I’m on holidays at the moment, so here’s one I prepared earlier… Keep up with the latest in my travels over at and anyways…

A kiss on the hand can be quite continental and oh so romantic, but no matter how charming, it won’t pay the rent.

Any self respecting Venus in Taurus girl knows that as lovely as it is, romance fades, but diamonds don’t, and living in this material world, a girl needs to make sure that her future is beautifully and practically catered for. After all, men grow cold as girls grow old and we all lose our charms in the end…or rather as the years and Mr Gravity mean that our ends have to be stuffed into highly engineered hold everything in under lycra. But square cut or pear shape these rocks don’t lose their shape and diamonds are a girls best friend.

Aries will fight for love, Pisces will die for love, Gemini will talk about love, but Venus in Taurus really can’t be faffed with all the palaver.

Love is nice and all that, but it can take up so much energy. Venus in Taurus much prefers a strong, stable and committed relationship. Touch rather than talk, comfort rather than flames, security over drama.

Where Venus in Aries is about quick gratification, Venus in Taurus likes to take her time. Venus in Taurus is sensual rather than sexual and is generally a same partner girl- this is one placement that doesn’t (usually) get turned on by too much variety.

As practical as she is, Venus in Taurus likes to be wooed in the traditional meaning of the word. She loves long, expensive dinners that she can dress up for and linger over. Also earning good brownie points are lazy Sunday afternoon country picnics with rugs and scarves and proper crockery and utensils (leave the stubby holders and paper plates at home).

She values consistency and commitment and although slow to move, will do whatever is needed to hold onto her partner or her security- often she sees the two as being intertwined. She also knows how easy it is to get carried away by a pretty face who will drain her resources, rather than help her stock the pantry (or bank account) against future shortages.

In Taurus, Venus cares about her appearance more so than when she was in Aries. As Taurus rules the throat, scarves, pendants and necklaces are great accessories. Luxury is appreciated, but she isn’t flashy or blingy. She’ll wear a single great piece of jewellery rather than a mountain of fakes…and she is prepared to save up for it.

Venus in Taurus loves beautiful things- art, music, food and other gorgeous things. Whilst she is a lover of art, she doesn’t do alternative or artisan- if it isn’t going to look great on her walls or make some sort of statement of style or worth, she isn’t interested. Leave the debates over existentialism and whether that white space indicates a vacuum or simply a white space to Gemini.

Depending on other aspects, Venus in Taurus can be prone to over-accumulate (especially if in challenging aspects to Jupiter or the Moon) … just to be sure that she has enough and won’t run out. This can apply to food, to purchases, whatever. This tendency can also come out if she feels insecure- particularly in relationships. And what she has, she is reluctant to get rid of…just in case…

Venus in Taurus is the ultimate comfort eater/ shopper and will tend to those foods which good in the mouth, look great on the plate and smell wonderful- all the senses are engaged when she eats. She is particularly drawn to anything texturally luxuriant and sweet- chocolate, cream, cakes. Unfortunately Taurus tends to have a relatively slow metabolism and doesn’t (usually) enjoy exercise, so the smart Ms Taurus knows that such self-indulgence needs to be moderated where possible if she wants to continue to fit into her gorgeous clobber.

Mr Venus in Taurus loves the whole feminine archetype and tends to be attracted more to the image of romantic ruben-esque than wafer thin waif. He has an appetite and likes a woman with voluptuous curves in all the right places that he can take his time and enjoy. Mr Venus in Taurus likes a traditional, conservative woman, an earth mother. He doesn’t really want his partner to be too independent and likes to know that she will provide a stable platform for him.

The good news is that once he has committed, he rarely strays from home and won’t push you into the latest fad diet- heaven forbid- that could mean you putting him on one, and Mr Venus in Taurus likes his food too much to tolerate restrictions.

Mr Venus in Taurus doesn’t do complicated mind games- to him, if you say you are “fine”, he will take it at face value. He doesn’t like change, so suggestions to vary routines or stray from favourite restaurants will be greeted with suspicion. Unfortunately this also means that you may have problems getting him off the couch and away from the TV on weekends once the honeymoon period is over. At least you’ll know where he is.

I’m on holidays, so here’s one I prepared earlier…

Miss T isn’t the most prolific of readers- unless the subject is something to do with the latest boy band obsession One Direction (1D) or a trivial fact about the Biebster.

I have tried bribery. She is a Twilight fan (very firmly in Camp Jacob…better gunshow and abs and fewer eating disorders) so I offered a Gold Class movie ticket if she read Breaking Dawn. It sort of worked- she read the first 100 pages and then announced that at the rate she was reading, it would take her 3 months to read the book and the movie is “only, like 2 hours…” I can’t really argue with that sort of logic- and it showed that there is nothing wrong with her maths.

Miss T has Mercury in Aries.

From fantasy-land in Pisces, Mercury is moving into Aries ready to put his money where his all too loud mouth is.

After the moody and oh so meaningful silences of Pisces for the last couple of months, Mercury is primed and ready to shout out loud. Mercury needs to be heard, not felt, and unless you happen to have Mercury natally in Pisces or another water sign, you too will no doubt be sick of the hidden messages, double meanings and confusion that comes from Mercury’s longer than usual stay in Pisces.

Theoretically this should have been a time to dream and imagine what could be before putting the ideas to action. And Aries is certainly all about action.

If you have Mercury in Aries, you will be a forceful and confident communicator and certainly will not have the patience to look for hidden meanings…nor may you have the patience to hang around for the rest of this blog, so I will make it as short as possible!

You think quickly, you grab concepts quickly, you jump in to solve problems quickly. You want to be heard, you need to be heard and you need to be heard first. You argue well, you aren’t scared to argue and if you are bored you will pick an argument. If it has been thought before, you aren’t interested; if it has been said before, you aren’t interested; if it has been read before, you’re bored already. If it doesn’t need to be said, why are you wasting my time?

The easiest way to annoy someone with Mercury in Aries is to talk slowly, take your time making a decision or slowly think a concept through. Another way is to ask him to read something all the way through to the end…why bother when the movie is about to come out & the book is 7000000 pages long (or seems it) and you can get to the ending by reading the last page? (According to Miss T that is “soooo not an efficient use of my time.”)

Nor does Mercury in Aries want to be endlessly talking about how you feel. Unless you need him for the answers to whatever problem you have, don’t waste your time- you won’t be wasting his, he will have already tuned out and off… or switched the conversation to be about him (isn’t everything about him?)

Say what you need to say and don’t expect him to guess that you aren’t happy- if you say “fine”, that is what he will hear. If you want him to guess how you feel about him by hints and long soulful looks, forget it- he can’t be faffed. He isn’t interested in “tuning in”. Nor can he be bothered re-hashing something that he considers closed.

When she says she’s fine, she means it. Mercury in Aries is like that. She communicates literally, she learns the same way. If it’s deep and meaningful, she can’t be faffed. If you want to play mind games, she can’t be faffed. If you’re playing for sympathy through long, drawn out silences and brooding looks, try someone else.

But if you want to be energised, entertained, challenged and exhausted spend a few hours with Mercury in Aries- before he tears off on his next mission.

This sound like you? If you are an Aries, you probably think and communicate like this. If you have Mercury in the first house or conjunct Mars, you probably already stopped reading.

OK, I am holidays at present, so here is last years Pluto retrograde post updated…

In my younger less married days I used to love doing the Cleo and Cosmo sex quizzes on the train to work. Learned some interesting things from them too… but obviously that is not for here… I would make sure that I counted the score in my head so no one reading over my shoulder could see my answers and therefore know what I really thought about doing _______, or whether I really would be likely to________ or indeed had done_______ where? Really? There?

Recently I have been having some fun with a series of Outer Planet point scoring quizzes that Donna Cunningham has been running on her Skywriter website. Just like the Cleo & Cosmo sex quizzes I have learned a lot, but this time the things I have learned have been about myself and are therefore possibly more useful in everyday life- or so I would hope.

Obviously I am so much more mature now too, so am going to publish my results for all to see- the results are possibly not as interesting (to some) as the sex quiz stuff, but some things are best left to the imagination.

First up was How Plutonian are you? Being so Piscean, I always knew that I was pretty influenced by Neptune, but the Pluto result blew me away. Using her system (check it out here), my Pluto score was a massive 74 points. Anything over 25pts is seen as being very Plutonian, with association with all the good and bad sides of Pluto and Scorpio  (see Donna’s article for more explanation- Donna is the expert on all things Pluto): power, control, trust, holding on to things & feelings, revenge, obsession, healing, transformation. Looking honestly at myself, I do have to say it is all true- the good & the bad. With most of my Piscean planets in opposition to Pluto & with Pluto sitting right on my Descendant, the struggle with trust & power & control- particularly in relationships has been constant battle.

Anyways, Pluto is now retrograde through until 19 September (or thereabouts). As with all retrograde planets, the retrograde motion makes Pluto act, well, more Plutonian and Plutonian people even more susceptible to Pluto.

As with all retrogrades, the energy is directed inward rather than externally. In Plutos’ case, it acts sort of like a planetary detox where the crap (for want of a better term) in our lives is eliminated (a very Pluto word). This can be emotions we have been holding onto, attitudes or values which should have changed or evolved, vendettas we should have let go of, revenge fantasies we are just waiting for the right moment to act upon (ooops, that’s me!), secrets that you have been keeping under wraps.

For those of you who are strongly influenced by Pluto (see below) or currently experiencing major Pluto transits (especially anyone with the Sun, Moon or ascendant at or around 12-8 Cancer, Capricorn, Libra or Aries), this will be a big thing. Now is the time to get rid of those photos (you know the ones at the back of your drawer of X with Y), or, alternatively do some internal Pluto work on yourself- a physical detox, heavy meditation- anything that is regenerative and gets you back in touch with the innermost core of you. Pluto retrogrades often bring sudden expansion or loss of power, manipulation, obsession and power struggles are the order of the day.

As with all retrograde cycles, the critical points are the station degrees- in this case 11 Capricorn 35’ where he is stationing retrograde and 8 Capricorn 59’ where he will station to turn direct. These are points of pretty huge transformation and metamorphosis if they happen to fall on a sensitive point in your natal chart. I’m not talking orbs here- when it comes to station points I’m talking direct hits. To the degree.

I have a friend who has the Midheaven at 11 Capricorn 25’. That’s close enough for the impact of a Pluto station…

Pluto’s a little like that- because he moves so slowly, the orbs of influence are very narrow. If he turns retrograde even a degree before exacting an aspect, you may get just a passing glance…this time. The thing with Pluto though, is there’ll always be a next time…and usually a next, and a next.

Now, this is the bit where I have to have a good hard talk to some of you guys- Pluto does not necessarily equal bad, so don’t look for negativity where there may be potential. Sure it may be like that- there is no denying. It will also be hard, challenging and all those words where it does hit your chart, but a Pluto transit can also be healing, manifesting and transforming ie ultimately powerfully cool. And that applies to the shittiest of shitty Pluto transits- although you mightn’t want to hear this until a few years down the track.

Whatever happens there is no escaping the effect…Pluto is like that…but trust me, hanging onto those photos, revenge fantasies and whatever will not help. Let em’ go…if you can…

So I got a rejection from a publisher yesterday for my chick lit novel.

As far as rejections go, this was a good one.

Usually what you get from publishers is silence. It’s deafening.

This publisher had called for the full manuscript (after submission of the first 3 chapters and synopsis) and read the whole thing- even after she had decided that it was more womens fiction than romance. It is. And she publishes romance- so it doesn’t fit. She told me that. She didn’t have to tell me that she enjoyed it, but she did. She could have just told me it didn’t fit their titles.

As I said, this was a good rejection- I’m getting to know the difference.

It was also the most frustrating one I’ve received.

I knocked this manuscript out very quickly last November/December. The first 50,000 words in NANOWRIMO and the remainder before Christmas. I loved the story from the very first paragraph. Truly.

I re-drafted it quickly as well. It just feels right.

Here’s the thing though, it feels like something is almost right, that it’s almost going to happen, that I’m almost on the right track. I must be getting closer though- these days I’m getting callbacks, I’m getting encouragement, I’m getting constructive and specific feedback. I feel like I’m almost there- and that’s usually when I run into trouble.

I’ve got so many projects on the almost finished list:

• There’s the astro book on making the most of your birth chart to be the best you can be. The first draft is done, but it needs work. A lot of it. I’m scared to finish it- especially since I feel far from my best.
• There’s the ebook on return charts. The first draft is 75% done.
• There’s the beginner astrology course. I’m writing two versions- one to deliver on line, and one to pitch to the local community college as a face to face. I’m scared to finish that too- what happens if no one comes?
• There’s my 1^st novel. It falls somewhere in between womens fiction and romance. It’s had 2 call backs from publishers- one womens fiction and one romance. One suggested it needs more romance, the other suggested it needs less. It’s been through a structural editor, yet somehow it still all feels too close to me. Possibly because it’s my first.

I do “almost” well.

It’s having a heap of potential and “almost” delivering on “almost” all of it.

In the past I’ve done just enough to “almost” master something, before declaring myself bored already and drifting onto something else.

Part of that is Pisces and Neptune influence- the whole idea of something not quite living up to the illusion so drifting on.

It’s also very Aries and very 1^st house behaviour. The not finishing something. The clashing priorities. The woulda shoulda couldas. I know so many Aries who do the same. Something stops them from finishing the job. Sometimes it’s boredom, very often it’s fear. I’m a little of both. Sometimes I am honestly bored, but more often I get scared- scared that I won’t be the best or be the first or be what it is that my heart tells me it can be. So I make excuses. They sound reasonable.

A wise coach told me the other week that I need to do my own personal mission statement- like they do for companies. Because that’s what I am- my own brand, my own business, with my own mission.

Then, when I’m presented with an option that could turn my almost there into a wander down a completely different path, I have a reminder to bring myself back on course.

This New Moon falls in my 2^nd house, conjunct Venus. Coming just days after my Venus Return it’s a potent reminder to determine what’s really important and letting the rest slide.

My New Moon mantra is to remove the adjective “almost” from my mindset.

I am here. I like the sound of that.

I’ll be away for the next couple of weeks. I have a few posts scheduled out, and will be checking in on Facebook as internet access and time permits. If you want to keep up with my travels, I’ll be blogging occasionally over at and anyways.

The Moon has now joined just about everything else in Aries.

Aries is one of those signs where there are no excuses and nowhere to hide- you either do it, or you don’t…and if you don’t? Leave the excuses and the whingeing behind.

Sounds a little brutal? Perhaps. But sometimes that’s what’s needed to move forward…and Mars ruled Aries is about moving forward with determination.

I’ve seen it in the last few days- both personally and through comments on the Facebook and Twitter feeds. There seems to be more talk about doing this from more people.

There’s some serious crap getting tossed around out there. I’m experiencing some of it personally, and I’m experiencing more second hand through the extreme crap some of my closest friends are dealing with.  The details aren’t important.

The thing is, these guys are dealing with it with courage, wilful determination that it will be beaten and, dare I say it, an optimism that is admirable in the circumstances.

I’m trying to do the same, and the thing is, I am optimistic. Truly optimistic- for them and myself. I think that’s the influence of all of this Aries.

That’s the message, for me, of this Aries New Moon.

It’s about gathering our confidence and our courage, standing ground where we need to and recognising that we have to fight for what we want.

Aries is the trainer that is yelling at you to stop whinging and just flipping do it.

Aries is the trainer yelling at you that this is your story and he doesn’t want excuses.

Aries is the trainer pointing out that there is always going to be crap coming at you so it’s your call whether you sit still to be covered in it or duck and dodge and weave and deal with it…or not.

It’s hard, but then so is life, and Aries deals with that head on too.

I try to be optimistic simply because sometimes the reality of the alternative is too much to bear- I am, after all, a Pisces.

Aries is optimistic because yesterday has just gone and tomorrow is full of possibility and he has the courage to face it all. It’s an almost childlike confidence and enthusiasm that we need in times of extreme shit.

Today, and tomorrow, as you envision the next 12 months, as you envision who you want to be, who you are, also be clear about what you’re not bringing forward with you- be clear about what’s being left in yesterday.