Friday October 11th 2002 - edited by Bernard Fitzwalter This week in Astro News: ~ Venus and Mars ~ ~ AstroDiary ~ Venus and Mars, the eternal lovers of the skies, are playing another of their little games. From now until the end of the year they will be doing a very daring and sexy dance, in which they will tease and pursue each other endlessly, always stopping just short of the point of no return. This is steamy stuff. Let me bring you up to speed with what has happened so far. Mars, the planet of fiery passions, has taken a fancy to Venus, who has been playing around in sexy Scorpio to attract the attention of any other planet who is interested. Well, since Scorpio is one of Mars' own signs, she's on his property, so to speak – a bit like when you play Monopoly. He could hardly fail to notice her. All through September he's been creeping closer and closer, and she has been skipping away. But for the last couple of weeks she has been tiring, and he has been gaining on her. If you think you've heard this before, by the way, you are absolutely right. This is the Beauty and the Beast scenario, or Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, or any one of dozens of other folk and fairy tales, all of which have their roots in the dance of Venus and Mars. Anyway, today Venus stands still in the skies, and starts to move backwards, retracing her steps – which is going to take her straight into the arms of Mars. Is this the end of our heroine? Wait and see. There are several twists in this tale, and the interplay between the planets and the signs they are in is unusually subtle. I'll tell you more next week. Saturn changes direction this week as well as Venus. One planet in reverse is bad enough, but two...! We can all expect a couple of days during which things seem to be working against us. But the good news is that it is only for a couple of days. Once Saturn has settled down again everything will return to the way it was. AstroDiary Monday (October 13): Centre for Psychological Astrology, Exploring the Earthy Houses. Seminar with Liz Greene. Regents College, Inner Circle, Regents Park, London NW1. £42. Info: www.cpalondon.com or e-mail: cpalondon@aol.com October 14: Astrological Lodge of London: 7pm, Astrology and the Spiritual Dimension, with Alexander Markin. 8pm, members class & discussion, plus Introduction to Horary with Gerasime Patilas, 8.20pm. Theosophical Society building, 50 Gloucester Place, W1. £5 (£3 members, conc). www.astrolodge.co.uk October 15: Suffolk Astrological Society. AGM, followed by chart discussion. 7.45pm, The Black Boy, Guildhall Street, Bury St. Edmunds. Info: 01284 768756 or e-mail glenda@silvermead.net or visit www.suffolk-astrological-society.org.uk 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@cainer.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 here for Astronews Archives