Friday July 12th 2002 - edited by Bernard Fitzwalter This week in Astro News: ~ Jupiter & Neptune ~ ~ AstroDiary ~ ~ Astrology & Fertility - Can you help with some research? ~ Jupiter & Neptune... There's a lot of financial doom and gloom around at the moment. You're urged to invest in this or that savings scheme, only to discover a few months later that the value of your savings has gone down by 20 per cent and that you won't see a profit for several years. What's going on? It may have something to do with the cycle of Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter is the good guy of the heavens, and brings growth and prosperity to us all; but Neptune goes over the top, and makes fabulous promises that can't possibly be kept. When these two work in harmony, they provide both inspiration and a sense of 'can-do' enterprise, with good results for all. When they fight against each other, the 'reality gap' between what people expected and what is actually feasible becomes all too apparent. For some large companies the gap is too big to bridge, and they collapse. It's very interesting to note that Jupiter and Neptune started their most recent cycle at the start of 1997, just when the world's stock markets really started to take off; right now they are approaching the half-way point of the cycle, their point of maximum stress, and the stock markets are more or less where they were when the cycle started. This is very much like a football game where you score a goal in the first 20 minutes, but then the opposition put one past you two minutes before half-time, so you go back into the dressing-room with no advantage and with it all to do again in the second half. Will the second half of the cycle be better? Yes, almost certainly, but don't get your hopes up just yet. The exact half-way point isn't until September - I'll say more about it nearer the time - and the two planets stay in opposition until the middle of next year, so there's some way to go. We may even be two-one down at one stage. This is nail-biting stuff. You've either got money or you haven't. Some people just seem to attract money, yet for others it just slips away. To be good with money, astrological theory says you need to have been born between two and four in the morning. So if, like me, you're part of the great majority who weren't born then, you now have the perfect excuse. AstroDiary Tuesday (July 16): Suffolk Astrological Society. Stephanie Norris - The Elements, 7.45pm, Black Boy, Guildhall Street, Bury St.Edmunds. Enquiries: 01284 768756 or [email protected] www.suffolk-astrological-society.org.uk Thursday (July 18 � 24): Florida, USA. United Astrology Conference. The Mystery of Time and Space, Wyndham Palace Resort. www.uacastrology.com 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 [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 on the Archive Thought for the Day link in the left hand frame.