At the Lodge - 24 February 2003

Lodge Lecture | Members' Classes | Charts Discussion

Lodge Lecture

The Lodge was treated to an exceptional evening this week. Our lecturer, Christeen Skinner gave a talk on a subject she is famous for, though she assured me that she has other irons in the fire. In fact she has already agreed to be part of our Spring Seminar on April 6th. Her talk entitled Finance in the Chart took us on a tour round the chart, likening it to the filling up of the car with petrol, and in fact comparing how people look after their car (do you fill yours up only when it is empty??)

She looked in particular at the 2nd house. It did not matter that there were no planets in it. Jupiter in the 2nd house can bring big expectations. The 5th house is the 'extra tank', the luck house, the speculative area, for fun and extra income. The 8th house is the full tank you share with someone else. Being the natural house of Scorpio it always wants more from you i.e. Banks etc. It would not be wise to take out a loan with a transit of Saturn to the 8th house. The last house she looked at was the 11th house - the co-operative, the sharing of profits.

She looked at the key planetary elements. We looked at the Moon (feeds you) and Venus (attitude to money), Jupiter (comfort zone) and Pluto, Saturn (gives you self discipline) and Uranus (allows you to do your own thing). One valuable tip - never be afraid of a retrograde Mercury. Some of the biggest deals have been done by multinational companies at that time! She also looked at rulerships, aspects, strengths and wiping the slate clean. Finally she looked at the chart of Athina Roussel and her declinations. Data on our data page.

Christeen Skinner is currently working on a book about the next twenty years. We would like to thank her for an amazing lecture which went far to quickly. She can be contacted on Christeen Skinner

Carole West

Members' Classes

Richard Swatton gave a fantastic first class in a series of four. If they continue in this vein we will indeed be savouring a treat beyond compare. It is a master class on The Planets. A vast topic covering what used to be called wondering stars, which moved against the fixed background of the universe. In Ancient Greece and Rome they were given the names of Gods who had divine powers over us. Modern psychology calls upon them as soul patterns or instincts - parallel causes, driving forces, diseases, collective forces that live within you. Signs are also archetypes. So we looked at the Planets as parts of the body as a whole, as organs and then out there in the collective. We also looked at the planets in the psyche. The Sun (amongst other things) as the ego, Moon as mother, Venus as self worth, Mercury for what you can see, Mars for assertion, Jupiter to take the Sun beyond you, Saturn for limitation, Uranus for the collective mind, Neptune as the redeemer and Pluto the ultimate transformer. Finally we looked at some of the planets in their chart placements. To be continued next week when we will bring him our questions and our charts.

Carole West

Charts Discussion

It was a buzzy evening, this evening at Chart Discussion. Wanda Sellar, our President Emeritus, brought the chart of one Dr Alexis Carrel. A fascinating character who pioneered organ transplants, by specialising in the procedure of sewing arteries and veins. We easily saw with the Moon/Jupiter conjunction in the sixth house in Leo, that this was a person who would work for the service of others. Jupiter ruled the chart, with Pisces rising and Sagittarius on the Midheaven.

Then we looked at the chart of both Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, as Mrs Douglas had just recently won the BAFTA for best supporting actress. Will she win the Oscar?

She has a grand trine in the earth signs Venus/Mars/Saturn showing a practical nature and marrying well, Les Bailey pointing out that Fortuna lies on the descendant. The plethora of planets in the ninth house, showing she would do well abroad. The Jupiter/Uranus opposition in August will hit her Venus in the 8th house, which will show a bumpy road with money at this time. At present Pluto opposes her Fortuna, which is indicating the situation with Hello magazine as she tries to sue them. Saturn now moves forward through her 7th house and it will be weak when it begins to transit Cancer. So there may be trouble in paradise.

We also looked at Michael Douglas, a Libran also, but with Scorpio rising. It was pointed out that he is quite a sexhibitionist in his films (sorry) but that is great for a Scorpio rising and Venus/Mars conjoined, in the film business, but of course with Sun conjunct Neptune. The Moon opposition Saturn could indicate the pain he felt with the divorce of his parents and also showed us that he will shortly experience his second Saturn return. We will be keeping these charts on file - this couple are in for interesting times.

We then looked at the chart of the Conservative party and then the chart of Iraq. Both look very bad at present. Data available on our data page.

Gill Dorren

Lodge Lecture | Members' Classes | Charts Discussion