“Radiant Sol!

You bring me to a wakeful sight,

A vision so beautiful, so bright!

But remember this, while you are asleep

Before the dawn begins to creep

My brightness just keeps on increasing,

I grow full, while you’re releasing!

I am the screen on which your dreams are cast,

I am the treasurer of all things past.”  (Luna to Sol)

In this first session, we will introduce the planetary dialogues and begin by exploring the tensions between the solar principle, which comes to awaken us to our own source of our sovereign light, and the lunar principle, which is receptive, reflective, somatically connected to mood and rhythm, to water and blood. 

Guided by the poetic power of the dialogue between them, we will explore what arises in us, in response to their opposed perspectives.  For while Sun connects us with what we want and how we are inspired to grow and to prosper and move forward in life, the Moon reminds us of what how we are connected to all that has been, to a sense of home, family, roots, to what we need to feel safe, nurtured, nourished and supported. 

“Baptised in the fires of directed will

Mars is fresh from his latest kill

His energy charged and full of war, 

hard as steel, and hungry for more. 

Venus acts as a pacifier, 

simmering softly with ambrose desire.”

In this second session, we will feel into the tension that exists between Venus, the receptive goddess of love and beauty, and Mars, the thrusting god of energy, action and sexual potency.  While Venus invites us to explore the intricate dance of intimacy and pleasure, sensuality, celestial and earthly harmony, Mars, the warrior who carries within the germinating seed of life, is full of generative compulsion, courage, vitality and fiery passion. 

We will explore the polarity in the Zodiac between Mars-ruled Aries and Venus-ruled Libra.  How do their opposed forces of activating will and receptive attraction arise in us?  Do we allow both their full expression, or do we lean more into one than the other?  Guided by the rich, evocative poetry in this dialogue, we will confront this polarity within ourselves through our enquiry.

“Jupiter, the Lord of all,

Larger than life, majestic and tall

Broad of stride and vision,

Appears as a pilgrim with ardent ambition.

Mercury is young, bright, fleet of foot,

A gifted trickster who can’t stay put.

Lambent light and thrilling glint,

Leaves feathered marks with his footprint.”

In this third session, we will meet Mercury, the quick-witted messenger, ‘the sparkling genius with the twinkle in his eye’, who is ever-questioning, and Jupiter, whose great vision and appetite inspires optimism and trust that there are greater answers to the conundrum of life.  We will experience the contrast in their perspectives, and how these arise within us as difference ways if seeing and perceiving the world.  We will encounter that Mercurial part of us that is curious and inquisitive, playful and wordy, and the Jupiterian part that, whose ‘far-seeing eye guides us toward the principles of existence that make meaning of life’s rich tapestry, inspiring faith in a higher power.

We will explore the polarity in the Zodiac between Mercury-ruled Gemini and Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius, and how we might reconcile these opposed forces within our own lives.  Which of these do we lean into more?  Which are we more or less comfortable with?  And how do we allow the dance of polarity to inspire different ways of perceiving reality? 

“Luna, the Moon, constrained in her expression

Is under the weight of a leaden impression,

For old Man Saturn is crossing her way

And shadows her face, turning everything grey…

Her path is meandering, never straight

And her moods wildly fluctuate.

Longing for home, for something she can trust,

A rhythm to which her tides can adjust.”

In this fourth session we will explore the relationship between the Moon, ruler of Cancer, and Saturn who rules the opposite sign of Capricorn.  As the animating spirit of the waxing and waning Moon, Luna attends to the rhythms and tides of human feeling and guards the sanctuary of our inner life, while Saturn, as Lord of Time and keeper of the karmic accounts seeks to re-establish order and stability, to direct feelings and emotions toward building things that are useful and tangible, towards the development of emotional self-control, sufficiency and reliability.

Guided by the poetic interaction in their dialogue, we will feel into the tensions across this polarity, and where they show up in our birth charts and in our lives.

“Sol, the great central Sun,

Who we know as the bright, resplendent One…

…seems to be dimmer of vision today

As old leaden Saturn stands in his way.

He who holds dominion over the radiant orb

Now finds that his brilliance is being absorbed.

Closed in by Saturn’s walls of grey

And his preoccupation with decay,

Sol’s life-giving power is being condensed

By a so well-organised defence.”

In this session, we will explore the classic alchemical opposition between gold and lead, the Sun and Saturn.  The Sun is the ruler of Leo and Saturn is the traditional ruler of Aquarius, so we will be addressing this polarity dynamic within the Zodiac during this class.  

As the animating spirit of the Sun, Sol inspires the vital force and creative energy that radiates in the heart of humankind, encouraging us to follow the stream of intuitive sparks that draw us

towards wider and higher realms of consciousness.  Saturn, by contrast, as the dweller on the threshold, guards the boundary of what our physical eyes can see and what the rational mind can conceive. He comes to deliver unto us our limitations and persuades us of the finite nature of existence.  And he plays an essential role in our development, carrying the experience of the elders and watching over the long-term cycles of our lives as we mature. 

Through the power of their poetic voices we will meet that tension within ourselves, pulled to each pole by the strength of their convictions, as we seek to encounter a time-honoured alchemical journey.

“A mighty reign is under threat,

With failing honour and undignified debt,

An empire is on the verge of breaking,

Beneath the palace, the earth is quaking.

Revolution is in the air,

As the people scrape by on a wing and a prayer

In the guise of a king, the radiant Sun,

Not normally one to be outdone,

Is being rattled by Uranus, the holy fool,

Sparking other ideas as to who might rule.”

In this session we again meet Sol, and again the zodiacal polarity between Leo and Aquarius. This time, however, the Sun is opposed by Aquarius’s modern ruling planet, Uranus.  As the embodiment of self-expression, Sol seeks to hold onto his central position, creating a consistent environment for the sustaining of life through the strength of his vitality and presence. Here he must face up to Uranus, the renegade spirit of freedom, who challenges Sol’s power-base, by presenting a radical new perspective that breaks out on the margins, in the unexplored regions of the mind, at the periphery of awareness.

The tension creates a strong electrical charge within our nervous system and prompts us to want to break free and shatter egoic structures that blind us to new and innovative ways of being.  We will explore our relationship to both of these planetary archetypes in this class, looking at examples of where it shows up in birth charts and through the Leo-Aquarius polarity.  The poetic charge is strong in this dialogue, and it will likely stir something quite radical!

“Mercury, the messenger and alchemist combined,

Uniquely original and one of a kind,

Is keenly engaged and busily assigned

In the spotless laboratory of the mind.

Neptune, the mystic, in a sea-blue shroud,

Arrives unannounced in a vaporous cloud.

A visionary glimmer, confounding cognition,

A kaleidoscopic apparition

Undermining the craft of the wily magician,

Whose logic starts to fail as the master of illusion,

Draws over him a veil of chaos and confusion.”

In this session we will encounter the oppositional dynamic between Mercury, ruling planet of Virgo, and Neptune, modern ruler of Pisces.  Mercury is the artful wit, whose ingenuity, speed of thought, and gift of articulation are unrivalled among the gods. He is keen to analyze, probe, and resolve. Resourceful and discerning, the clever alchemist is breaking things down to manageable tasks that might make all human aspirations believable and reachable. His mind is highly sensitized and activated, his service to humankind, curative, tangible and calculated.  By contrast, Neptune evokes the non-linear realm of imagination, casts images before words, enchantments before pragmatic spells, and threatens to unravel the intricate web of reality that Mercury has so skilfully spun.

This tension can be confusing, it can blur the edges of our thinking.  In this class, we will look at birth chart examples of Mercury-Neptune dynamics, look at the areas of life where this opposition is felt most strongly, and explore the medicine that it can bring forth.

“In the blooming meadow lush, near the river of great powers,

A wide-eyed girl erupts with a flush, as she gathers in wildflowers.

Narcissus, mugwort and poppy red are growing near the water,

Their perfumes release an underworld scent from the dark Lord out to court her.

Her butterfly wings and her crimson lips tremble with secret desire,

The seductive aromas in the air are setting her soul on fire.

The king of shadows is aroused by her shape,

From his all-consuming passion she cannot escape.

He steps on her ground, and tears at her dress

To grab hold of her, to have, to possess;

With a brutish force and little finesse,

He takes her down

In a midnight gown,

All the way to Hades’ Town.”

In the session, we will encounter the deep and challenging oppositional tension between Venus, ruling planet of Taurus, and Pluto, modern ruler of Scorpio.  It is Venus who adds colour and flavour to our lives, inspires our sensuous connection with our bodies and with the good earth. It is She who stimulates our tastebuds, awakens the pleasure sensors, and stirs within us an erotic desire for connection and relationship. 

Pluto, by contrast, the dark lord of the Underworld, who has the power to abduct that which is wholesome and good into his shadowy realm. Pluto guards the nether-realm of passion, the forbidden aspects of sexual desire, wantings and cravings; all that has been repressed, distorted and shamed.

“Beneath the Delphic slopes on high 

With its whispering winds and mystic sky

Gaia wakes in earth and root

Bearing forth her sacred fruit.

With tensions mounting all around her 

She reclaims the temple of which she is founder

Finding sanctuary here where the dragon lines cross

At her umbilical core, her omphalos.”

In Week Nine, we enter the Gaia Monologue: the axis and living centre around which all planetary polarities turn. Gaia addresses each archetype in its power and its excess, holding the tensions between opposing forces without denying either side. Speaking from the still point at the heart of their polarities, Gaia meets each archetype in both its gifts and its distortions, restoring it to a larger order. Through her voice, conflict becomes relationship, separation gives way to interdependence, and each planetary principle is invited to return to its rightful place within the whole. In this session,  we are invited to recognise the deeper intelligence that can hold contradiction, reconcile division and return us to a more grounded way of being.

“Venus, goddess of beauty and style,

Dances naked on the shores of the Cypriot Isle,

Her fertile body, so richly endowed,

A full-bosomed frame of which she is proud

Ideally proportioned, a seamless creation

She moves with endless fascination.

Caressed by the waves, entwined in sea-grass,

She watches herself through the looking glass. 

Her emergence from the sea has drawn the wonder

Of Jupiter, mighty god of thunder. 

With a bright flash of mirth to woo and entertain her,

He transforms into an eagle and swoops down to claim her.

Gaia is deliciously fed in her senses

And quite oblivious to any consequences, 

For everything good in her garden is growing 

And her chalice of love is overflowing.“

In this last session, we enter the Venus–Jupiter dialogue as a celebration: a generous, joyful pause within the play of polarities.  Venus is exalted in Pisces, a sign traditionally ruled by Jupiter, and here these planetary archetypes meet through beauty, abundance, pleasure, wisdom and an expansive love for life. Together, they invite us to soften our boundaries, honour the work we have undertaken, and receive the delights that become possible when we allow ourselves to flow, create and rejoice. Our final session will carry this Piscean spirit: a celebration of all we have explored and accomplished, and of the beauty, connection and enchantment discovered along the way.