Friday August 23rd 2002 - edited by Bernard Fitzwalter This week in Astro News: ~ The outer planets ~ ~ AstroDiary ~ ~ Astrology & Fertility - Can you help with some research? ~ Pluto changes direction on Monday, and starts to move forwards again in Sagittarius. Heavens, is it that time already? When the outer planets start to move forwards it’s like your kids going back to school – autumn must be coming. All of the outer planets, from Jupiter to Pluto, spend about seven months going forwards through the zodiac, and the rest of the year gently sliding back. The points at which they change direction are called stations, and a planet on station appears still for about a week. I think of this annual rhythm as being like the tides of the sea. When a planet is going forwards, it can help you, taking you with it; if it’s in reverse, then you’ll have to do more paddling yourself – or wait until the tide changes. Since the outer planets are constantly moving, the forward and reverse phases move too. But the three outermost planets – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – move so slowly, taking a decade or more to go through each sign, that their forward and backward phases seem to become tied in with the seasons. It also happens that all three of these slow movers are currently in winter signs, so they go forwards in Autumn, backwards in Spring. This has been going on since the early 1980s. It will be another ten years at least before the pattern starts to break up. Some astrologers think that this ‘winter cluster’ has been responsible for the consumer boom of the last 20 years, and point to a serious decline in the 2020s. In the meantime, as you notice the first leaves turning yellow and watch the evenings getting shorter, remind yourself that the planets are changing their season too. Big or small, we’re all part of the same universe. Mars is opposite Uranus this weekend, while Pluto is turning round. If you consider yourself accident-prone then you should take care. Mars and Uranus trigger important points in the horoscopes of Israel and the USA this weekend, too. I think we know what to expect. AstroDiary Advance booking for major astrological events: September 1 – 8: Company of Astrologers – Greek Island Summer School, contact COA at: PO Box 792, Canterbury, Kent CT2 8WR, UK; admin@coa.org.uk; http://coa.hubcom.net September 6 – 8: Astrological Association of GB, Annual Conference. Swansea University. Call: 0208 880 4848 or email: astrological.association@zetnet.co.uk; web: www.astrologicalassociation.com September 26 – 29: British Association for Vedic Astrology Fifth International Conference, London. 01794–524178; Email: bava@btinternet.com; web: www.bava.org Please double-check with the organisation before attending any events listed here - we cannot accept any responsibility for events changed/cancelled. Are you holding an astrological event - especially one outside London!! - that you would like others to know about? Write to jon@bubble.com with subject heading: Astro Events with website links. Please note - we cannot promise to include ALL submissions but will do our best. Research into Astrology and Infertility by Pat Harris, MSc., D.F.Astrol.S. I would like to thank everyone who has responded to my earlier notices on Jonathan's website and who volunteered to take part in the research that I am conducting as part of my PhD in astrology and health psychology at Southampton University, UK. I now have quite a number of people taking part which will help me in conducting my study into factors that may or may not correlate with fertility treatment outcome. I should have a progress report out soon. However, I am still looking for women who are currently pregnant - not necessarily as a result of fertility treatment - and who would like to contact me about details of my research to see if they would like to take part. My email address is: pharris@interalpha.co.uk New Service is Top for the Charts The Astrological Association of Great Britain is proud to announce that you can now speak LIVE to an expert astrologer. For an instant in-depth telephone consultation about your full horoscope call 0845 120 1416 or +44 207 436 9101 (a confidential 30-minute reading costs £29.50, payable by credit card. Or cheque/postal order from UK.) Lines are open 9am-9pm GMT, Monday to Friday. A few weeks ago, the Astrological Association of Great Britain launched this new, live fixed-fee, telephone chart reading service. It has since proved big hit with callers from all over the world. AA President Roy Gillett told Astro News: "I am delighted with the warm response that we have had. Once, if you wanted a reading of your full birth chart, you would have to struggle to find a genuine, reputable astrologer. Then, you would have had to make an appointment and travel miles. Now, at last, there's a quick and easy way to get your questions answered by a real expert - from the comfort of your own home." Mirror reader Julie Roberts from Rochester was equally enthusiastic. "I rang last Tuesday and spoke to an astrologer called Maria. Within moments, she was telling me details about my childhood that she could not possibly have known... then she said some fascinating things about my future. If you missed any of Friday's Astronews articles, click on the Archive Thought for the Day link in the left hand frame.