Dear Fellow Star-gazers,

Happy Full Moon!

Before the next Full Moon on May 21^st, there is a rare Mercury transit. On May 9^th, S. America, Eastern North America and Western Europe will witness Mercury appears as a dot crossing the face of the Sun. Such transits occur roughly 13 or 14 times in each century and always in either May or November. May transits are slightly less frequent than November ones. The last time there was a May transit was on May 7^th 2003. The 2016 transit is extra special in that it coincides with Jupiter’s station in Mercury-ruled Virgo.

Mercury is associated with messages – on occasion muddled and giving rise to its role as the ‘prankster’. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Politicians should be wary of speech-giving: they could misquote or be misquoted. I wonder too if we will hear more news about car manufacturing faults?

WAR: Mars stationed prior to turning retrograde just a few days ago. Mars last retrograded through Sagittarius in 2001 (War in Afghanistan) and before that in 1969 (War of Attrition Egypt and Israel). Given the conflicts already taking place across the world escalation in hostilities seems likely. Reviewing charts for the Middle East, for the USA, China and N. Korea suggests any or all could be involved. As explained in a newsletter earlier in the year, war cycles are gaining strength. It wouldn’t be so surprising if, around the next Full Moon on May 21^st,  a major offensive was launched and if this led to even greater conflict than is seen presently. I hope to be wrong.

Of course, it could be that a combination of celestial events coincides with activity of a different kind:

 NATURAL DISASTER You may know that the three primary cycles of the Moon are its phase (relationship with the Sun), declination and distance from Earth. When the Moon is at zero or maximum declination, and when this coincides with perigee or apogee and with a New or Full Moon, the Earth’s crust is affected. These three cycles came together at the New Moon two weeks ago. Last weekend, as Mars appeared to stand still in the sky, movement far below Earth’s surface resulted in action at the surface with earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador. This morning, in the hours leading into this Full Moon, another earthquake in Ecuador has been reported.

At the next Full Moon (May 21^st), the Sun opposes Mars as Mercury stations and exactly between lunar apogee and lunar maximum declination. The combination might yet result in volcanic activity. Already it seems there are signs that at least one volcano is spewing clouds of dust. More action could ensue. Given that the zodiac axis involved is Gemini-Sagittarius, disruption to air travel seems likely.

MARKETS: Mercury joins Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in retrograde motion from April 28^th: bringing with it the possibility of ‘financial chickens coming home to roost’. The period April 28^th to May 10^th should be given particular attention by traders as this may provide clues as to exactly how serious the global financial situation has become. Sharp moves are likely on Tuesday May 3^rd and the following Tuesday, May 10^th.

The NYSE Stock Exchange ‘birthday’ is on May 17^th. Though there are several charts used for that date, the one I find yields best results puts the Sun at the apex of the chart for that date in 2016. It is entirely possible that if Wall Street endures a difficult time from April 28^th to May 10^th that by May 17^th it will have recovered somewhat – even if this is temporary.

In August 2015, attention was on the Remnimbi (Chinese currency). The planet cycle at work then played again in late January-early February 2016 when Japan’s banks announced negative interest rates. That same cycle is at work again at the next Full Moon (May 21^st). A rise in interest rates is possible but perhaps more likely is currency devaluation that rocks the financial world. It may be that within days of the next Full Moon we learn of the collapse of another bank or a major banking scandal.

Watch for how many ‘mis-speaks’ there are in the coming weeks – especially between end April and May 10^th with Mars and Mercury retrograde – and with that Mercury Transit. Then listen out for a nasty war of words over the next Full Moon (speech-writers should quadruple check facts.) On the day of the UK Brexit vote there is a conjunction of Uranus and the asteroid Ceres. Uranus brings excitement and sudden shock and keywords for Ceres include ‘deep emotion’. As yet few seem willing to say which way they will vote. Polls between now and June are likely to be as unreliable as they were at the last election.

We often speak of a ‘middle age crisis’. One of the astrological signatures for this is Uranus’ opposition to the birth position: exactly the case if you compare the UK’s entry into the EU in 1973 and Uranus’ present position. I suspect that the outcome will come as a shock to many.

I am loathe to give a forecast about this but will stick to what I’ve written in earlier letters: that the UK will probably stay ‘in’ – at least for now. It may not be a case of the UK leaving the club but that the club itself disintegrates.

WEBSITE

I have been loath to write articles for the website as the present version is not responsive. I am happy to tell you that a new site is being built and that when it is launched in the next few weeks it will carry short articles that can be read on all devices. Your thoughts on what you would like to see covered are most welcome.

I hope to announce its readiness and the date for the book launch in the next newsletter.

For now,

Yours from the stars,

Christeen

Next speaking engagements: (please email for more details)

London Student Conference: June 2016

Toronto: July 2016

AA conference: September 2016

ISAR conference: October 2016

NCGR conference: Baltimore 2017