for freedom, hoist a longing to sample a smorgasbord of new experience, expand horizons, dare to do differently.

In Sagittarius, we soar above the triviality of daily routine. We become explorers, adventurers, pilgrims seeking signs and finding meaning. We challenge our bodies and our minds as we reach for the stars, dream the impossible dream, and are lifted and struck by a firm belief that it will all work out in the end.

Sagittarius is ruled by portly Jupiter, who so often evokes the kind of laughter that brings tears to our eyes and softens the hard edges of the world. We invoke the buoyancy and resilience of Jupiter when we keep the faith, when we look up, when we notice the silver lining in the dark clouds of circumstance. Although popular astrology associates Jupiter with “luck” and “good things”, inconstant Jupiter, the astrological ruler of Sagittarius and Pisces, is also an archetype so often imbued with a tincture of loss and longing.  Despite our prayers, despite our positive affirmations, the veils of illusion go up in flames, our lives scorched to the ground. Jupiter is the roll of the fickle dice, the ever-spinning Wheel of Fortune. In myth, Jupiter didn’t stay around long, he was always off, chasing the next conquest, taking what he wanted, when he wanted, just because he could. The shadow that stretches behind Jupiter’s cheery positivity is self-absorbed grandiosity, a cavalier entitlement, which may be highlighted as Jupiter moves through the mutable, easily distracted sign of the Twins from May 26^th to June 9^th, 2025.

Jupiter’s first aspect after changing from earthy Taurus into airy Gemini is a trine to Pluto (now moving Retrograde in Aquarius) on June 2^nd, expanding the potential for healing and renewal.

This could present as a realignment of our moral compass in a relationship power struggle, a readjustment in a situation where ethics loom large. This aspect prompts us out of a stuck place, it’s a call to make an important change, or a empowering recognition that we must free ourselves from a situation that has been stifling.

Jupiter is also associated with the Guru or the Teacher archetype and its contacts to sensitive points in our own birth chart deliver opportunities to embrace something new. This is an expansive, positive prompt if we are willing to stand on that imaginal balcony and see the world with new eyes.

“There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person” wrote Rumer Godden. As we air each room, every day, we may discover the confidence and courage to listen to the whispers of our heart’s desire.

Jupiterian themes may be prominent in our lives between May 26^th this year and June 2025 as Jupiter expands his influence across sensitive points in our birth chart and in the chart of nations. Jupiter’s presence in Gemini supports those things that require mental focus, careful choice, considered speach and attentive listening. As nature blossoms, the sun entered the sign of the Twins, on May 20^th to be joined by Venus on May 24^th. Mercury, winged messenger, also enters Gemini on June 3^rd. If we can avoid distractions, this will be a wonderful time to begin a writing project or seek new social connections. The danger here is that we may overextend our nervous system, scatter our energies, take on too much, too quickly, or too soon.

Jupiter is a complex symbol in astrology.

Jupiter’s shadow is all sparkle and shine, as arrogance and ego trick us into a false sense of our own potency and invincibility. We fall for appearances, can’t see that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. On May 15^th, as the moon moved through self-mythologising Leo, Netflix released a three-part documentary, Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal.

Ashley Madison, the Canadian social networking and dating service dubbed as a “business built on broken hearts” was launched in 2002. Pluto and the south node were moving through the expansive, opportunistic sign of Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius back then.

In the Norse, Greek, and Roman pantheons, Thor/Zeus/Jupiter were celestial sky gods. Supreme deities, elitist, autocratic. They dispensed moral and religious justice, yet from the earliest times these self-indulgent gods were exempt from their own moral injunctions. On a whim, they bestowed good fortune, dispensed justice, and claimed Droit du Seigneur with impunity.

Jupiter and Venus were conjunct in Leo (passion, core aliveness, self-expression, feeling adored) when, in 2015, the premier destination website for clandestine affairs was hacked, exposing sensitive and supposedly confidential information, detonating the private lives of more than 37 million subscribers in 40 countries. The human cost of the data leak was devastating and tragic. The promise of security, discretion and anonymity made by Ashley Madison proved to be rancid snake oil. Reputations, relationships were ruined as the shame, the stigma around infidelity ricochetted through families, places of work, and communities. The hack didn’t destroy Ashley Madison. Business is booming, reportedly now with more than 70 million users. Jupiter sells aspirational dreams to the masses. Jupiter’s unbounded exuberance is also associated with risk-taking, the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that reaches for the sky, sets the stakes high in casinos and on racing tracks, merrily rolls the dice over a lover’s tender heart. This is Jupiter the Trickster, inflated with self-importance, flying too high, too fast, too soon.

Popular astrology associates Jupiter with luck, good fortune. There’s a more nuanced approach. We may ignore Jupiter’s bounty. Good fortune may be disguised as a crisis. A loss may actually be a gain. Over these coming months, may we embrace our human foibles and contradictions tenderly as we stand together on the imaginal balcony of possibility. “May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” John O’Donohue.

For a personalised astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Facing our Fears—New Moon Solar Eclipse—April 8th.

Courage is found in unlikely places—J.R. R Tolkien.

 On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moves across North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada. This is the day that a new moon in Aries slips between the familiar body of the Earth and the fierce light of the Sun.

Eclipses act like wild cards. They drop into our birth charts and catapult us from our place of comfort. They alter the march of world events.  They dispatch a charge of volatility through the atmosphere. On Monday, April 8th, as millions of people gather in a darkening world to witness the quiver-touch of the moon as she slides over the vanishing sun, we may sense a collective effervescence that lifts our hearts even for just a brief moment.

The first eclipse of the spring falls at 19° Aries, and carries with it an initiatory quality, forged by the heat of fire.  This solar eclipse also conjoins Chiron, (that tender place in our psyche where we are wounded) as well as Eris, (mythological goddess of strife and discord) and winged messenger, Mercury (now moving Retrograde), as they all  move through the sign of the Ram.

This eclipse marks a decisive moment where we must be bravely honest with ourselves. It belongs to a family of eclipses in the Saros Series 8 North which astrologer Bernadette Brady interprets as “this newfound inspiration will pull the person away from his or her social life or relationship, thereby causing strain in the private life. This is a time when the person needs to be free, if only for a few weeks.”

Astrological Aries carries the heat of fire that ignites an ancient urge to battle and survive. There are five celestial bodies in Aries (plus the North Node) prompting us to engage with the archetype of the heroine/hero. As we feel the firepower, we may be inspired by those who challenged patriarchy, dared to risk, to speak out. As we imagine the fierce courage and commitment of trailblazers like Cornish-born Emily Hobhouse who exposed the horror of the British concentration camps in South Africa and was an avid opponent of the first world war, or Jane Goodall who has worked tirelessly for the welfare and survival of primates, and writer and sage, Maya Angelou, (all born as the Sun moved through the flames of Aries,) we will sense the potency of this astrological archetype.

The Sabian Symbol for this new moon solar eclipse translates as “being innocent and fearless in love” which describes so beautifully the sky story of this moment as we look out into a world that seems so dark, a world where we so often feel anxious and so helpless.

Venus enters Aries on April 5^th, kindling a spark of creativity, nourishing the flame of love that burns through the heavy weight of fear and resistance. Venus is our is our sensory detector, sensual barometer of our pleasure and our joy—a new hair style or bold new choice in clothing aligns with a change in our inner selves. In Aries, Venus trail-blazes new possibilities, new ways of empowering ourselves.

As Venus enters Aries, Netflix releases “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,”  which celebrates Venusian themes of sensual self-discovery, the joy and pleasure of sex, and the yearning for human connection.The sensitively portrayed connection between Nancy Stokes, sublimely embodied by Emma Thompson, and Leo Grande, captured with gentleness and complexity by Daryl McCormack so poignantly depict  the daunting challenge of overcoming cultural conditioning and those judgemental voices in our heads. Psychologist Harriet Lerner writes, “when we think of fear, we think of a “fear of” something. Far more daunting is the challenge of how to conduct ourselves when anxiety is high and shame silences our authentic voices, closes our hearts to the different voices of others, or stops us from acting with clarity or compassion and courage. In today’s world, no challenge is more important than that.”

Mercury (the lens through which we view the world, how we communicate, and how we transport ourselves) moved Retrograde (April 1st―April 25^th) and conjoins Eris (goddess of strife and discord who takes a stand for what she believes in) on the day of this eclipse. As we collectively experience the first Mercury Retrograde of this year, (at 27° Aries) we may automatically think that travel plans will go awry, or our technology will be uncooperative. Yet, Mercury Retrograde in Aries demands much more that the superficial or mechanical. When Mercury moves Retrograde through the element of fire, it is vital to seek passion and meaning in our lives. Psychosomatic illnesses or a creative “block” may be the symptom that indicates the need for deeper change in our life, or a new way of embracing life’s many pleasures. Fire symbolism carries the momentum for creative re-imagining, for aligning ourselves with all possibilities and probabilities, focusing on the higher ground, and using the force of our will to get there. As Mercury moves Retrograde, we may shift our perspective, make significant life choices, respond with spontaneity and courage to a crisis, or start moving our bodies in a way that releases stuck energy.

Mercury turns direct on April 25^th   emerging once more from “shadow” (reaching 27 ° Aries again) on May 13^th and races into Taurus on May 15^th.

If we imagine the moon’s pale body briefly obscuring the light of the sun, we may sense, in the darkness, the soft presence of a deeper knowing, the urgent thrust of life force that compels us to move beyond our fear. Harriet Lerner writes, “It’s not fear that stops you from doing the brave and true thing in your daily life. Rather, the problem is avoidance. Avoidance will make you feel less vulnerable in the short run, but it will never make you less afraid.”

This new Moon invites us to stand expectantly at the edge of something new and to face our fears.  Anne Lamott who was born under the sign of the Aries Ram asks “how do you begin? The answer is simple. You decide to.”

To book a private astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Capturing the Light―Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse―March 25th.

The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower and bright are the windows of night in her tower―J.R.R. Tolkien.

The light has returned here in the north, consecrating a profusion of bridal blossoms, light as breath, that bless the earth with pink and white petals. Dandelions and white daisies thrust from cracks in the pavements, tender leaves furl exuberantly skywards suffusing woodlands and neat suburban gardens in glorious greens.

Nature awakens, we adjust our calendars, reorientate our routines.

On March 20^th, the astrological sun moved into Aries, marking the transitional moment of the Vernal Equinox here in the north, and signalling the first delicate flutter of gilded leaves in the south.

In a culture shaped by speed and the urgency to arrive at a destination, we so often race past significant frontiers, barely notice the threshold crossings that mark new beginnings. Yet, as the seasons shift, we may sense a tug of possibility, the warm pulse beat of a longing that arouses what Julia Cameron calls “spiritual electricity.”

On Monday March 25^th  we enter the season of eclipses. This first eclipse of the season is a penumbral lunar eclipse. The moon’s delicate light slowly dims as she glides through the earth’s penumbra, (the earth’s outer shadow.) Not as visually dramatic as other lunar eclipses, but significant to those of us who seek meaning and symbolism in the story of the stars.

Whether we take the time to glance up at the moon tonight or not, this lunation symbolises the light and the dark of our human encounters, draws our attention perhaps to those desiccated places of disconnection that need our intention, to those relationships that have become shadowed by pain, hollowed out by neglect or injustice. John Welwood writes so beautifully, “the brighter love’s radiance, the darker the shadows we encounter; the more we feel life stirring within us, the more we also feel our dead spots…”

Lunar eclipses amplify emotions, dredge up buried feelings, obscure rational thinking, and for those who have angles or planets at 5° Libra, this lunar eclipse signifies an either-or choice of significance that might mean letting go of a situation or a relationship, or a rush of  release from the statis of a relationship triangle.

Eclipse symbolism is often preceeded by a time of crisis as a darkness descends on our inner landscape. We may feel disoriented, disconnected, adrift, as we grapple with a  terrifying and decisive choice that will re-shape our lives and become a border crossing between the past and the future.

Saturn conjoins Venus in Pisces on this lunar eclipse, a celestial reminder that committed relationships require maturity and compassionate hearts. Chiron in Aries conjoins the north node, symbolising the uncharted territory where we must struggle for agency, make crucial choices, exercise our will (Aries.) This calls for self-compassion as we become more self-aware, less physiologically reactive. Psychiatrist Dan Siegel reminds us that “the way we relate to ourselves shapes the way we relate to others.”

Our culture has no rituals to support our brave crossings and we may feel marooned in doubt or loneliness as we try to come to terms with what we have lost, the people and places we have left behind. Yet in the months or even years yet to come, this lunar eclipse, followed by the solar eclipse (at 19° Aries on April 8^th) might accompany a sense of release and renewal after making  a difficult choice … or a literal sense of being overshadowed or eclipsed by circumstance. This solar eclipse also conjoins Chiron and Mercury, a repetition of the themes of healing and renewal as we are shaped by our encounters with others and the world around us. It belongs to a family of eclipses in the Saros Series 8 North which astrologer Bernadette Brady interprets as “this newfound inspiration will pull the person away from his or her social life or relationship, thereby causing strain in the private life. This is a time when the person needs to be free, if only for a few weeks.”

The Equinox is a reminder that a perpetual state of balance is impossible to achieve, as we continually re-create ourselves amidst the complexities of our relationships and metastasise the events that are unfolding in the world right now. Balance is as capricious as the patterns of neuronal firing in our brains, as fleeting as our emotionally charged perceptions of the world around us. This  gracious Libran full moon offers the sweet promise of compromise and peace if we have the courage to step back into balance and find that still point of peace that nestles in the centre of our heart. It will be the small gestures of love and kindness, the careful harnessing of our untamed thoughts, the brave reimagining of how this world could be that keep us open-hearted and soul-directed at this moment in time.

Please get in touch if you would like a private astrology consultation: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Paintings by Edward Robert Hughes (1851-1917); Mary Macomber (1861-1916) John William Waterhouse (1849-1917.)