On Sunday (August 18th), marine historian Paul Barnett led a group of us on a walk along the river Severn to visit The Purton Hulks - boats deliberately beached in the early twentieth century in order to form a defense against erosion of the riverbank, and in so doing to protect the Gloucester-Sharpness canal which runs alongside the river at this point.

It was a lovely sunny evening and Paul was an interesting and enthusiastic tour guide, full of stories about the place and its conservation. The hulks looked atmospheric as they loomed out of the grass, or were almost completely submerged by it. Definitely to be recommended as a tour. As Kris pointed out, it was an appropriate time to be visiting a watery graveyard, with Saturn being in Scorpio and part of a grand trine in water signs!

After the walk most of the group drove a couple of miles to The Lammastide Inn at Brookend, where we enjoyed a tasty, good value meal and conversation. We caught a glimpse of Venus before she set in the west, and a hazy Saturn higher in the sky later in the evening.

On August 4th a group of us enjoyed an unscheduled boat ride up the beautiful Wye Valley, with shamanic healer Maxine Smillie, pictured below in pink. Unscheduled because it was pouring with rain, so a walk along muddy pathways suddenly seemed less appealing! On the boat we heard about the history of the river and the buildings along it from the ship's captain, whilst at the end of the journey we were allowed to stay on the boat for a while whilst we performed a simple shamanic ritual under  Maxine's guidance.

Maxine persuaded the Rose Tree Tea Room to stay open for lunch (they were going to close because of the inclement weather in the morning), during which Maxine recounted the deeper history of the place and its fascinating association with healing down the ages.

After lunch the weather cleared and we had an enjoyable walk by the riverside, under the shelter of the trees to the wire footbridge bridge near The Biblins. Maxine shared stories and insights about healing and we practiced walking mindfully in the landscape. All in all, an enjoyable and interesting day, despite the vagaries of the weather.

More pictures from the field trip, including walking the earth with intent …

July 2013 will see a grand trine - where three planets are each 120° apart in the sky - in this case Jupiter (Cancer), Saturn (Scorpio) and Neptune (Pisces). These three planets have not formed a grand trine relationship since the turn of the year 1749-50, again in water signs (1929 came close, though was disassociate). An internet search of ‘grand trine 2013’ will pull in some interesting comments, but it would seem to be a good time for blessing one’s dreams, especially if you have planets round about 5° of Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces. The trine will be within orb from the beginning of July until mid August and will be closest round about 16-19 July.
Read Christina Rodenbeck's July 2013 post here.
KL

Early Friday morning there is a New Moon which is also an annular solar eclipse (total at approx 1:30am), at 19.31 Taurus, visible in Australia and the southern Pacific. Annular means that the Moon is too far from Earth to block out the Sun completely, so at totality it leaves a ring of the Sun's light (annulus) around it, sometimes known as 'the ring of fire'.

Astrologically, eclipses can bring drama, intensity and passion, and if you have any planets within a degree or so of Taurus in particular (and possibly Scorpio), expect to be in the spotlight for some reason. Eclipses are often like a message, prompting - sometimes forcing - you to make important decisions about your life, or showing you a vision of the way forward. Check out the house of your birth chart that the eclipse falls in for additional clues.

Eclipses also fall into Saros Series, which Bernadette Brady discusses in her book Predictive Astrology - The Eagle and The Lark (available to members in our library). According to Bernadette, this eclipse is part of the Saros 138 South15 series. Of this, she writes: “This series is about a release of tension. A situation which has been lingering will suddenly clear. In the clearing of the problem there is also a sense of grief or loss which is not so much personal as belonging to a group or collective.”

This eclipse, along with the two lunar eclipses surrounding it (on April 25th and May 25th) takes place within the current Uranus-Pluto square, exact on May 20th.

Eclipse photo by Kevin Baird, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The BBC is one many organisations and Countries (including the UK 1801) formed on 1st. January. Originally the BBC was a private company started on 18 October 1922, but its current form was established under a Royal Charter in 1927. All these 1st. January entities will have the Sun at about 9 or 10 degrees of Capricorn, so Pluto is already or soon will be transiting this point. Most of these organisations have a legal midnight formation time which also places the IC of the chart here, usually a degree or so earlier.  The pattern seems therefore to be the foundations being rocked followed by turmoil, reorganisation and transformation. As this time and date every year also has a descendant round about 6 degrees of Aries - where Uranus currently is - the full impact of the ongoing Pluto-Uranus square will be emphasised in all 1st. January organisations.
KL