Attention all astrological angels!

An ancient astrological tradition links the planets and zodiac signs with certain angels. This seems to have been first put into writing by a Syrian monk who forged a number of treatises and published them under the name of Dionysus the Areopagite. He was said to have been the first bishop of Athens (but is sometimes confused with St Denis of France). The pseudo-Dionysian works were of great importance in the development of the Catholic faith, and the Treatise oin the Celestial Hierarchy dealt in detail with the spiritual creatures descending from God to man - among them the Seraphim (who were concerned with the orering of the solar system), the Cherubim (which rule the Zodiac), the archangels (in charge of the sphere of Mercury) and the angels (linked with the Moon's sphere). Comets were carefully looked after by the Seraphim and Cherubim, the fixed stars were kept in order by the Kyrioetes or Spirits of Wisdom, the Moon by the Archangels ans the earth by both angels and men.

The planetary angels are:
Gabriel - the Moon,
Raphael - Mercury
Haniel - Venus
Michael - the Sun
Camael - Mars
Zadkiel - Jupiter
and Zaphkiel - Saturn.

The Archangels who look after the zodiac signs are:
Aries - Malshidael
Taurus - Asmodei
Gemini - Ambriel
Cancer - Muriel and Manuel
Leo -Vershiel
Virgo - Hamaeliel
Libra - Zuriel
Scorpio - Barchiel and Solzol
Sagittarius - Adnachiel and Ayil
Capricorn -Hamael
Aquarius - Cambiel
Pieces - Barchiel

The Archangels Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel are responsible for the four elements, fire, earth, air and water.

-          from Parkers’ Encyclopaedia of Astrology (Watkins, ISBN 978-1-905857-71-5

-          and read Julia’s forecasts for your day at  www.parkeriters.com

Mothering Sunday? Mothers' Day

Hi, Sons and Daughters everywhere.     When I was little and  pretty much into my early teens Mothering Sunday had religious overtones and I think we did tend to do something nice for Mummy whether we went to Church or not.   The concept puzzled me and as a child my imagination took off and I had vivid pictures of what 'Mothering' was all about.  It goes back to the 16th century when in the fourth Sunday in Lent people went to the biggest church in their area - the Mother Church - for a special service. In the 19th century servants were give the day off to go and visit their Mother; but now it's just a huge game, and boy how the shops have chimed in and had a field day!  Now it's a vast retail enterprise.   This year, looking at catalogues, I found the oddest suggestions for presents for  our dearest - from chain-saws to pretty ladies sitting in bed surrounded by every conceivable goodie.   Who is this ultra-glamorous  lady?  Is she Mother's newest Mistress of the Bedchamber? Ideally, of course, those of us who love our Mothers shouldn't need this obvious prompting to send our Mother a present - some flowers or her own special treat; but I guess that if we didn't have the awful retail hype to remind us we might well forget, and who knows,even her birthday might go by the board.   After Derek and I were married the Mother's Day thing was beginning to get into gear, and living some 250 miles away it wasn't always possible to  spend the day together . . .   Derek resolved that,  and every year without fai, he consulted his muse and wrote a Mother's Day Poem which always had Mother as the central character doing something totally outrageous like getting blind drunk on gallons of gin, going to the Zoo and taking an elephant out for walkies - things of this sort.    These pieces of doggerel  were extremely popular and a wonderful way round having to spend extremely additionally hyped- up expensive bouquets or whatever.   The whole family would always have a great laugh.   So there you go, you budding poets, if your Mother's got a great sense of humour you'll know what to do next year when the big day comes round - its March 15th 2015!  bye for now Happy Mother's day -from Julia

Come to Australia - this is worth checking out!

Hi, guys and gals.  The latest invitation to visit us here was launched a day or two ago by the Tourist Board and other worthy experienced specialists, and I think it's worth spreading the news   I didn't know, and maybe you didn't either, that Australia is only just behind France in the pecking order for wines and food?.   The wines speak for themselves - the range is vast, and has something for everyone's palate.  The food scores so high because  of ample supplies of fantastic produce of fruit, vegetables and meat.  The local foodies, and of course tourists, really do very well here - especially when they ignore run-of-the-mill fast-food outlets - though there are some companies that actually do produce good stuff.   Oh, yes -and I can say this because we're Brits living here and not Aussie born - the guys and girls really are a stunning lot, so when you come you'll not find it difficult to make new friends and enjoy good company whilst digging into the fantastic food and wines.  Remember once you do come you'll do your darndest to come back  - as we did!-  and now we've chalked up almost 12 years of living in glorious Sydney. . . Cheers for now, and I hope that you're beginning to enjoy and possibly wryly smile at my fun daily astrological forecasts -  reached at parkeriters.com

Jesus the astronomer

The fuss made by churchmen of all denominations over the past centuries about astrology has usually been focussed on what's said on the subject in the Bible – which turns out, but when you actually study the good book, to be nothing - zilch. There is no specific mention of astrology in either the New or Old Testament; what appear to be allusions to the subject turn out to be the result of bad translation. Numerology on the other hand has resulted in the twelve zodiac signs being related to the twelve Apostles, the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve stones in the breastplate of the High Priest; but it’s difficult to discover any real significance in this. The Apocrypha on the other hand – those books of the Bible regarded as having been written by good and religious men, but for some reason are not accepted as being (like the major books of the New Testament) the word of God, have a number of distinct references to astrology: Enoch refers to the stars and their relationship to herbs, gems and numbers, and claims that in the sixth heaven angels attend the phases of the Moon and the revolutions of the stars and the Sun. In the ASrabic Gospel of the Infancy, attributed to St James, Jesus appears as an astronomer, lecturing the priests in the temple on ‘the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square are sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; their twenty-fourths and sixtieths of the twenty-fourths and other things which the reason of man has never discovered . . .’ and Clement of Rome, a friend of St James, called the twelve Apostles the Twelve Months of Christ. We do well to be pretty relaxed on the subject.

-          from Parkers’ Encyclopaedia of Astrology (Watkins, ISBN 978-1-905857-71-5

-          and read Julia’s forecasts for your day at  www.parkeriters.com

Winter at last

So we march steadily on into winter – at last; it’s been quite a long time coming, but the day temperature now rises only to 17°, and it’s down to 11° in Sydney. But if the sun shines it’s still too hot, midday, to sit out of the wind on the patio with a book. I must say that the cold enlivens my 82-year-old bones, and the morning walk with the dogs is much brisker – certainly than it is in a temperature of 25° or more with 90% humidity! The morning joggers have more or less disappeared, apart from a few shivering schoolchildren running around the oval under the jurisdiction of a teacher comfortably swathed in wool. I suppose I really should turn down the central heating in the house – but I shan’t. In fact, Australian houses, at least those built before say the 1950s, are  built to keep everyone cool in summer, and so get pretty cold in winter, and even when it’s 30° outside it’s comfortable inside. On the other hand at this time of year it gets pretty cold. Onward and upward. Derek.

Just to keep you up to date re forecasts.

Hi, blogger mates!  Julia speaks! I have been neglecting you in the last few days and I'm sorry about that but I have been really busy interpreting what the planets are getting up to during June.  Now all that's in the can, and obviously after the end of May my June suggestions will start to appear.  However now while of course I am as busy as ever, I'll be sending you messages about. . .  well anything that really interests me and what I think might  interest you.   Autumn hit hard on Saturday when although we were supposed to have 17 Celsius the wind chill factor was more than dreadful.   I think it was coming up from Antarctica.  We had to go over to the lovely Nicholson Museum in Sydney Uni (Actually to see a screening of some wonderful rare movies about ancient Rome dated from1908  - yes that's the right date)   All fascinating.   There was a very grand wedding going on in the Quad.   The bride and all the women guests were decked out in their late Summer finery and were absolutely frozen.  The weather's been so wonderful up to then. . .but, you see, even with a proper climate like Sydney, one has to cope with the unexpected.     It's before 10 am Monday as I write this.   The sun is back, the sky is a  wonderful shade of blue and we can expect 21 Celsius - so later we'll be on the patio with an ice cream.  Then for me, my wonderful one-to-one Monday afternoon Pilates. . .    Cheers   Julia!,

Astrologer on holiday? - try a male virgin

If your astrologer is away, there's a simple substitute. Send out and about for an onychomancer. First s/he will need a male virgin - for some reason it only works with one of them, and you may have to search for a while. Then s/he will put a little oil (best virgin olive) on his fingernails and examine them. The fingernails on which symbols appear will indicate the nature of coming events, while their whereabouts on the nail will allow the practitioner to date them. You may have a liyttle difficulty in finding a really good onychomancer - the last one was recorded in Babylonia c.3759 BC, and left no telephone number or email address. It's also possible you may have to supply your own male virgin (how's the boyfriend doing?) Nevertheless keep the idea in mind for a rainy day.