Rose Elliot - Life Cycles: How the Planets Affect You and Me and the Rich and Famous

Rose Elliots

LIFE CYCLES

ROSE ELLIOT

Better known as the bestselling author of over sixty vegetarian cookery books, including the classic Bean Book and Vegetarian Cookery, as well as Vegetarian Supercook, Rose Elliot is also a well-respected astrologer. Daughter of astrologer and writer Joan Hodgson (who created the very first astrology course in the UK), and granddaughter of famous medium and seer, Grace Cooke, Rose started learning astrology in her early teens and, aged 19, was one of the youngest astrologers to gain the highest recognized qualification in the UK, the Diploma of the Faculty of Astrological Studies.

Although Rose draws a clear distinction between newspaper astrology and the real thing, in which charts are based on the correct time, date and place of birth, she acknowledges the entertainment value of star sign astrology and has been the astrologer for a number of leading magazines over the years, writing a weekly column as well as astrological articles and features.

When not studying the stars or creating recipes, Rose enjoys practising yoga, walking in the countryside and swimming, preferably somewhere warm. She has three grown-up daughters and lives in Hampshire with her husband, Robert, with whom she created Rose Elliot Horoscopes, producing high quality computer readings at reasonable prices. For further details of these, contact Rose Elliot Horoscopes, P.O. Box 16, Eastleigh, SO50 5YP, or visit www.roseelliot.com.

In memory of Joan Hodgson,
my dear mother and first astrology teacher,
with gratitude and love

This edition published November 2008
Original edition published by Macmillan, 1993
Electronic edition 2012

Rose Elliot, 1993, 2008

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-905398-15-7 (printed book)
978-1-905398-41-6 (ePub)
978-1-905398-61-4 (Kindle)

Acknowledgments

My warmest thanks to all the people who have contributed to this book; to those who generously allowed me to use their case histories, and to quote from their books; to Colum Hayward of Polair Publishing for making this new edition possible, and for all his hard work on it; to my editor, Claire Carr, with a special thankyou for her sensitive and precise editing and invaluable creative input; to my agent, Barbara Levy, who has been, as ever, supportive, helpful and encouraging throughout; to astrologers Sasha Fenton, Joan Hodgson and Simon Bentley for sharing their experiences with me, especially Simon, who provided me with a number of case histories from his files; to Morgan Hesmondhalgh for creating such a beautiful cover and for the two diagrams; lastly, to my husband, Robert, for his support and encouragement, for his many useful suggestions, for devising the brilliant Aspect Ruler and creating the graphs, and for particular help with the psychological aspects of the book.

Disclaimer

The insights given in this book are intended as a guide only. While the information is believed to be correct, the author and publisher take no responsibility for any actions that may be undertaken based on statements contained herein.

Set in 12 on 15 pt Arepo

LIST OF TABLES AND DIAGRAMS

Diagrams

Tables

T HERES ALWAYS that moment, when Ive met someone new, and I tell them Im an astrologer. Reactions vary from Oh, how exciting; is it a good day for Libras? or, usually from a gemini or a Scorpio; Well, see if you can tell what my star sign is then, to goodness, you dont believe in that, do you? and I have to admit that yes, I do. And often they find that difficult to accept.

It does seem incredible that lumps of matter in the sky can affect us. Yet once you start studying astrology properly looking at an actual birthchart calculated for the exact time, date and place of birth and comparing what it shows with the characteristics and life of the person concerned, it really is pretty convincing. Ive been studying and practising astrology now for the best part of my life, having been taught by my mother when I was 13, and I can assure you I would not be bothering with it if it didnt work. But it does work. We dont know why, but it does.

There are many ways in which astrology is helpful. It can give great insight into what drives and motivates us. It can explain the inner conflicts and puzzling contradictions; the odd quirks of character and hidden talents; the way we relate with others; and it can make it easier for us to accept ourselves and others exactly as we are, which is very liberating. Astrology can also help us to understand what is going on in our life right now.

Our birthchart is a diagram of the positions of the planets against the starry background at the moment we were born. By convention this background has been divided into twelve signs of the zodiac.

There are three significant characteristics of the chart which an astrologer studies. One is the position of the planets and the Sun against the twelve signs of the zodiac; the second is their angular relationship to each other, and the third is the position of the planets in the chart, which is divided into twelve sections, called houses, starting from the eastern point.

So the zodiac is fixed by the starry sky, but the houses are linked to the earth and our birthplace.

These twelve houses are each associated with a particular area of life. For example, the first house shows our outward personality, the second, money, possessions and values; the third, communication and short journeys; the fourth, our home; the fifth, creativity, pleasure, children and love; the sixth, health and work.

The seventh house shows marriage, partnership and close one-to-one relationships; the eighth, financial matters involving other people, inherited wealth, sex, birth and death, plus medical matters. The ninth house shows travel, higher education, legal matters and religion; the tenth, our career and success in the world. The eleventh house shows friends and ideals; and the twelfth, the unconscious, retreats and enclosed communities.

Our birthchart is like a snapshot of the planets and constellations at our moment of birth, a frozen moment. However, the planets do not stop just because weve been born, of course. They continue in their paths, making their great orbits round the Sun (see Diagram 1, opposite).

So, degree by degree, each planet moves on, until it completes the 360 degrees and gets back to where it was when we were born, referred to as a return. This may take a year, as in the case of the Sun, which gets back to the place in the zodiac where it was when we were born every birthday, but around 28 years for Saturn, and over 248 years for Pluto, in whose case we only experience part of the cycle in our lifetime. We know, of course, that it is not actually the Sun that moves but that we are rotating round it.

In our life-pattern, the return usually coincides with the ending of one cycle and the beginning of another in the matters and areas signified by that planet. There are also other key points along the way that are significant. The times when the current, moving planets reach 60 degrees (called a sextile aspect), 90 degrees (square), 120 degrees (trine) and 180 degrees (opposition) from their birth position are also important, along with when they reach 30 degrees (semisextile) and 150 degrees (quincunx), which (though less intense in their effect, are used for some of the slower planets (see Diagram 2 on this ).

These cyclical movements of the planets coincide with crucial stages of life. As an astrologer I had always known about these cycles, but it was when I read the book