We are family – siblings

Cancer 2024

As many astrologers have been predicting for a while, July has been a pretty ‘interesting’ month so far. Elections, an assassination attempt, and Microsoft falling over, causing global problems, are just a few of the things that fit well with the themes mentioned by those astrologers who publish on current events. Not to mention the trials and tribulations of President Joe Biden, who has finally stepped aside.

The astrology of the shooting of Donald Trump is pretty astounding, even for me. It’s a graphic example of how the energy of Mars, being together with Uranus, can operate. An unexpected, sudden, violent act. Especially aimed at the physical, since this conjunction occurred in Taurus. Add to that the fact that this pair of planets exactly picked up Trump’s prominent Mars (his fighting persona), and that the chart of the shooter fits in perfectly with this Uranus-Mars pattern, with links to Trump’s chart, and we have a wonderful example of powerful astrology that astrologers can dine out on for years to come!

Yes, the star Algol, which many have mentioned, has a terrible reputation and was involved. It is associated with losing your head and the frightening, snake-headed Medusa. It’s fascinating. And yes – we are in the middle of huge changes. So ‘buckle up’ is often the advice given. I agree, the astrology does suggest we are at a huge turning point. And yes – forewarned is forearmed I suppose.

But what should we do?

However, what I miss hearing from most astrologers who, in many cases, are very good at what they do, is what we can do about it. If you read my blog, you’ll know that I don’t think astrologers can give exact predictions, as I think everyone has some choice, and also our levels of consciousness determine outcomes. I’m also not sure how some predictions are useful. If I had known Trump was going to be shot, would it have helped me? Of course it might have been useful input for security. But there are too many variables for this to be useful.

Astrologers are good at themes though. A Mars-Uranus conjunction in Taurus can manifest in many ways – an assassination attempt on a leader is just one way. However, it can also bring positive events, and maybe it will. Another interpretation of this energy is a wake-up call as to how we approach getting what we want. Will Trump change? And if our modus operandi is all technological, do we have a backup plan if technology fails? Uranus wants to change our minds! He wants us to think and become conscious.

Awareness is part of the answer

As an astrologer, I try to offer practical advice on discovering who you are and why you might be having any difficulties. Of course that won’t solve the world’s problems. However, I believe that if we could be aware of, and move towards operating at our true potential, and could love our lives, the world would be changed for the better. We all have something unique to contribute.

Where we get our information is another part of the puzzle. This month I attended a talk here in Amsterdam by Aseem Malhotra, who is a cardiologist from the UK. He is very much an activist against the food and pharmaceutical industries. His thorough research shows how we are being sold a narrative, in terms of health and healthcare. It’s both eye-opening and shocking. He has a documentary coming out soon called ‘First do no Pharm’. I think it will be a ‘must watch’.

One subject he covered in his talk, was a book he co-wrote called ‘ The Pioppi Diet’. It’s about what he discovered about health and longevity in Pioppi, a town in Italy where the residents live healthily to a ripe old age. Much of it is about food and movement. And how the environment has a calmness.

However, another important thing he emphasises is community, a sense of belonging, which is a very Cancerian principle. It is nurturing to find your tribe, even if it is not your actual family. To meet and eat, and drink a glass of wine together, does wonders for your health. This is not a new idea, although Malhotra’s research adds to the subject. So this made me think of family in wider terms and the patterns we bring with us from birth.

Malhotra’s cowritten book

Family first

I chose the theme of family for this Cancer blog as it is one of the archetypes of this sign. For many years I have given talks and workshops on the topic of siblings, and I realised, when I was involved in a discussion on this topic this month, that I have never written a blog on this area of family life! So it’s time I did. Your family, your upbringing and your place of birth are clearly important for how you develop as a human. Your place in the order of siblings also plays a role. Mothers and fathers are mentioned often, and we are often said to ‘marry our mothers/fathers’ . This gives a feeling of familiarity – the ‘better the devil you know’ idea.

Brothers and sisters

I called the post – ‘We are family’. But have you got all your sisters with you, as in the song? It is pretty obvious from my clients’ stories that, apart from sibling issues, many also ‘marry brothers/sisters’! However, what I have found more important, and useful in terms of awareness, is to look at relationships with siblings, and to relate these to how we relate to our peer group. Your siblings are very important, as they are pretty much the only witnesses you have to large portions of your life. Patterns learned from dealing with brothers, set expectations for relationships with men, and patterns with sisters, for women later in life. Of course, this is a general observation as this is not always related to gender, but it’s good to use as a guide. Difficulties in childhood with siblings, and how these are dealt with, including by parents and society, set the scene for later relationships, both at home and at work, and in the world generally. Conclusions drawn when young, stay with you until they are challenged.

It’s important!

In these difficult times, it is important to have support from people around you who care about you. And in this time of deep polarisation, it is difficult to not choose sides. If feels safe to belong to a group. Many, however, go along with friends’ ideas and opinions through fear. One way to work with this is to discover why you do this, by looking at sibling relationships in the past and now. Mercury, the planet associated with siblings, can help guide you through a discovery of how patterns learned in childhood are affecting you in your friendships and on a much wider scale now.

The astrology

The method I use for this is to look at the contacts (aspects) that Mercury makes to other planets. Sometimes each aspect might represent a particular brother or sister. This is a slide I use in my presentations.

I am looking for a planetary combination and relating that to a sibling to see how it works. Since Mercury is also about communication, this shows the underlying skill available to you in communication. We learn a lot about communicating from our siblings. Where there are no siblings, I often find that conversation is more adult-like. How you communicate is clearly important if you want to be heard, and want to be respected for your ideas. You need to understand how this worked to form a pattern, so you can change it if necessary and turn the aspect into a positive one.

An example

I am not particularly keen on using Trump to highlight a point, but he is such a good example of how these patterns can be seen. I wrote a post some time back, called Trump – a spiritual challenge. It’s about his calling, and I mentioned his siblings in passing. Trump’s Mercury, as well as his Venus and Saturn, are in Cancer. The family man! The aspect of note here is that the main aspect to Mercury is Neptune. This pattern clearly relates to his older brother Freddy.

A Neptune brother

Freddy was the first-born son in the Trump family and as such was expected to take over the family business. Donald, eight years younger and his father’s favourite, was very unhappy about this and sided with his dominating father to bully Freddy mercilessly. Neptune is the archetype of the victim, the creative, the compassionate and also of the addict. Freddy was addicted to alcohol, and died young as a consequence of his drinking.

There are a lot of things here that I think have shaped Donald Trump’s ideas of men and manhood. Apart from the fact that he has said he doesn’t drink or take drugs, he sees ‘weak’ men as losers. His competitiveness was rewarded by his father. And his way of treating victims, or people who don’t fit his ideas of how men should operate in the world, can clearly be seen in the family patterns with his sensitive brother.

The skills

Trump does have a Mercury-Neptune skill. His ability to read a room and the mood of the people, shouldn’t be underestimated. Trump is in tune with many Americans, and makes use of that. However, the ‘all-over-the place’ communication and fantasising tendency can come with this placement. Imagine how this skill could be used if it had a more positive application, if he could use his empathic side. But Trump learned the consequences of being not ‘tough’  from what happened to his brother. So I suspect that this is unlikely to happen.

Just one example

Freddy Trump shows just one example of how patterns repeat from experience with siblings. All the other planetary archetypes can be equally enlightening. If you are scared to go against your male friends, then looking to your relationships with any brothers can bring insight. If you are always in competition with other women, how were your relationships with each of your sisters? We are sometimes doomed to repeat what we don’t understand. If competition is the problem (Mars), you may need to learn to fight for and defend yourself and your views. If fear is the problem (Saturn), you may need to take responsibility for your views and learn to assert your authority. Each planet has its own domain.

Back to ‘family’

Belonging is important. However giving up your uniqueness and changing just to fit in never makes you happy. Inner work and contemplation is vital if you are going to find a tribe that is truly supportive of who you are. I hope this short post has given some food for thought.

Faye Blake

Interesting websites of the month

Here’s my (mainly astrological) discussion on brothers and sisters with Ana Isabel.

This is a recording of the talk Aseem Malhotra gave in Amsterdam

An interesting article on the star Algol. The Mars-Uranus conjunction took place near this star. Maybe it says something about retribution for the way Trump views women, but perhaps that’s just my idea! It is also interesting that Trump was shot in the head. And of course it fits with the big changes for Biden, who in ways, also ‘lost his head’.

Quotes of the month

“Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five.” Pam Brown

“Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.” Charles M. Schulz

“If you want to know how your girl will treat you after marriage, just listen to her talking to her little brother.” Sam Levenson